Every week Tanzanite features upcoming historical fiction
and history related non-fiction books that have come to her attention and may
be of interest to others. Since she has
an out of control TBR pile, so should everyone else!
Three Medieval Queens by Lisa Benz St. John. Non-fiction. US release June 5, 2012.
This book is an innovative study offering the first examination of how three fourteenth-century English queens, Margaret of France, Isabella of France, and Philippa of Hainault, exercised power and authority. It takes advantage of a previously unstudied period of medieval queenship in which three queens, whose time as consorts and dowagers in England overlapped, creating a continuous transition from one queen to the next, and thus providing a unique opportunity to form conclusions about normative queenly behaviour and political culture. This study frames its examination around four major themes: gender; status; the concept of the crown; and power and authority.
Kingdom by Jack Hight. UK release July 19, 2012 (reposted with cover)
1164. The young warrior Saladin joins a Saracen army headed for Egypt. He finds there a land of wonders - from the ancient pyramids and the towering lighthouse of Alexandria, to the caliph's luxurious palace - but also a land of unparalleled danger. In Egypt, no one can be trusted, not even his family. Saladin is surrounded by enemies and haunted by a secret that threatens to destroy him.
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Saladin's closest friend, the former crusader John of Tatewic, has been branded traitor. Spared execution on condition that he serves King Amalric, he soon finds himself embroiled in court intrigue. Dark forces within Jerusalem conspire to seize the throne. As John confronts them, his loyalty to Amalric, and to his old friend Saladin, is put to the test.
Time’s Echo by Pamela Hartshorne. UK release August 30, 2012.
Sometimes the past just won't let go . . .
York , 1575: Hawise Aske smiles at a stranger in the market, and sets in train a story of obsession and sibling jealousy, of love and hate and warped desire. Drowned as a witch, Hawise pays a high price for that smile, but for a girl like her in Elizabethan York, there is nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. Four and a half centuries later, Grace Trewe, who has travelled the world, is trying to outrun the memories of being caught up in the Boxing Day tsunami. Her stay in York is meant to be a brief one. But in York Grace discovers that time can twist and turn in ways she never imagined. Drawn inexorably into Hawise’s life, Grace finds that this time she cannot move on. Will she too be engulfed in the power of the past?
The Unfaithful Queen by Carolly Erickson. US and UK release September 18, 2012.
Amid the turbulent, faction-ridden late reign of the fearsome Henry, eager high-spirited Catherine Howard caught the king's eye—but not before she had been the sensual plaything of at least three other men. Ignorant of her past, seeing only her youthful exuberance and believing that she could make him happy, he married her—only to discover, too late, that her heart belonged to his gentleman usher Tom Culpeper.
As the net of court intrigue tightens around her, and with the Tudor succession yet again in peril because of Prince Edward's severe illness, Queen Catherine struggles to give the angry, bloated and impotent king a son. But when her relations turn against her, she finds herself doomed, just as her cousin Anne Boleyn was, to face the executioner.
The Unfaithful Queen lays bare the dark underbelly of the Tudor court, with its sugared rivalries and bitter struggles for power, where a girl of noble family could find herself sent to labor among the turnspits in the kitchens or—should fortune favor her—be exalted to the throne.
The Border Lord by Lyn Andrews. UK release September 27, 2012.
From the bestselling author Lyn Andrews comes a compelling historical epic set at the endlessly fascinating Tudor court about the most infamous woman of the age - Anne Boleyn - and the man who loved her before she became queen.
From the moment Henry Percy, the future Earl of Northumberland, first glimpses the beautiful Anne Boleyn he is captivated and quickly proposes marriage. Anne has been taught to use her charms to her advantage and to secure her family's position of power at court. She sees that Henry Percy's affection is sincere and agrees to marry him.
But a match of the heart has no place in a world where marriage is a political manoeuvre. Torn apart, the lovers are exiled to separate ends of the kingdom. For Henry a lifetime of duty awaits, while he remains true to the only woman he will ever love. But he is not the only man to be bewitched by Anne. And when King Henry VIII determines to make her his queen, the course of history is changed for ever...
Untitled by Bernard Cornwell. UK release September 27, 2012.
A fascinating hero, the pursuit of a sword of mythical power and one of England’s greatest and least known battles – a remarkable novel by Britain’s master storyteller .
Thomas of Hookton, a veteran of Crecy and many other battles, is the leader of a mercenary company of bowmen and men-at-arms who ravage the countryside east of Gascony.
Edward, Prince of Wales, later to be known as the Black Prince, is assembling an army to fight the French once more but before Thomas can join, he must fulfill an urgent task.
La Malice, a sword of mythical power guaranteeing victory to its owner, is thought to be concealed somewhere near Poitiers. With signs that a battle between the English and the French is looming others are seeking the treasure too, and some – French, Scots and even English – are pursuing their private agendas against Thomas.
But all – Thomas of Hookton, his enemies and friends and the fate of La Malice – become swept up in the extraordinary confrontation that follows, as the large French army faces the heavily outnumbered English to battle.
