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Philip Sidney
Philip Sidney
Oct 26, 2024 5:22 PM

Author:Alan Stewart

Philip Sidney

Courtier, poet, soldier, diplomat - Philip Sidney was one of the most promising young men of his age. Son of Elizabeth I's deputy in Ireland, nephew and heir to her favourite, Leicester, he was tipped for high office - and even to inherit the throne. But Sidney soon found himself caught up in the intricate politics of Elizabeth's court and forced to become as Machiavellian as everyone around him if he was to achieve his ambitions. Against a backdrop of Elizabethan intrigue and the battle between Protestant and Catholic for predominance in Europe, Alan Stewart tells the riveting story of Philip Sidney's struggle to suceed. Seeing that his continental allies had a greater sense of his importance that his English contamporaries, Philip turned his attention to Europe. He was made a French baron at seventeen, corresponded with leading foreign scholars, considered marriage proposals from two princesses and, at the time of his tragically early death, was being openly spoken of as the next ruler of the Netherlands.

Reviews

Marvellously readable

—— Daily Mail

The story of London's great fire is one of the set-pieces of English history. But the strength of Adrian Tinniswood's measured narrative lies in the fresh emphasis he places on its fallout

—— Andrew Holgate , Sunday Times

This book is more than just a gripping account of the great fire...with immense skill, Adrian Tinniswood uncovers the cross-currents of special interests that the disaster brought into play, many of which lend the story an almost contemporary feel

—— Christopher Hudson , Daily Mail

Admirably researched and highly evocative

—— Nicholas Seddon , Spectator

Even Pepys is too near and involved an observer to convey the full magnitude of the catastrophe. For that we need an historian, and Adrian Tinniswood's new account of the Great Fire rises impressively to the challenge

—— John Adamson , Sunday Telegraph

In recent years the British Empire has been the subject of fresh scrutiny... Now Piers Brendon brings his own sharp eye to the debate... This he does superbly: with brio and panache and, often, a mordant wit...This is a real achievement and an important one

—— Independent

The conquest of one quarter of the world's surface was, as Piers Brendon shows in disturbingly entertaining fashion, a story of massacre, famine, rape, torture and loot on a grand scale....Brendon with an acute eye for detail and the tragic-comic bon mot, serves up a veritable gorefest in which all sides slake their lusts

—— Scotland on Sunday

Both entertaining and informative, Beastly Fury is an impeccably researched book telling an enthralling story in an easily read fluent style

—— Colin Shindler, author of Manchester United Ruined My Life

Fascinating stuff

—— Football Punk

Shows that publishers continue to believe in a market for the thinking person's football book... a good historical read

—— Matt Dickinson , The Times

A fine book... well-researched and superbly written

—— Soccer and Society

This original thesis, written with style, wit and authority, explains how the beastly game became more beautiful.

—— Simon Redfern , The Independent on Sunday

Delightful... a valuable work of social history

—— Rob Attar , BBC History magazine

I have read many a prime ministerial memoir and none of the other authors has been as self-deprecating, as willing to admit mistakes and to tell jokes against themselves

—— Mary Ann Sieghart , The Independent

Paints a candid picture of his friend and rival, Gordon Brown, and of their relationship

—— Patrick Hennessy , The Sunday Telegraph
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