About this title: The acclaimed historian and bestselling author of "Eleanor of Aquitaine" turns her expert eye on the dark reign of another notorious and charismatic medieval monarch, Queen Isabella of France.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Very Good. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780345453198ISBN:0345453190
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. 0345453204 **Softcover**--Exact ISBN Match--Very mild shelf wear. No personalizations, writing or marks in the text. Absolutely no spine creasing. Ships Quickly-IN STOCK-Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780345453198ISBN:0345453190
Description: Fine. BC. Nearly new hardback and jacket. Text is clean, unmarked, tight. All items are carefully and securely packed to insure they arrive in the advertised condition. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Date Published: 2006-12-26
ISBN-13:9780345453204ISBN:0345453204
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780345453204. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780345453204ISBN:0345453204
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"I have enjoyed every one of Alison Weir's books that I have read so far, and I knew from the start that this would be no exception. Like all of her histories, this is extensively researched and clearly and engagingly written. I think she does an admirable job with her stated goal of rehabilitating Isabella's reputation. She even presents a well thought out and plausible alternative to Edward II's supposed murder. I'm not sure I buy it in the end, though, Edward buying it in the end being such a colorful legend and all. (Heh, see what I did there?) I think at times Weir goes too far in her attempt to make Isabella look well-intentioned and honorable and acting only for the sake of her children. I like history for the flaws, and I don't need my royals to be rehabilitated and absolved of murder in order for me to find them fascinating. A queen's gotta do what she's gotta do."
"This was full of really small detail, like how much the queen tipped individuals or spent on clostes on any given year, etc. I'm glad I "listened" to this instead of reading as it was DRY! Lots of good history."
By Bettie,
on the cusp of the orust riviera, Sweden
"mp3 - this evening's baking book
Abridged BBC Radio 4 production Produced by Emma Harding
Queen Isabella - She Wolf Of France, Queen Of England.
From the blurb In Newgate Street, in the city of London, stand the meagre ruins of Christ Church. On the same site once stood a royal mausoleum set to rival Westminster Abbey in the fourteenth century. Among the many crowned heads buried there was Isabella of France, Edward II's queen - one of the most notorious femme fatales in history.
My view of this slant - Well, that's one way of putting it!"
"This is a very readable account of Isabella's life, although Weir struggles to extrapolate Isabella's motives from meager evidence. It's necessarily very detached, as are all biographies of people who lived such a long time ago, particularly women. For me, historical fiction usually makes for a more satisfying read, but I enjoyed this book.
Isabella is quite pitiable when she arrives in England as a 12-yr-old bride to find that her husband is homosexual and is dominated by his lover, Piers Gaveston, who egregiously flaunts his ill-gotten power. And once Gaveston is gone the pattern repeats with another of Edward's lovers, Hugh Dispenser, who is vicious as well as power-hungry. Edward seems completely under the spell of his lovers, making incredibly foolish decisions and disregarding the welfare of his family, his throne and his country.
You can't help but cheer Isabella when she escapes to France and raises forces to invade England and depose Edward in favor of their son. Modern readers also won't blame her for taking a lover, Roger Mortimer, even though history condemns her for this and blames her (unfairly, Weir claims) for Edward's supposed murder. Unfortunately Isabella was nearly as foolish as her husband in her choice of a lover, since Mortimer proves to be avaricious and tyrannical. The young Edward III eventually tires of being ruled by Mortimer and his mother, and seizes power for himself.
Legend holds that Edward II was murdered in an infamous manner, but Weir is inclined to agree with those historians who think he actually survived and lived as a monk for several years after his supposed death, with no inclination to reclaim his throne.
It's amazing that Edward III emerged from such a childhood as a great king with an unusually (for British royalty) happy family of his own."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