A Plague of Lies by Judith Rock. US and UK release October 2, 2012.
Madame de Maintenon is King Louis XIV’s second wife. The daughter of a minor noble of ill-repute, she has not forgiven the king’s Jesuit confessor for encouraging him to withhold the title of Queen from her. To placate her, the prestigious Louis le Grand Jesuit school has sent a delegation— including her distant relation Pere Jouvancy and rhetoric teacher Charles du Luc—to Versailles with a gift of reliquary.
The Sun King’s palace is spectacular, but the delegation’s visit grows darker and darker. On their first night, a courtier dies, and court whispers claim poison. Then the Jesuits fall direly ill, and a palace gardener is found murdered. Now, fear grips a court where everyone has secrets to hide...
Victory at Yorktown by Newt Gingrich. US and UK release October 30, 2012.
It is 1781, and Washington and his army have spent three years in a bitter stalemate, engaging in near constant skirmishing against the British. The enemy position in New York City is too strong, all approaches blocked by the Royal Navy. At last, two crucial reports reach Washington. The first is that the French have briefly committed a fleet to the American coast. The second is that British General Cornwallis, driven to distraction by protracted warfare in the Carolinas, has withdrawn into Yorktown. Washington decides to embark on one of the most audacious moves in American military history. He will force-march nearly his entire army south more than three hundred miles, in complete secrecy, counting on a blockade of the Chesapeake Bay by the French navy, fall upon Cornwallis, and capture his entire force. It is a campaign ladened with “ifs” but the stalemate must be broken, otherwise America, after six long years of war, will crumble.
Sgt. Peter Wellsley must pave the way for the army, neutralizing any loyalists who might provide warning. On the other side, Allen Van Dorn receives reports from civilians that something is afoot and is tasked to find out what. As Wellsley moves to block any leaks, Van Dorn tries to penetrate the screen. When one of the former friends is captured, both must decide where their true loyalties lie during the heat of the Battle of Yorktown, as Washington’s professional army, once a “rabble in arms,” executes the war’s most decisive contest.
The Gilded Lily by Deborah Swift. US release November 27, 2012 (reposted with US release date, cover and updated summary); UK release September 13, 2012.
A spellbinding historical novel of beauty and greed and surprising redemption
England, 1660. Ella Appleby believes she is destined for better things than slaving as a housemaid and dodging the blows of her drunken father. When her employer dies suddenly, she seizes her chance--taking his valuables and fleeing the countryside with her sister for the golden prospects of London. But Londen may not be the promised land she expects. Work is hard to find, until Ella takes up with a dashing and dubious gentleman with ties to the London underworld. Meanwhile, her old employer's twin brother is in hot pursuit of the sisters.
Set in a London of atmospheric coffee houses, gilded mansions, and shady pawnshops hidden from rich men’s view, Deborah Swift's The Gilded Lily is a dazzling novel of historical adventure.
The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis. US and UK release September 11, 2012 (reposted with cover).
A sweeping, intense historical thriller starring two of the great minds of Renaissance Italy: Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci. Based on a real historical mystery, and involving serial murder and a gruesome cat and mouse game at the highest levels of the Church.
This brilliant novel is an epic tale exploring the backdrop of the most controversial work of the Italian Renaissance, The Prince. Here, Niccolò Machiavelli, the great "scientist" of human behaviour becomes, in effect, the first criminal profiler, while his contemporary and sometime colleague, the erratic genius Leonardo da Vinci, brings his observational powers to the increasingly desperate hunt for a brilliant, terrifying serial murderer. Their foil and partner is the exquisite Damiata, scholar and courtesan. All three know their quarry is someone who holds enormous power, both to tear Italy apart, and
destroy each of their most beloved dreams. And every thrilling step is based on historical fact.
Between Love and Honor by Alexandra Lapierre. UK release April 10, 2012 (reposted with cover).
Jamal Eddin Shamil is only eight years old when he is stolen from his native Caucasus Mountains and whisked away by Russian soldiers to the glittering court at St. Petersburg. There Czar Nicholas takes a special interest in his exotic Muslim hostage, the eldest son of Chechen warrior chief Imam Shamil. In St. Petersburg, Jamal Eddin is immersed in imperial life, educated alongside the czar’s own sons and gradually maturing into the consummate courtier. Through it all, he remains true to the Muslim faith of his father—until he falls in love with a beautiful Russian aristocrat. To marry her he must convert to Christianity, a sacrifice Jamal Eddin is prepared to make for the woman he loves. But he doesn’t realize that there are greater forces at work, forces that have lain in wait for Jamal Eddin to come of age and serve the purpose for which he was groomed. And when he is called to return to his native land and take his rightful place as leader of the Muslims, Jamal Eddin must choose: reject his people to follow his heart or abandon his bride to fulfill his duty.
Based on an astonishing true story, Between Love and Honor is a sweeping historical novel in the grand style of Alexandre Dumas and a breathtaking love story of sacrifice and devotion.
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