Mary Queen of Scots

‘No man ever saw her without love,’ according to the French chronicler Abbé Brantôme, ‘or will read her history without pity.’ Susan Watkins re-creates the world in which Mary lived – from the landscapes, the palaces and the courtly culture to the finer details of the domestic scene – in vivid word pictures that give life to their reflections in the real pictures which accompany them, a wealth of historical illustrations and specially taken photographs by Mark Fiennes. No other book has so graphically presented Mary’s life, one of the most poignant stories in history. ‘Remember that the theatre of the world,’ Mary told her judges in proud defiance, ‘is wider than the realm of England.’ Hers was – and is – a role on the world stage.