Private Lives of the Tudors (Borman) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
For Borman, the intimate particulars of everyday life are what help the past come bracingly, stirringly alive. Her full-quivered social history of the Tudor monarchs—Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I—who, beginning in 1485, constituted one of the most celebrated royal families of all time, furnishes readers with a "Hey, did you know...?" on almost every page.... Social history lives and dies in the integrity of its details, and this authoritative work teems with well-sourced material, presenting the Tudor world with a particular focus on the personal habits and strengths of its women, making the claim that "the art of majesty was as evident behind closed doors as it was in public."
Jean Zimmerman - New York Times Book Review


[A] fascinating, detailed account.... Borman ranges far and wide in her quest to throw light on what the Tudor kings and queens ate, what they wore, what they did with their days and how they spent their nights.... This is a book of rich scholarship. Tracy Borman...knows her Tudor history inside out.
Daily Mail (UK)


Borman approaches her topic with huge enthusiasm and a keen eye.... All good fun. And there is plenty of it.... Borman really succeeds when she uses her store of homely tidbits to recast our perceptions of Tudors we thought we knew.... This is a very human story of a remarkable family, full of vignettes that sit long in the mind.
Sunday Times (UK)


Tracy Borman’s eye for detail is impressive; the book is packed with fascinating courtly minutiae.... [Borman is] a very good historian and this is a wonderful book.
London Times (UK)


Like Alison Weir...Borman is an authoritative and engaging writer, good at prising out those humanizing details that make the past alive to us.
Guardian (UK)


[T]he amount of detail about the rarefied world that the Tudors inhabited can be overwhelming, but she does unearth some obscure and intriguing tidbits that have been overlooked by other historians.... Borman’s fine book goes far toward humanizing [them].
Publishers Weekly


[T]his work uniquely focuses on the minutiae of court life and the personal, behind-the-scenes details of Tudor royals.... Borman's history expands well beyond public knowledge to the definite delight of Tudor fans. —Katie McGaha, County of Los Angeles P.L.
Library Journal


Amusing, well-researched.... A mostly entertaining mixture of esoteric social history and well-known details of the personal lives of Tudor monarchs.
Kirkus Reviews