Posts Tagged ‘Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England’

21
Dec

NSW Branch meets for a Book Club

   Posted by: Judy Howard    in Meetings, NSW Branch News

The NSW Branch held its 1st Book Club at the Members’ Meeting on 8 June 2019 and it was a very lively and stimulating discussion.  It was so successful the Committee decided that the Book Club will become an annual event.

The books reviewed at our Book Club this year were: –

  1. “Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England” by Thomas Penn
  2. “The Devil in Ermine” by Isolde Martyn
NSW Branch meets for a Book Club

Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England

The “Winter King” was acknowledged as not an easy read due to the writing style and terminology used by Penn.  The book was a more scholarly read and the narrative was not necessarily chronological, however Members persevered, and a very interesting picture of Henry VII arose, one that we may not have previously understood.  Henry VII emerged as a paranoid, secretive, devious and duplicitous individual who would stop at nothing to hold on to his crown and fill his treasury – he was unsentimental towards those who had served him well and subsequently, had fallen from favour.  Henry was avaricious and Penn’s narrative about how this was enacted was revealing.  Although it was hard going, the majority of the book club members finished the book, and all acknowledged they found it interesting and learnt from the experience.

NSW Branch meets for a Book Club

The Devil in Ermine

“The Devil in Ermine” was acknowledged as excellent, as we have all come to expect from Isolde.  Isolde’s story on the Duke of Buckingham and his revolt was well researched and very informative about this troubling and treasonous event during the reign of Richard III.  Isolde made this complex event into an easy to read and understand narrative that brought to light a treacherous, inexperienced, reactive and emotional character in Buckingham that seriously threatened Richard III and his reign.

We look forward to the next Book Club, to be held on Saturday 4 April 2020.  The Books we will be reading are:

  1. “Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses” by Sarah Gristwood
  2. “Women of the Cousins’ War: The Real White Queen and Her Rivals” by Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin and Michael Jones

Please join us!

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