Mary Tudor: England's First Queen

England's first Queen is in some ways England's forgotten Queen. It's easy to find biographies of Elizabeth I and Henry VIII, but even Alison Weir hasn't paid much attention to Mary Tudor.  I can understand why, because she's more of a reactive character and a pawn than her imperious father and politically astute half-sister. Intelligent but shunted aside for much of her life and used as a weapon against her mother, she made religious orthodoxy and the unsuccessful attempt to bear and heir the focus of her reign. Whitelock brings this overlooked woman to life, though, making her more compelling than one would expect of someone so thwarted by history.