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Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII
Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII | Gareth Russell
8 posts | 4 read | 23 to read
Written with an exciting combination of narrative flair and historical authority, this interpretation of the tragic life of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, breaks new ground in our understanding of the very young woman who became queen at a time of unprecedented social and political tension and whose terrible errors in judgment quickly led her to the executioner's block. On the morning of July 28, 1540, as King Henry's VIII's former confidante Thomas Cromwell was being led to his execution, a teenager named Catherine Howard began her reign as queen of a country simmering with rebellion and terrifying uncertainty. Sixteen months later, the king's fifth wife would follow her cousin Anne Boleyn to the scaffold, having been convicted of adultery and high treason. The broad outlines of Catherine's career might be familiar, but her story up until now has been incomplete. Unlike previous accounts of her life, which portray her as a naive victim of an ambitious family, this compelling and authoritative biography will shed new light on Catherine Howard's rise and downfall by reexamining her motives and showing her in her context, a milieu that goes beyond her family and the influential men of the court to include the aristocrats and, most critically, the servants who surrounded her and who, in the end, conspired against her. By illuminating Catherine's entwined upstairs/downstairs worlds as well as societal tensions beyond the palace walls, the author offers a fascinating portrayal of court life in the sixteenth century and a fresh analysis of the forces beyond Catherine's control that led to her execution--from diplomatic pressure and international politics to the long-festering resentments against the queen's household at court. Including a forgotten text of Catherine's confession in her own words, color illustrations, family tree, map, and extensive notes, Young and Damned and Fair changes our understanding of one of history's most famous women while telling the compelling and very human story of complex individuals attempting to survive in a dangerous age.
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Librarybelle
Librarybelle
Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII | Gareth Russell
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Catherine Howard has been portrayed as a #dramaqueen in history…youthful, flamboyant, a massive flirt, and supposedly “broke” Henry VIII‘s heart with her affairs. Also, she‘s a distant relation to Anne Boleyn.

The tagged book has been on my tbr, and it‘s about time to read it!

Confession: I love Matchbox Twenty - talk about ‘90s alt music. She‘s So Mean is from about 10 years ago. Definite drama queen. The video is a riot. #TitlesAndTunes

tagged users iconCinfhen, BarbaraBB
Cinfhen Excellent choices!!! Im really loving all the #TitlesAndTunes 💜🎶😁 8mo
Deblovestoread I am a Matchbox Twenty fan, too, so I love your song choice. And after seeing The Six, want to read your book choice. Win-win for me😃 8mo
LibrarianRyan love, Matchbox 20 is resurfacing after the Barbie movie. Push becomes Kens anthem 8mo
See All 8 Comments
Librarybelle Thanks, @Cinfhen ! 8mo
Librarybelle @Deblovestoread Thank you!! And yes, it was thanks to seeing The Six that I thought of Catherine Howard! 8mo
Librarybelle @LibrarianRyan I know! I still have to see the movie, but I thought it was so awesome that Ken has a connection with Push! 8mo
Centique Oooh im so interested in this book! My book club read The Fifth Queen by Ford Maddox Ford many years ago and I was so fascinated by Katherine (having read so much more about Henrys first three wives) AND ive always loved Matchbox 20 and Rob Thomas 😍 Great picks! 8mo
Librarybelle @Centique Oh! I have not read The Fifth Queen yet! I know a bit more about the first three wives, too, so this will be a treat. Thanks!! 8mo
72 likes1 stack add8 comments
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Sophronisba
Sophronisba
Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII | Gareth Russell
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Two thoughts:

I'm genuinely impressed that Gareth Russell managed to squeeze 650 pages out of a not-that-interesting woman who died while she was still in her teens.

I cannot get over the sheer number of people whose lives were ruined because a flighty teenager got bored with her middle-aged husband and started a flirtmance with an ex-boyfriend.

Tamra You have patience! 1y
Sophronisba @Tamra it's a really good book! Russell is a good writer and everything about the Tudor court mores and intrigue is super-interesting. But Catherine herself was just an unremarkable teenager who happened to catch the eye of the king. 1y
17 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Librarybelle
Librarybelle
Young and Damned and Fair: the Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry Viii | Gareth Russell
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We all know Henry VIII lusted over captivating women. We also all know how much he wanted sons. There can certainly be a debate for each of his wives, people chanting #DontMarryHer , based on allegiances and power. This is a recent biography of his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, who was actually related to Anne Boleyn, his second wife. Both suffered from the same fate... #ayupaugust

tagged users iconCinfhen, squirrelbrain
TrishB 👍🏻 I choose Anne Boleyn! 5y
Crazeedi I think I want to read this! Sounds good! 5y
Cinfhen Gotta love the royals 😍 5y
squirrelbrain More likely #dontmarryhim- I wouldn‘t have done anyway! 😁 5y
103 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Emmalibby
Emmalibby
Young and Damned and Fair: the Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry Viii | Gareth Russell
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Day 1 Most anticipated read: Young and Damned and Fair by Gareth Russell
I got this for Christmas and I'm so excited to read it. I'm always a little wary of male historians writing about women in history but I've already started reading the first chapter and it looks good so far.
I'm going to try to complete the #janinbooks18 challenge but I usually terrible at completing them! #readingchallenge #whatireadin2018 #history #nonfiction

7 likes4 stack adds
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Lissa00
Lissa00
Young and Damned and Fair: the Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry Viii | Gareth Russell
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Pickpick

The author's well-researched account of Catherine Howard is nicely written and he portrays a completely human young woman who made mistakes but is not the promiscuous vixen often imagined in literature. I really enjoyed this!

76 likes4 stack adds
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Lissa00
Lissa00
Young and Damned and Fair: the Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry Viii | Gareth Russell
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I am just starting on this Netgalley score. I'm, somehow, always up for some Tudor history and this looks SO interesting.

83 likes4 stack adds
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dolleygurl
dolleygurl
Young and Damned and Fair: the Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry Viii | Gareth Russell
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This beauty arrived at my door today! While in general I'm Tudor-ed out, I love that this is about Catherine Howard and will devour this. Thanks Simon & Schuster!

4 likes
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KarenaFagan
KarenaFagan
Young and Damned and Fair: the Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry Viii | Gareth Russell
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I have a thing for the Tudor reign. Interesting to read a perspective about Catherine instead of her cousin Anne Boleyn. Out 4/4/17 #booksandleggings #arc #galley #nonfiction

BiblioNyan I feel like there are soooo many books about Anne but not many about his other wives. Interested to see what you think of it when you're finished. 😊 7y
20 likes1 comment