James VI and I, the first monarch to reign over Scotland, England and Ireland, has long endured a mixed reputation. To many, he is simply the homosexual King, the inveterate witch-roaster, the smelly sovereign who never washed, the colourless man behind the authorised Bible bearing his name, or the drooling fool whose speech could barely be understood. For too long, he has paled in comparison to his more celebrated Tudor and Stuart forebears. But who was he really? To what extent have myth, anecdote, and rumour obscured him? In this new and ground-breaking biography, James's story is laid bare and a welter of scurrilous, outrageous assumptions penned by his political opponents put to rest. What emerges is a portrait of Elizabeth I's successor as his contemporaries knew him: a gregarious, idealistic man obsessed with the idea of family, whose personal and political goals could never match up to reality. With reference to letters, libels and state papers, it casts fresh light on the personal, domestic, international and sexual politics of this misunderstood sovereign. 'A real page-turner for lovers of history' - Philippa Gregory
Beautifully written ... a unique tale told in a unique voice' - S.G. Maclean Summer, 1522. In a wave of pomp, Henry VIII's court welcomes the Imperial emperor, Charles V. Anthony Blanke, the son of the king's late 'black trumpet', John Blanke, is called to Hampton Court by his former employer, Cardinal Wolsey. The cardinal is preparing a gift for King Henry: a masque of King Arthur and the Black Knight. Anthony is to take centre stage. The festive mood, however, quickly sours. Wolsey's historian, charged with proving the king's descent from King Arthur, is found murdered, his body posed in a gruesome tableau. A reluctant Anthony is charged with investigating the affair. His mission takes him on the path trod by the historian, through ancient monastic libraries and the back streets of London. On a journey that takes him from Hampton Court to Windsor and Winchester, and which sees him lock horns with secretive monks, historian Polydore Vergil, and a new face at court, Anne Boleyn, he must discover the murderer, secure the great masque, and avoid King Henry's wrath.
Spring, 1523. Henry VIII readies England for war with France. The King's chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey, prepares to open Parliament at Blackfriars. The eyes of the country turn towards London. But all is not well in Wolsey's household. A visiting critic of the Cardinal is found brutally slain whilst awaiting an audience at Richmond Palace. He will not be the last to die. Anthony Blanke, trumpeter and groom, is once again called upon to unmask a murderer. Joining forces with Sir Thomas More, he is forced to confront the unpopularity of his master's rule. As the bodies of the Cardinal's enemies mount up around him, Anthony finds himself under suspicion. Journeying through the opulence of More's home, the magnificence of Wolsey's York Place, and the dank dungeons of London's gaols, he must discover whether the murderer of the Cardinal's critics is friend or foe. With time running out before Parliament sits, Anthony must clear his name and catch the killer before the King's justice falls blindly upon him.
A slow-burn character driven spy story that grips like a thumbscrew tightened by twist after twist towards the end - Le Carre transported to the 1560's. Brilliant work, based in impressively wide research and the kind of competition that I and a good number of others could well do without!" Peter Tonkin, author of A Stage For Murder Rebellion stirs in Elizabeth's England. In the bleak midlands, Mary Queen of Scots has begun a long imprisonment. Plots and counter-plots swirl around her. In the earl of Shrewsbury's crumbling castles, the captive queen hopes for rescue. At the heart of the earl's household is Jack Cole, a haunted and secretive figure with a dark past. Converted to Queen Mary's cause by a charismatic secretary, Jack finds himself entangled in a Catholic plot to free her. Yet the queen's household is under surveillance. Everyone is a potential spy, or is being spied upon. As Jack is drawn into the dark web of Catholic plotting, he must face a hideous truth. Meanwhile, his wife Amy must choose whether to protect her husband or betray him. Poison is poured, daggers are drawn, and guns are loaded. England's future hangs in the balance. Moving from crumbling castles to the imposing palaces of Queen Elizabeth, Jack Cole must decide where his loyalties lie - with queen, country, or wife. Recommended for fans of CJ Sampson, Rory Clements and Alison Weir. Steven Veerapen was born in Glasgow and raised in Paisley. Pursuing an interest in the sixteenth century, he was awarded a first-class Honours degree in English, focussing his dissertation on representations of Henry VIII's six wives. He then received a Masters in Renaissance studies, and a Ph.D. investigating Elizabethan slander. Steven is fascinated by the glamour and ghastliness of life in the 1500s.
