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GRISTWOOD, SARAH: : Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe

LONDON.Oneworld Publications,2016.

ISBN 9781780749945.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn. FINE/FINE. No owner inscrptn and no price removal from dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,wrap-around matt black background with to front of dw/dj 2 Queens' colour portrait reproduction illustrations,each with gilt decoration [top - Margaret of Austria, lower - Queen unidentified/not credited], author's capitalised,gilt-lettered name at top edge,bright,crisp gilt-lettered part-title to right side of top portrait; white-lettered sub-title to left side of lower portrait and a critic's review [Alison Weir] at front's bottom edge.Spine/backstrip with gilt-lettered part-title,author's capitalised,gilt-lettered name with gilt decoration underneath,and publisher's capitalised,white-lettered partial name and white illustrated colophon to foot of same,rear panel of dw/dj with capitalised,gilt-lettered straplines,each line separated with two gilt decoratios beneath two of the three lines,3rd line with similar decoration but in red,3 critics' white+red-lettered reviews [Jessie Childs, Alison Weir and Kate Williams,author of Storms of War.] Negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners no nicks,tears or splits present. Top+fore-edges bright crisp and clean without ageing/toning or foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine without any dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,seems unread other than my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered - exception of front's bumped top corner - original,plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt-lettered spine and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn,viii-xlpp+4-374pp [paginated] includes a Contents list/table,Game of Queens Who's Who,a Chronology,author's Preface,Pts 1-VII comprising 8, 6, 11, 5, 6, 6, and 2 chapters respectively,8pp contemporary colour portrait and illustration paintings reproductions in 1 block,between pp150/51,a Postscript,a Note on Sources,Acknowledgements, Notes and an Index.Plus [unpaginated] half-title +title pages,a dedication,3 genealogical Family trees: Kings and Queens of England and Scotland, France and Spain and the Habsburg Empire respectively.                               Visually,the external appearance is exceptional,and particularly internally,is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation.It really is an exceptional,exemplary example for it's brightnesss,cleanliness and lack of age-acquired detracting faults.                                When chess was first played, all the human figures were male.Only around the eight century did the Queen appear and not until the sixteenth century did the Queen become the most powerful piece in chess. Credit for this development is given to Isabella of Spain, the "warrior queen," herself a skillful and enthusiastic chess player. Coincidentally, from Isabella's accession to the throne in 1474 through the next hundred years, an 'Age of Queens' flourished to a degree not seen before or since, with women on the thrones of many European countries.Both the influence of chess and Isabella of Spain feature heavily in Game of Queens.                        Though few of the female regents met one another, the passage of power and influence (including strategic chess plays) flowed from mothers to daughters and from mentors to protegees, across borders and across generations. The stories of some of the greatest (and hated) queens are told here (in an amusing author's note,Gristwood points out that in a story with sixteen protagonists, eight of them are named either Mary or Margaret and she absolves herself of responsibility for any confusion that may result).                      Against a backdrop of religious reformations and the innovations of the new age,the author deftly shows how the explosion of female rule came about, of the machinations and power plays behind the thrones, and how the Age of Queens ultimately played out; and not unsurprisingly, fidelity and fertility were used to create scandals that threatened to topple each Queen.   From Isabella of Castile and her granddaughter Mary Tudor, to Catherine de Medici, Anne Boleyn, and Elizabeth Tudor, what could be a dry examination of policy and power becomes, in the author's hands, a lively, accessible, occasionally hilarious, absorbing account of an astonishing era. [Reviewer.]                    Please contact the seller,particularly ALL overseas buyers,for correct [insured,or uninsured at own risk] shipping/P+p quotes BEFORE placing your order, especially if ordering any multiples. N.B. ALL buyers please note,stock(s') shipping quotes are adjusted for any refunds AFTER receipt of order and BEFORE the despatch of the order,especially if the item is offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: US Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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