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National Book Critics Circle Award finalist
“A triumph . . . a masterpiece full of fire and tragedy.” — Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana
In the first full-scale biography of Mary Stuart in more than thirty years, John Guy creates an intimate and absorbing portrait of one of history’s greatest women, depicting her world and her place in the sweep of history with stunning immediacy. Bringing together all surviving documents and uncovering a trove of new sources for the first time, Guy dispels the popular image of Mary Queen of Scots as a romantic leading lady — achieving her ends through feminine wiles — and establishes her as the intellectual and political equal of Elizabeth I.
Through Guy’s pioneering research and superbly readable prose, we come to see Mary as a skillful diplomat, maneuvering ingeniously among a dizzying array of factions that sought to control or dethrone her. Queen of Scots is an enthralling, myth-shattering look at a complex woman and ruler and her time.
“The definitive biography . . . gripping . . . a pure pleasure to read.” — Washington Post Book World
“Reads like Shakespearean drama, with all the delicious plotting and fresh writing to go with it.” — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John Guy is a fellow in history at Clare College, University of Cambridge, and the author of several books, including the best-selling textbook Tudor England. ...
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From clairvoyants, prophets, and shamans to crop circles, haunted houses, and the Loch Ness monster, this ghoulish guide is packed with information on unknown phenomena and paranormal activity. With hundreds of real, heart-stopping images of monsters, UFOs, and ghost sightings, this reference of curious happenings reports stories and gives the reader the option to discriminate as fact or fiction. ...
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"An ingenious new presentation of an old history."—Fiberarts The dazzling cloths presented here are the visual record of one of the great untold stories of Asian design history: the trade in Indian textiles to Southeast and East Asia.
The chintzes made for export to Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are now well known; but for over a thousand years Indian cloths were traded for the spices and forest and mineral wealth of the East by Asian, Arab, and European merchants.
Universally in demand, the textiles were designed to suit specific markets: attire for royalty, diplomatic gifts, displays for festive occasions, and clothing for rites of passage and other ceremonies. Outstanding among them are the patterned cottons—the famous chintzes—and the tie-dyed silk patola, reserved for rulers and nobility. 145 color, 96 b&w illustrations....
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