A sensitive and lively account of one of the most politically significant relationships of the Elizabethan age". Lisa Hopkins, author of Essex: The Life and Times of an Elizabethan Courtier. Elizabeth I is England's most iconic queen. Born to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and declared illegitimate at two, she was also one of its unlikeliest monarchs. Though she never married, her relationships have been the stuff of Hollywood movies, biographical studies, and historical fiction. Famously a Virgin Queen, Elizabeth faced rumour, innuendo, and scandal both during her life and in the centuries since. Her relationship with her last courtly lover, however, remains mystifying. The glamorous Earl of Essex, thirty years her junior, became her inseparable companion, wrote loving letters and poetry to her, and dominated the last decade of her reign. But did he love her, or was he simply taking advantage of a vain, ageing woman? As the fabric of her reign unravelled, Elizabeth fought to keep her court under control. Using a curious system of power, patronage, and politics that had served her for decades, she struggled to maintain her hard-won sovereignty against the incursions of idealistic and factious young men. But the story of Elizabeth and Essex is not one of cynicism, and nor is it one of vanity or ambition. It is the tale of a younger man's possessive love for a woman who had to refashion herself as a new queen in an old kingdom. Theirs was a tragic game of passion, jealousy, resentment, and division. He shone in the light of the Elizabethan age, and she was its fading sun. Drawing on letters, legal records, poetry, and scholarly debates, Steven Veerapen reveals a saga of courtly love, political machination, and simmering power struggles. In doing so, he recovers Elizabeth and Essex from the mists of rumour and speculation and reveals them as they were. Essex was neither fool nor cynical manipulator, but the era's last folk hero. She was not a white-painted harridan, but an astute and beguiling woman whom time was leaving behind. The story of Elizabeth I's last years requires reassessment. By re-framing her as a woman forced into the role of history's Virgin Queen and Essex as the loving and beloved star which threatened her eclipse, Elizabeth and Essex provides a new perspective on England's most famous queen. Steven Veerapen holds a Ph.D. in Elizabethan literature and is the author of Blood Feud: The Story of Mary Queen of Scots and the Earl of Moray, A Dangerous Trade: An Elizabethan Spy Thriller and The Abbey Close Mystery Series. Praise for Steven Veerapen: "A slow-burn character driven spy story that grips like a thumbscrew tightened by twist after twist towards the end - Le Carre transported to the 1560's. Brilliant work, based in impressively wide research and the kind of competition that I and a good number of others could well do without!" Peter Tonkin, author of A Stage For Murder "Much-needed analysis of a sinister sibling rivalry." Marie Macpherson, author of The First Blast of the Trumpet
Paisley, 1542. As the armies of Henry VIII and James V prepare for battle, Catholic exile Simon Danforth must decide his loyalties. Cast out of England, he is drawn by private grief to a secretive Scottish Abbey, and the mystery of a missing girl who worked there. Though Paisley and its Abbey refuse to give up their secrets, they do give up their dead. In the tense and suspicious atmosphere of a nation at war, Danforth, in an uneasy alliance with his dogged colleague, Arnaud Martin, uncovers murder, madness, and sexual desire infecting the sacred house and its neighbouring town. With the fate of his adoptive country hanging in the balance, does he dare to uncover the unimaginable truth? Some secrets may be better left buried. The Abbey Close is the first book in a new historical crime series, featuring Simon Danforth. Recommended for fans of C.J. Sampson, S.J. Parris and Rory Clements. "A superb, page-turning debut. The author balances gimlet-eyed research with narrative drive and clever reveals... Danforth is a strong yet torn central character... I look forward to reading the second book in the series." Richard Foreman. Steven Veerapen was born in Glasgow and raised in Paisley. Pursuing an interest in the sixteenth century, he was awarded a first-class Honours degree in English, focussing his dissertation on representations of Henry VIII's six wives. He then received a Masters in Renaissance studies, and a Ph.D. investigating Elizabethan slander. The Abbey Close represents his first foray into fictional writing. Steven is fascinated by the glamour and ghastliness of life in the 1500s, and has a penchant for myths, mysteries and murders in an age in which the law was as slippery as those who defied it.
Here's my promise to you. Everything you read in these pages is my true lived experience. I'm sharing my life with you so you will be able to see what I see, know what I know, and understand what I believe. I guarantee you that, at some points along the way, you will reject my words. You'll reject what I say out of hand. I know you will. I know that my story seems crazy. I won't blame you if you don't want to listen, or if, even when you listen, you don't believe me. My words are tough words. My story is really strange. My life is like something out of a science fiction movie, only stranger even than that.
