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Blood, Fire & Gold
- The Story of Elizabeth I & Catherine de Medici
- Narrated by: Anna Wilson-Jones
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
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Publisher's summary
A brilliant and beautifully written deep dive into the complicated relationship between Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici, two of the most powerful women in Renaissance Europe who shaped each other as profoundly as they shaped the course of history
Sixteenth-century Europe was a hostile world dominated by court politics and patriarchal structures, and yet against all odds, two women rose to power: Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici. One a young Virgin Queen who ruled her kingdom alone, and the other a more experienced and clandestine leader who used her children to shape the dynasties of Europe, much has been written about these shrewd and strategic sovereigns. But though their individual legacies have been heavily scrutinized, nothing has been said of their complicated relationship—thirty years of camaraderie, competition, and conflict that forever changed the face of Europe.
In Blood, Fire, and Gold, historian Estelle Paranque offers a new way of looking at two of history’s most powerful women: through the eyes of the other. Drawing on their private correspondence and brand-new research, Paranque shows how Elizabeth and Catherine navigated through uncharted waters that both united and divided their kingdoms, maneuvering between opposing political, religious, and social objectives—all while maintaining unprecedented power over their respective domains. Though different in myriad ways, their fates and lives remained intertwined of the course of three decades, even as the European geo-politics repeatedly set them against one another. Whether engaged in bloody battles or peaceful accords, Elizabeth and Catherine admired the force and resilience of the other, while never forgetting that they were, first and foremost, each other’s true rival.
This is a story of two remarkable visionaries: a story of blood, fire, and gold. It is also a tale of ceaseless calculation, of love and rivalry, of war and wisdom, and—above all else—of the courage and sacrifice it takes to secure and sustain power as a woman in a male-dominated world.
A Times' "Book of the Week"
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- By: Dr. Larry Arnn
- Narrated by: Van Tracy
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Dr. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, reveals this integral unity of the Declaration and the Constitution. Together, they form the pillars upon which the liberties and rights of the American people stand. United, they have guided history's first self-governing nation, forming our government under certain universal and eternal principles. Unfortunately, the effort to redefine government to reflect "the changing and growing social order" has gone very far toward success.
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Linking Declaration and Constitution.
- By Ed Bethune on 04-26-24
By: Dr. Larry Arnn
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The Rival Queens
- Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal That Ignited a Kingdom
- By: Nancy Goldstone
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Catherine de' Medici was a ruthless pragmatist and powerbroker who dominated the throne for 30 years. Her youngest daughter, Marguerite, the glamorous "Queen Margot," was a passionate free spirit, the only adversary whom her mother could neither intimidate nor control.
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Definitely not a dull bio!
- By Nella on 07-04-15
By: Nancy Goldstone
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Henry VIII: King and Court
- By: Alison Weir
- Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
- Length: 25 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This magnificent biography of Henry VIII is set against the cultural, social and political background of his court - the most spectacular court ever seen in England - and the splendour of his many sumptuous palaces. An entertaining narrative packed with colourful description and a wealth of anecdotal evidence, but also a comprehensive analytical study of the development of both monarch and court during a crucial period in English history.
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A concise focus with tremendous detail
- By kwdayboise (Kim Day) on 05-24-17
By: Alison Weir
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The Barbizon
- The Hotel that Set Women Free
- By: Paulina Bren
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Welcome to New York’s legendary hotel for women, the Barbizon. Liberated after WWI from home and hearth, women flocked to New York City during the Roaring Twenties. But even as women’s residential hotels became the fashion, the Barbizon stood out; it was designed for young women with artistic aspirations, and included soaring art studios and soundproofed practice rooms. More importantly still, with no men allowed beyond the lobby, the Barbizon signaled respectability, a place where a young woman of a certain class could feel at home.
