Powerful, passionate, punchy and provocative

At last a book on Liverpool with the heart and zest the city deserves . . . a cornucopia of colour and detail

The remarkable sweep and scope of this book traces the many origins and formative energies of this most anarchic, carnivalesque, promiscuous and contradictory of cities

The author has threaded his way through [a] tangled web of materials vividly to evoke for us a distinctive myth-history of the city

A melancholic peregrination through Liverpool and its history . . . the book distills a history of the slave trade, migration and the development of the port, establishing Liverpool's peculiar character via familiar themes: football, sectarianism, music, dialect, violence, dockers and the Militant tendency

A powerful and personal take on the city

A valuable and informative read

For those wanting a more grown-up experience of the Tudor past, there are few better places to start the Leanda de Lisle’s new study. Many have told this story before. What makes de Lisle’s account so fresh is her decision to start her “family story” not in 1485… but three generations earlier… Rarely has [this] story been told as well as here

Her compellingly written book not only illuminates obscure family members... but also provides fresh perspectives on some of the most familiar figures in our history... a work that elegantly combines wide-ranging research with fluent narrative

De Lisle’s masterful command of the facts – great and small – provides a complete and entertaining overview

A vibrant reappraisal of this turbulent family saga

Full of subtle revelations and fascinating detail... fine storytelling and thought-provoking analysis

It is…greatly to the credit of Leanda de Lisle that her new book on the Tudors as a family is so admirably balanced and accomplished, and full of subtle revelations and fascinating detail. The familiar faces are all here but their story is told with new insights… Fine storytelling and thought-provoking analysis

[An] illuminating portrait of our most famous royal family

Highly readable but no less scholarly

Wonderful, passionate, dangerous, fascinating stuff. I couldn't put it down

Leanda de Lisle has the gift of reminding us that history is the story of real people; real men, real women, full of rage and ambitionand lust and hope and love. The Tudors are already our most vivid dynasty, by quite a long chalk, but these pages render them more vivid still. This was an age when the game was worth the candle, when a chance remark could result in a crown or the axe. Wonderful, passionate, dangerous, fascinating stuff. I couldn't put it down

This fresh take on the Tudor dynasty is history at its best... an engaging and well-sourced account, sprinkled with provocative anecdotes that will appeal to both scholars and general readers... This compelling tale is driven by three-dimensional people and relationships, and de Lisle does a fantastic job of making them feel lived and dramatic

Reveals an entirely new perspective on one of England's most fascinating dynasties

A very lucid, entertaining and excellent read

A thrilling, intelligent and fresh royal history that sweeps from the family’s unlikely beginnings in the 1420s to their apotheosis under Elizabeth

The compelling story of the Tudors is vividly brought to life in de Lisle's narrative

This should now be the go-to book for those looking for a broad understanding of the Tudors

De Lisle's energy and stamina in this vast operation are truly impressive. What is more, she tells an often thrilling story with great dexterity... Altogether, this remarkable achievement puts de Lisle firmly in the front rank of popular historians of the period

Unlike many books that claim to tell the story of the Tudors, but focus mainly on four characters (namely Henry VIII and his three children who all ruled England after him), this excellent book includes so many members of the Tudor family who may not always be forgotten, but are often sidelined