Book Review: The Tudor Socialite: A Social Calendar of Tudor Life, by Jan-Marie Knights

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US 

Jan-Marie Knights follows her previous book, The Plantagenet Socialite with this new venture into the world of the Tudors.  This probably explains the title and subtitle of 'A social calendar of Tudor life'. 

In fact the book is less a social calendar and more of a diary of many of the key events of the Tudor dynasty, from the Field of the Cloth of Gold to the Spanish Armada.

Some events are limited to a brief paragraph, while others have a page or two, and the book is full of fascinating 'soundbites' of the Tudor world.

None have referenced sources, and although there is a long bibliography, many of the books listed are Victorian.  Our understanding of the important social context around the key events of the Tudors has come a long way since then, and I would have liked some acknowledgement of this, perhaps with examples.

The main value of this book is therefore as a series or 'prompts' organised by date, which budding historians could use as a starting point for further research. 

Tony Riches

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About the Author

Jan-Marie Knights is an ex- editor and journalist who has worked on many newspapers and magazines and is a keen researcher of local and Tudor history. She lives in the area known as the ‘Dukeries’ with her Tonkinese cat called Ashi.