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A Very Enjoyable Non Fiction, Mostly Easy Listening
- By Frank Donnelly on 03-23-21
By: Paulina Bren
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The Private Lives of the Tudors
- Uncovering the Secrets of Britain's Greatest Dynasty
- By: Tracy Borman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
England's Tudor monarchs - Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I - are perhaps the most celebrated and fascinating of all royal families in history. Their love affairs, their political triumphs, and their overturning of the religious order are the subject of countless works of popular scholarship. But for all we know about Henry's quest for male heirs or Elizabeth's purported virginity, the lives of the Tudor monarchs away from the public eye remain largely beyond our grasp, mostly not chronicled by previous historians.
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The Narration Is Awful
- By Appollo 500 on 10-27-18
By: Tracy Borman
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April 1945
- The Hinge of History
- By: Craig Shirley
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Acclaimed historian and New York Times best-selling author Craig Shirley delivers a compelling account of 1945, particularly the watershed events in the month of April, that details how America emerged from World War II as a leading superpower.
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Amazing.
- By Anonymous User on 04-12-22
By: Craig Shirley
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The Founders' Key
- The Divine and Natural Connection Between the Declaration and the Constitution and What We Risk by Losing It
- By: Dr. Larry Arnn
- Narrated by: Van Tracy
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, reveals this integral unity of the Declaration and the Constitution. Together, they form the pillars upon which the liberties and rights of the American people stand. United, they have guided history's first self-governing nation, forming our government under certain universal and eternal principles. Unfortunately, the effort to redefine government to reflect "the changing and growing social order" has gone very far toward success.
-
-
Linking Declaration and Constitution.
- By Ed Bethune on 04-26-24
By: Dr. Larry Arnn
-
The Rival Queens
- Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal That Ignited a Kingdom
- By: Nancy Goldstone
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Catherine de' Medici was a ruthless pragmatist and powerbroker who dominated the throne for 30 years. Her youngest daughter, Marguerite, the glamorous "Queen Margot," was a passionate free spirit, the only adversary whom her mother could neither intimidate nor control.
-
-
Definitely not a dull bio!
- By Nella on 07-04-15
By: Nancy Goldstone
-
Henry VIII: King and Court
- By: Alison Weir
- Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
- Length: 25 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This magnificent biography of Henry VIII is set against the cultural, social and political background of his court - the most spectacular court ever seen in England - and the splendour of his many sumptuous palaces. An entertaining narrative packed with colourful description and a wealth of anecdotal evidence, but also a comprehensive analytical study of the development of both monarch and court during a crucial period in English history.
-
-
A concise focus with tremendous detail
- By kwdayboise (Kim Day) on 05-24-17
By: Alison Weir
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The Barbizon
- The Hotel that Set Women Free
- By: Paulina Bren
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to New York’s legendary hotel for women, the Barbizon. Liberated after WWI from home and hearth, women flocked to New York City during the Roaring Twenties. But even as women’s residential hotels became the fashion, the Barbizon stood out; it was designed for young women with artistic aspirations, and included soaring art studios and soundproofed practice rooms. More importantly still, with no men allowed beyond the lobby, the Barbizon signaled respectability, a place where a young woman of a certain class could feel at home.
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A Very Enjoyable Non Fiction, Mostly Easy Listening
- By Frank Donnelly on 03-23-21
By: Paulina Bren
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Hitler's American Friends
- The Third Reich's Supporters in the United States
- By: Bradley W. Hart
- Narrated by: Chris Ciulla
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Hitler's American Friends, by Bradley W. Hart, is an audiobook examining the strange terrain of Nazi sympathizers, nonintervention campaigners, and other voices in America who advocated on behalf of Nazi Germany in the years before World War II. Americans who remember World War II reminisce about how it brought the country together. The less-popular truth behind this warm nostalgia: Until the attack on Pearl Harbor, America was deeply, dangerously divided.
