Catherine de Medici: A Biography - Hardcover

Leonie Frieda

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 184212725X ISBN 13: 9781842127254

Publisher: WEIDENFELD & NICOLSO, 2004

Synopsis

Shipped from UK, please allow 10 to 21 business days for arrival. Fine, A fine copy in burgundy cloth boards, gilt title on spine, colour illustrated endpapers, with a fine dust jacket.

About this title

About the Author:

Swedish by birth, Leonie Frieda speaks five languages. This is her first book. She lives in London with her daughter and son.

From Publishers Weekly:

In 1533, 14-year-old Catherine de Medici arrived in France to marry the future king Henri II; over the next 16 years, she endured the dominance of Henri's mistress, Diane de Poitiers, and the disdain of courtiers for her family's merchant background. The sudden death of Henri launched Catherine into three decades as regent and chief adviser to three sons who ruled in succession. Frieda navigates the twists and turns of the French royal court and family with particular attention to the formation of Catherine's political skills. From her lonely childhood as a tool in the diplomacy of her powerful uncles to her carefully cultivated relationship with her father-in-law and maneuvering through shifting family alliances, the queen learned self-possession, deception and strategy. While Catherine has been maligned for her role in France's wars of religion and in particular the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, Frieda argues that Catherine attempted to reach compromise in the religious strife of her adopted country. While trying to flesh out Catherine, Frieda occasionally paints others with a too-broad brush. At times, her descriptions of Catherine's actions as emotionally or politically motivated seem arbitrary. But Frieda's portrait of Catherine is multifaceted, and her presentation of the complicated narrative of five tumultuous reigns is compelling.
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About this edition

• Publisher: WEIDENFELD & NICOLSO
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 184212725X
• ISBN 13: 9781842127254
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 440