"The Rival Queens: Catherine de Medici, Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Sparked a Kingdom" by Nancy Goldstone

Brenda J. Mcquade: Interesting

Canada on Nov 09, 2023

jochi Schuhberger: I have always been interested in the fall of the Valois and after seeing a very good movie about Queen Margot I had been looking for a not sensationalized history of her and her mother, Katherine she Medici.

Canada on Jun 25, 2023

H. Barca: Nancy Goldstone wrote a historical book that reads like a thriller. The best historical book on the subject of Queen Margot I have read. A fantastic read. The Game of Thrones type plots described in this historical account are fascinating as much for the sophistication of the court plots as they are for the grizzly nature of the humans involved in them.

Canada on Jul 01, 2022

markb: This book gives a vivid description of aristocratic life in sixteenth century France - a period of religious war and shifting political and personal alliances. Certainly Goldstone's account explains how life in the Tudor court would have been relatively calm in comparison to the intrigues across the Channel.

At the heart of the book is a dissection of the troubled relationship between Catherine de Medici and her daughter Marguerite, wife of Henry of Navarre. Goldstone's sympathies are clearly with daughter rather than mother. Catherine emerges as a schemer whose diplomacy and manipulations preserved the rule of her dynasty at a cost to anyone who got in her way, including Marguerite. She on the other hand is presented as more balanced, capable of loyalty to her younger brother and her indifferent, sometime hostile, husband. Marguerite was also a competent diplomat and patron of the arts. The story also offers readers detailed characterisations of the French kings and nobility.

This is history driven by the psychology of powerful personalities, rather than by wider social, economic or political factors. Nevertheless, the fast paced narrative does justice to the...

United Kingdom on Jul 22, 2016

eledavf Vivian: The author writes in a lively fashion, always taking care to be understood by the reader. The historical characters are clearly delineated, sometimes in only a few well-chosen words, and among the many Henrys and Henries she is careful to distinguish one from another at all times, which most historians neglect to do. Her sardonic humor adds to the liveliness and the enjoyment of this history.

This book gives an understanding of the rivalries among the French royal family, the Guise branch of the family, and the Navarre royal family, all of them contending bitterly either for the throne or to control the direction of the country particularly as to the struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism. Interestingly, the relationships among siblings in the French royal family itself were full of duplicity and jealousy. This history sets all of that out in far more detail than one perhaps ever encounters elsewhere. That is the great value of this book.

Catherine de' Medici is usually depicted as meticulously and malevolently planning her every move, but here she is presented as tacking constantly to adapt to circumstances beyond her control, at first a survivor more than...

United States on Mar 23, 2016

Fred P.: An account of the two queens of France at the time of St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of Huguenots in Paris and the subsequent War of the Three Henrys. Catherine has a harrowing childhood as her famous family rises and falls and rises again in the turmoil of Italian politics, ending up as the wife of a younger brother of the French heir apparent. Further complicated by the fact that her husband is enamored with his mistress, so that Catherine must cozy up to her to gain compliance in efforts to get her husband an heir when he ends up as King Henry II. The meek queen’s oldest son becomes king, but then his death puts the child Charles IX on the throne. Here CdM deftly takes charge relegating the powerful Guise clan to the marginal background. In the process she tries to mediate between Catholics and Huguenots after the latter gain that name for their worthless performance in an attempted coup. This is a near disaster as her compromise dissatisfies both sides while Duke Guise seems about to take charge – when he is fortuitously assassinated by a Huguenot with a grudge. The author suggests this is a key lesson in the effectiveness of that technique. CdM ends up flirting with both...

United States on Oct 12, 2015

Henry H8: This is a truly fascinating account of the rivalry between Catherine De Medici, Queen of France and her daughter - "Margot", Queen of Navarre. This witty and intelligent book (which includes some quite amusing asides and commentary) focuses on a relatively little known period of 16th century French history. The earlier sections of the book are particularly gripping as Nancy Goldstone describes the very dysfunctional marriage of Henri II and Catherine - very much a case of "three people in this marriage". The book does lose some momentum and becomes more complicated as it goes on but remains a worthwhile read to the end. You can only feel sorry for "Margot" as she has to content with the mother, husband and brother from hell!

United Kingdom on Oct 12, 2015

LakeBabe: This is not at all what I thought it would be.....historical fiction told in a story form. It is the account of history as told by the author...a historical accounting of that time in history. Nothing much to let the reader enjoy as a story. Sadly disappointed. Do not recommend if you like historical fiction. ...............I had to go back and revise this first review....it is a much better book and story than I was first lead to think. True it is not historical fiction like I wanted , but it is a very good and well written historical epic of intrigue, sex and political treachery. Very interestingly written and enjoyed learning so much about the history of the French court during this time period. They were all schemers and no one was to be trusted....

United States on Jul 20, 2015