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Excellent Information
- By Laura on 05-09-19
By: Bradley W. Hart
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They Came for Freedom
- The Forgotten, Epic Adventure of the Pilgrims
- By: Jay Milbrandt
- Narrated by: Wayne Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Once a year at Thanksgiving, we encounter Pilgrims as folksy people in funny hats before promptly forgetting them. In the centuries since America began, the Pilgrims have been relegated to folklore and children's stories, fairy-tale mascots for holiday parties and greeting cards. The true story of the Pilgrim fathers could not be more different.
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Very dramatic history
- By Ted Baehr on 09-12-22
By: Jay Milbrandt
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A House Built by Slaves
- African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House
- By: Jonathan W. White
- Narrated by: Jesse Lipscombe
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Widely praised and winner of the 2023 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, this book illuminates why Lincoln’s unprecedented welcoming of African American men and women to the White House transformed the trajectory of race relations in the United States. From his 1862 meetings with Black Christian ministers, Lincoln began inviting African Americans of every background into his home, from ex-slaves from the Deep South to champions of abolitionism such as Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth.
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impeccably researched
- By Laileanah on 04-23-24
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Thorns, Lust, and Glory
- The Betrayal of Anne Boleyn
- By: Estelle Paranque
- Narrated by: Anna Wilson-Jones
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Anne Boleyn has mesmerized the general public for centuries. Her tragic execution at the Tower of London on the 19th of May, 1536—orchestrated by her own husband—never ceases to intrigue. While many stories of Anne’s downfall have been told, few have truly traced the origins of her grim fate. In Thorns, Lust, and Glory, Estelle Paranque takes us back to where it all started: to France, where Anne learned the lessons that would set her on the path to becoming one of England's most infamous queens.
By: Estelle Paranque
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The Summer of 1876
- Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends in the Season That Defined the American West
- By: Chris Wimmer
- Narrated by: Chris Wimmer, Johnny Heller
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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The summer of 1876 was a key time period in the development of the mythology of the Old West. Many individuals who are considered legends by modern listeners were involved in events that began their notoriety or turned out to be the most famous—or infamous—moments of their lives. Those individuals were Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Wild Bill Hickok, and Jesse James. The Summer of 1876 weaves together the timelines of the events that made these men legends.
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Like History? You will thoroughly enjoy this book!
- By JRC on 04-26-24
By: Chris Wimmer
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Medusa's Sisters
- By: Lauren J. A. Bear
- Narrated by: Taylor Harvey, Zura Johnson
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Even before they were transformed into Gorgons, Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale were unique among their immortal family. Curious about mortals and their lives, Medusa and her sisters entered the human world in search of a place to belong, yet quickly found themselves at the perilous center of a dangerous Olympian rivalry and learned—too late—that a god's love is a violent one.
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If you liked “Circe” read this!
- By Rylee Fincannon on 11-09-23
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Short Life in a Strange World
- Birth to Death in 42 Panels
- By: Toby Ferris
- Narrated by: Jot Davies
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
In 2012, facing the death of his father and impending fatherhood, Toby Ferris set off on a seemingly quixotic mission to track down and look at - in situ - every painting still in existence by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the most influential and important artist of Northern Renaissance painting. The result of that pursuit is a remarkable journey through major European cities and across continents. As Ferris takes a keen analytical eye to the paintings, each piece brings new revelations about Bruegel’s art, and gives way to meditations on mortality, fatherhood, and life.
By: Toby Ferris
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Young Queens
- Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power
- By: Leah Redmond Chang
- Narrated by: Olivia Dowd
- Length: 18 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Orphaned from infancy, Catherine de’ Medici endured a tumultuous childhood. Married to the French king, she was widowed by forty, only to become the power behind the French throne during a period of intense civil strife. In 1546, Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Elisabeth de Valois, who would become Queen of Spain. Two years later, Catherine welcomed to her nursery the beguiling young Mary Queen of Scots, who would later become her daughter-in-law. Together, Catherine, Elisabeth, and Mary lived through the sea changes that transformed sixteenth-century Europe.
