Alison King's Books

The King's Pleasure

A Novel of Henry VIII

By: Alison Weir

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The New York Times bestselling author of the Six Tudor Queens series explores the private side of the legendary king Henry VIII and his dramatic and brutal reign in this extraordinary historical novel. “A delightful yarn . . . an all-around fun read about a king and a cad.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Having completed her Six Tudor Queens series of novels on the wives of Henry VIII, extensively researched and written from each queen's point of view, Alison Weir now gives Henry himself a voice, telling the story of his remarkable thirty-six-year reign and his six marriages. Young Henry began his rule as a magnificent and chivalrous Renaissance prince who embodied every virtue. He had all the qualities to make a triumph of his kingship, yet we remember only the violence. Henry famously broke with the pope, founding the Church of England and launching a religious revolution that divided his kingdom. He beheaded two of his wives and cast aside two others. He died a suspicious, obese, disease-riddled tyrant, old before his time. His reign is remembered as one of dangerous intrigue and bloodshed—and yet the truth is far more complex. The King's Pleasure brings to life the idealistic monarch who expanded Parliament, founded the Royal Navy, modernized medical training, composed music and poetry, and patronized the arts. A passionate man in search of true love, he was stymied by the imperative to produce a male heir, as much a victim of circumstance as his unhappy wives. Had fate been kinder to him, the history of England would have been very different. Here is the story of the private man. To his contemporaries, he was a great king, a legend in his own lifetime. And he left an extraordinary legacy—a modern Britain.

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Page Count

609

Publisher

Ballantine Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0593355083

ISBN 13

9780593355084

Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession

A Novel

By: Alison Weir

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Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession

A Novel

By: Alison Weir

In this second novel of Alison Weir’s epic Six Tudor Queens series, the acclaimed author and historian weaves exciting new research into the story of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s most infamous wife, a woman ahead of her time whose very life—and death—forever changed a nation. Born into a noble English family, Anne is barely a teenager when she is sent from her family’s Hever Castle to serve at the royal court of the Netherlands. This strategic move on the part of her opportunistic father also becomes a chance for the girl to grow and discover herself. There, and later in France, Anne thrives, preferring to absorb the works of progressive writers rather than participate in courtly flirtations. She also begins to understand the inequalities and indignities suffered by her gender. Anne isn’t completely inured to the longings of the heart, but her powerful family has ambitious plans for her future that override any wishes of her own. When the King of England himself, Henry VIII, asks Anne to be his mistress, she spurns his advances—reminding him that he is a married man who has already conducted an affair with her sister, Mary. Anne’s rejection only intensifies Henry’s pursuit, but in the absence of a male heir—and given an aging Queen Katherine—the opportunity to elevate and protect the Boleyn family, and to exact vengeance on her envious detractors, is too tempting for Anne to resist, even as it proves to be her undoing. While history tells of how Anne Boleyn died, this compelling new novel reveals how fully she lived. Praise for Anne Boleyn, A King’s Obession “Superb . . . page-turning biographical fiction, hauntingly and beautifully told . . . psychologically penetrating.”—Historical Novels Review “Immaculately researched and convincing . . . This tale of Anne’s ascent and demise cannot escape comparisons with Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall series.”—The Times “A tragic, misrepresented figure, one of history’s original nasty women . . . Weir’s fictional Anne is ferociously smart and guilty of nothing but craving the power that's rightfully hers to claim.”—NPR “One of historical fiction’s most compelling and exciting portraits of the enduringly fascinating and mysterious Anne Boleyn.”—Lancashire Evening Post “As always, Weir demonstrates a keen eye for crafting dramatic scenes of beautiful, accurate detail, instilling in the reader a vivid sense of being there.”—Booklist

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Page Count

594

Publisher

Ballantine Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

110196653X

ISBN 13

9781101966532

The King's Man

By: Alison Stuart

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The King's Man

By: Alison Stuart

The second in a tantalising trilogy from award–winning author Alison Stuart, about warriors, the wounds they carry and the women that help them heal. London 1654: Kit Lovell is one of the King's men, a disillusioned Royalist who passes his time cheating at cards, living off his wealthy and attractive mistress and plotting the death of Oliver Cromwell. Penniless and friendless, Thamsine Granville has lost everything. Terrified, in pain and alone, she hurls a piece of brick at the coach of Oliver Cromwell and earns herself an immediate death sentence. Only the quick thinking of a stranger saves her. Far from the bored, benevolent rescuer that he seems, Kit plunges Thamsine into his world of espionage and betrayal – a world that has no room for falling in love. Torn between Thamsine and loyalty to his master and King, Kit's carefully constructed web of lies begins to unravel. He must make one last desperate gamble – the cost of which might be his life.

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Page Count

288

Publisher

HarperCollins Australia

Published Date

ISBN 10

1760378143

ISBN 13

9781760378141

The Passionate Tudor

A Novel of Queen Mary I

By: Alison Weir

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The Passionate Tudor

A Novel of Queen Mary I

By: Alison Weir

The New York Times bestselling author of the Six Tudor Queens series explores the dramatic and poignant life of King Henry VIII’s daughter—infamously known as Bloody Mary—who ruled England for five violent years. Born from young King Henry’s first marriage, his elder daughter, Princess Mary, is raised to be queen once it becomes clear that her mother, Katherine of Aragon, will bear no more children. However, Henry’s passion for Anne Boleyn has a devastating influence on the young princess’s future when, determined to sire a male heir, he marries Anne, has his marriage to Katherine declared unlawful, brands Mary illegitimate, and banishes them both from the royal court. But when Anne too fails to produce a son, she is beheaded and Mary is allowed to return to court as the default heir. At age twenty, she waits in vain for her own marriage and children, but who will marry her, bastard that she is? Yet Mary eventually triumphs and becomes queen, after first deposing a seventeen-year-old usurper, Lady Jane Grey, and ordering her beheading. Any hopes that Mary, as the first female queen regent of England, will show religious toleration are dashed when she embarks on a ruthless campaign to force Catholicism on the English by burning hundreds of Protestants at the stake. But while her brutality will forever earn her the name Bloody Mary, at heart she is an insecure and vulnerable woman, her character forged by the unhappiness of her early years. In Alison Weir’s masterful novel, the drama of Mary I’s life and five-year reign—from her abusive childhood, marriage, and mysterious pregnancies to the cruelty that marks her legacy—comes to vivid life.

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Page Count

529

Publisher

Ballantine Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0593355113

ISBN 13

9780593355114

Bookworms Library Teacher's Handbooks

Stage 3

By: Jennifer Bassett,Alison Baxter

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Bookworms Library Teacher's Handbooks

Stage 3

By: Jennifer Bassett,Alison Baxter

The teacher's handbooks offer an introduction to the Oxford Bookworms Library series with guidance on using graded readers, answers to the exercises in the books, photocopiable tests and an answer key.

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Page Count

132

Published Date

ISBN 10

0194231615

ISBN 13

9780194231619

Book's by Alison King

The King's Pleasure

The King's Pleasure

Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession

Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession

The King's Man

The King's Man

The Passionate Tudor

The Passionate Tudor

Bookworms Library Teacher's Handbooks

Bookworms Library Teacher's Handbooks

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