Title: Traitors of the Tower
Genre: History
Year: 2010
Pages: 80
Origin: Bought for 99p from an Oxfam Bookshop
Nod Rating: 2 nods out of 5
Is there anything that Alison Weir does not know about the Tudor age? The Worm had the pleasure of recently reading one of her larger works – Elizabeth the Queen (see the link for the review below) – earlier this year. Another addition to the Worm’s book shelf places her in competition with another popular Tudor historian: the smug and inflammatory David Starkey. But where Starkey appears convinced that he must shout as loud as possible, Weir takes a different approach: an aim to simply tell a good story.
As such, Weir’s books have grown in popularity in the past decade. This particular book – Traitors of the Tower – is no more than a taster of her bigger, meatier works or research. Published as part of the ongoing series Quick Reads, it hopes to add to the growing catalogue of books that will hook in new and uninitiated readers across the land. As the Quick Reads website (see below for a link) promote, they are ‘bite sized books by big name authors and celebrities. They are perfect to engage people with reading as they are short and use clear language but still have fast-paced, brilliant storylines.’
Weir – a true big name in historical reading circles – has chosen to focus on short chapters on those who succumbed to the scaffold during the reign of various Tudor kings (and the last Plantagenet), extending from unfortunate Lord Hastings in 1483 to the bold and foolish Earl of Essex under Queen Elizabeth in 1601. In a fast paced tour, Weir brings in the back story and the downfall of the seven protagonists. Many have been told – and in greater detail and space – many times before, including the likes of Anne Boleyn and her ‘little neck’ as well as the intriguing case of England’s nine day queen Lady Jane Grey (Paul Delaroche’s 1833 painting The Execution of Lady Jane Grey adorning the cover of the book). Of greater interest is Weir’s focus on Margaret Pole, whose death strikes a chord with the still lingering influence of the Wars of the Roses a century earlier.
The book – like most in the Quick Reads catalogue – is one of style over substance. Little analysis can be added in ten pages per chapter, besides that of a nuts and bolts narrative that is more akin to a Wikipedia article than a book. More annoyingly is Weir’s choice of language throughout: simplicity is the conscious method here, as if Weir is writing for children readers rather than those who are less inclined to pick up a book.
The Quick Reads agenda is a commendable one; but as can be expected, eighty “bite sized” pages are hardly enough of a meal when a reader is ravenous to find out more. For those who wish to read a book by Weir, her other involving reads are available and strongly recommended. Traitors of the Tower is one to leave to hook the uninitiated book worms that walk among us.
Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Traitors-Tower-Quick-Read-ebook/dp/B0038AUYEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350069963&sr=8-1
Read the review of Elizabeth the Queen here:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/elizabeth-queen-alison-weir.html
Find out more about Quick Reads here:
http://www.quickreads.org.uk/what-are-quick-reads/introduction