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Excellent writing, engaging narration
- By WEHOcloset on 09-22-23
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Catherine de' Medici
- The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen
- By: Mary Hollingsworth
- Narrated by: Rachel Bavidge, Sophie Hunter
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
History is rarely kind to women of power, but few have had their reputations quite so brutally shredded as Catherine de’ Medici, Italian-born queen of France and influential mother of three successive French kings during that country’s long sequence of sectarian wars in the second half of the sixteenth century.
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Maybe Esther
- A Family Story
- By: Katja Petrowskaja
- Narrated by: Emma Gregory
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
An inventive, unique, and extraordinarily moving literary debut that pieces together the fascinating story of one woman's family across 20th-century Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and Germany. Katja Petrowskaja wanted to create a kind of family tree, charting relatives who had scattered across multiple countries and continents. Her idea blossomed into this striking and highly original work of narrative nonfiction, an account of her search for meaning within the stories of her ancestors.
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Journey to Understand the Past
- By Debbie on 08-05-23
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The Network
- The Battle for the Airwaves and the Birth of the Communications Age
- By: Scott Woolley
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This is the origin story of the airwaves - the foundational technology of the communications age - as told through the 40-year friendship of an entrepreneurial industrialist and a brilliant inventor. David Sarnoff, the head of RCA and equal parts Steve Jobs, Jack Welch, and William Randolph Hearst, was the greatest supporter of his friend, Edwin Armstrong, developer of the first amplifier, the modern radio transmitter, and FM radio.
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The Classic Struggle
- By Jean on 06-01-16
By: Scott Woolley
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Butcher's Work
- True Crime Tales of American Murder and Madness
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A Civil War veteran who perpetrated one of the most ghastly mass slaughters in the annals of U.S. crime. A nineteenth-century female serial killer whose victims included three husbands and six of her own children. A Gilded Age “Bluebeard” who did away with as many as fifty wives throughout the country. A decorated World War I hero who orchestrated a murder that stunned Jazz Age America.
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Another necessary work by Schector
- By Brandon on 12-27-22
By: Harold Schechter
What listeners say about Blood, Fire & Gold
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Julie M. Sparkuhl
- 02-21-23
Queens
A good book; learned some new things about the queens that I didn’t know but happy to learn.
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- FlowerTraveler
- 05-12-23
Wonderful!
I was familiar with the history of both Queens, but I learned a lot of new things here! And the narration is delightful!
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- Runner lady
- 06-05-24
Great book.
Well written well read. Great book. Learned new info from primary sources included in book. Hope Author writes more.
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- geoff cook
- 01-25-23
Amazing listen
A trip back in time. A great lesson two of history is most fascinating people and ladies.
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- Colleen P
- 01-30-23
Absolutely fantastic!
A must for fans of Tudor history. The story of these fascinating women brought to life.
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- VictoriaSuzette
- 12-15-22
Very informative book.
I have read many books on this era, and about some of the royals, etc. This author was very detailed, and I learned things I had never heard of before. Highly recommend this book to history lovers!
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1 person found this helpful
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- NandMsMom
- 12-27-23
An interesting comparison
You do need to already know a bit of background to put this all into context. Having that myself I found this is a really interesting way of comparing and juxtaposing these two queens in the time of their tandem reigns. Excellent way of taking a few minor fictional liberties on a nonfiction book.
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- John Birkhead
- 12-22-22
A new part of the QE 1 I didn’t know
The book is a great exploration of the relationship of Elizabeth and Catherine Demacini (so). The interaction, rivalry and political dance the two had was completely new to me. I also didn’t know how close Elizabeth came to marrying one of Catherine’s sons.
Well written and beautifully read.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ashley Rayburn
- 01-10-23
What a wonderful book!
This book was very intriguing, captivating, and easy to follow. I can’t wait to read more by Dr. Paranque in the future!
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- Elizabeth Bucheit
- 12-20-22
The crown goes to Ms Paranque
An incredible an engaging book breathing life into women’s roles in shaping history and politics. Brava!
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1 person found this helpful