UnholyTudor

         Catherine and Anne: Rivals, Queens, Mothers  By Dr Owen Emmerson, Kate McCaffrey and Alison Palmer.               Catherine and Anne were more similar than they might have liked to agree, Anne and Catherine had the same book of hours. Owen, Kate and Alison have curated an exhibition on the books of hours that Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon both owned. Dr Owen Emmerson has kindly agreed to have an interview with me on his new book and exhibition. So, Owen, please tell us a bit about yourself first! I am a social and cultural historian and, quite frankly, a bit of a nerd. I completed three degrees at the University of Sussex under Professor Claire Langhamer and Professor Lucy Robinson. While at Sussex, I volunteered at and then worked for the Mass-Observation Archive, which I enjoyed immensely. One of my enduring fascinations is with the minutiae of everyday life, both for the privileged few in society and for ...

                 Crown and Sceptre by Tracy Borman This month I recommend this fabulous book by Tracy Borman, a history of the British monarchy from 1066 to our current monarch, Charles III. The book goes into a lot of detail on each monarch and how every monarch reigned, if they reigned well if they were successful or were a really terrible monarch.  Tracy doesn't pick favourites when it comes to each monarch, she gives a very unbiased view but is very level-headed. You end up learning a lot about each monarch so you have a general history of all the monarchs yourself. I was lucky enough to get this book for Christmas and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I can be quite slow at reading but I practically ate this book up. It is engaging, thorough and well-written. When reading about these monarchs it is interesting to see how much has changed, but also how we still have some of their royal practices hundreds of years later. This book also goes in...