A must-read … this important book is nothing short of a manual to our future King’s world-view ... and Mayer's book is the first comprehensive attempt to explore and explain what may lie ahead.

Primarily a celebration of a very special man.

A vivid and entertaining account of the extraordinary life of the man born to be King … provides us with a new picture of the heir.

[On Catherine Mayer] Shrewd, respected and notably well-disposed.

Exhaustive yet entertaining.

What does distinguish Mayer's book from many others on the same subject is its intelligence, wit and compassion. She is not uncritical of Charles – she is republican after all – but she is sympathetic to him and tries hard to understand him.

With its deep historical knowledge and eye for glittering detail, A Stain in the Blood resurrects an extraordinary adventure from the archive. In this gripping, artful take on the genre, Joe Moshenska’s biography draws a vivid portrait of this successor to Raleigh or Drake and his fascinating travels. Freighted with riches on every page, it will compel experts and general readers alike.

Joe Moshenska's superb new book gives a captivating account of how one of the most enigmatic figures of the English Renaissance cooked up his own life story. Kenelm Digby – the restless cosmopolitan polymath – knew that to wipe away the sin of his treacherous father he would have to fashion his life as a hero of romance, and A Stain in the Blood gives us the fascinating tale of how he made that new life out of a wild array of books and places. The author and subject are perfectly paired, making the reader witness to one playful and erudite mind looking into another.

Sir Kenhelm Digby’s ridiculously eventful life, most of it spent negotiating a world of dangerous political and religious differences, is a distant mirror for our age, as compellingly rendered in Joe Moshenska’s new book.

There can be no doubt that Moshenska is an erudite and engaging biographer of an individual who demonstrated these very qualities in abundance. Digby deserved to be rescued from relative obscurity and Moshenska is to commended for doing so with such verve.

Hugely enjoyable …[Sir Kenelm Digby was] one of the 17th-century’s most remarkable Englishmen … As he brings to vivid life the young man’s quest for fame, fortune and new experiences, Moshenska combines erudition and deft storytelling to great effect.

A vividly imagined portrait of Digby… A Stain in the Blood is a history full of enticing fictions… as heroic as Digby himself, Moshenska has defied the tyranny of genre, and made his own absorbing narrative.

Joe Moshenska’s splendid book – the first full-length study of Kenelm Digby for sixty years – teems with picaresque stories … Moshenska’s research is transparent and extensive. He has immersed himself in Kenelm’s writings, uncovered new letters and scrutinized the language to produce a fascinating and innovative study of early modern self-fashioning.

Successfully brings back to life a forgotten self-made man who was at the same time braggadocio and philosopher, and who seemed to live so many lives. Readers curious to learn more can only await the second half of the story.

[A] well researched, novelistic biography.

Achieves a stained glass window vividity in its portrayal of Jacobean England and of Digby himself.

Joe Moshenska’s wonderful and sparkling biography pays [Sir Kenelm Digby] fitting tribute.

[Digby’s] story has been a long time finding a narrator, but this book has been worth waiting for.

Reads like a thrilling historical novel but amazingly happens to be nonfiction.

The reason Varoufakis seems to have captured the imaginations of so many is that his words about the European crisis speak universal truths about democracy, capitalism and social policy

Like all great story tellers, Varoufakis’ literary flair is not just a function of stylistic prowess. He gets right inside the fears, desires and external constraints of the key players in the complex history of the Eurozone … Reading And The Weak Suffer What They Must? is like reading a gripping thriller. It is a page turner because the plot itself is a relentless sequence of astonishing twists and turns driven by the cunning ingenuity and hubristic folly of its key protagonists … This book is not just illuminating. It is a call to moral awakening and to intelligent, determined and humane political action

Beautifully illustrated… [It] overflows with entertaining detail.

Tinniswood uses lively local detail.

[It] combines a panoramic view of life and architecture in the interwar years with pin-sharp detail and the sort of springy prose that comes with complete command of the material.

This is a lively and hugely entertaining history… It’s packed with very funny anecdotes… A delight.

Tinniswood paints a vivid portrait of the period

A detailed and appreciated look at the phenomenon [of country houses]… Tinniswood writes elegantly, in complete charge of his material. The book is a joy to hold in your hand.

Wittily written and beautifully illustrated, Tinniswood’s book recreates a world far more peculiar, but at times rather more enviable, than any fictional version.

[A] compelling volume of social history.

[A] brilliant book about life in the English country house.

A scandal-packed glimpse into the glamourous Downton Abbey-esque world of English country houses… ****

A probing psychological account.