James VI and I, the first monarch to reign over Scotland, England and Ireland, has long endured a mixed reputation. To many, he is simply the homosexual King, the inveterate witch-roaster, the smelly sovereign who never washed, the colourless man behind the authorised Bible bearing his name, or the drooling fool whose speech could barely be understood. For too long, he has paled in comparison to his more celebrated Tudor and Stuart forebears. But who was he really? To what extent have myth, anecdote, and rumour obscured him? In this new and ground-breaking biography, James's story is laid bare and a welter of scurrilous, outrageous assumptions penned by his political opponents put to rest. What emerges is a portrait of Elizabeth I's successor as his contemporaries knew him: a gregarious, idealistic man obsessed with the idea of family, whose personal and political goals could never match up to reality. With reference to letters, libels and state papers, it casts fresh light on the personal, domestic, international and sexual politics of this misunderstood sovereign. 'A real page-turner for lovers of history' - Philippa Gregory
Spring, 1523. Henry VIII readies England for war with France. The King's chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey, prepares to open Parliament at Blackfriars. The eyes of the country turn towards London. But all is not well in Wolsey's household. A visiting critic of the Cardinal is found brutally slain whilst awaiting an audience at Richmond Palace. He will not be the last to die. Anthony Blanke, trumpeter and groom, is once again called upon to unmask a murderer. Joining forces with Sir Thomas More, he is forced to confront the unpopularity of his master's rule. As the bodies of the Cardinal's enemies mount up around him, Anthony finds himself under suspicion. Journeying through the opulence of More's home, the magnificence of Wolsey's York Place, and the dank dungeons of London's gaols, he must discover whether the murderer of the Cardinal's critics is friend or foe. With time running out before Parliament sits, Anthony must clear his name and catch the killer before the King's justice falls blindly upon him.
Beautifully written ... a unique tale told in a unique voice' - S.G. Maclean Summer, 1522. In a wave of pomp, Henry VIII's court welcomes the Imperial emperor, Charles V. Anthony Blanke, the son of the king's late 'black trumpet', John Blanke, is called to Hampton Court by his former employer, Cardinal Wolsey. The cardinal is preparing a gift for King Henry: a masque of King Arthur and the Black Knight. Anthony is to take centre stage. The festive mood, however, quickly sours. Wolsey's historian, charged with proving the king's descent from King Arthur, is found murdered, his body posed in a gruesome tableau. A reluctant Anthony is charged with investigating the affair. His mission takes him on the path trod by the historian, through ancient monastic libraries and the back streets of London. On a journey that takes him from Hampton Court to Windsor and Winchester, and which sees him lock horns with secretive monks, historian Polydore Vergil, and a new face at court, Anne Boleyn, he must discover the murderer, secure the great masque, and avoid King Henry's wrath.
The Lord spoke a single word; "Endure." From His following explanation came this book. Endure. is a re-proclamation of forgotten truths to a world drowning in a sea of false doctrine.
Rothman-Simeone The Spine helps you achieve optimal outcomes in the clinical practice of spine surgery in adults and children. Drs. Harry N. Herkowitz, Steven R. Garfin, Frank J. Eismont, Gordon R. Bell, Richard Balderston, and an internationally diverse group of authorities help you keep up with the fast-paced field and get the best results from state-of-the-art treatments and surgical techniques, such as spinal arthroplasty and the latest spinal implants and equipment. An all-new full-color design and surgical videos online at www.expertconsult.com make this classic text more invaluable than ever before. Get the best results from the full range of both surgical and non-surgical treatment approaches with guidance from the world’s most trusted authorities in orthopaedic spine surgery. Find important information quickly through pearls, pitfalls, and key points that highlight critical points. Watch experts perform key techniques in real time with videos, on DVD and online, demonstrating minimally invasive surgery: SED procedure; thorascopic techniques; lumbar discectomy; pedicle subtraction osteotomy (PSO); C1, C2 fusion; intradural tumor; cervical laminoforaminoty; and much more. Apply the newest developments in the field thanks to expert advice on minimally invasive surgery, spinal arthroplasty and the latest spinal implants and equipments. See procedures clearly through an all new full-color design with 2300 color photographs and illustrations placed in context. Access the fully searchable contents of text online at www.expertconsult.com.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.