Game of Queens

"Densely packed with fascinating material, this immensely ambitious undertaking succeeds triumphantly."
—Literary Review (UK)

"A fascinating work of world and women's history."—Booklist

"Gristwood's fresh take on a well-documented period and the achievements, failures, and relationships of some of Europe's most powerful players is intriguing, cohesive, and accessible."—Publishers Weekly

"[Game of Queens] casts a well-researched time period in an intriguing light.... Readers of popular history, especially of Tudor England, and of women's history will find much to enjoy."—Library Journal

"Sarah Gristwood handles multiple narrative strands with tremendous finesse, dexterously synthesizing the stories of women who, in many cases, never met but whose lives intertwined in manifold ways."—Literary Review (UK)

"Game of Queens is a magnificent exploration of a most remarkable group--the women who ruled sixteenth century Europe. Sarah Gristwood gives us impeccable research, incisive attention to detail, and exquisite writing as she investigates these truly fascinating women and their lives of courage, tribulation, and determination. Absolutely unputdownable."—Kate Williams, authorof England's Mistress

"Sarah Gristwood's study of the brilliant, beleaguered, and often bloody difficult women who kept Europe going in the sixteenth century is compelling, clear-eyed, beautifully rendered, and never-more-timely."—JessieChilds, author of God's Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England

"In her elegant and engaging style, she combines incisive detail with over-arching and eye-opening themes of queenship and the role of women in a male-dominated world. This book is a wonderful, timely contribution to our understanding of the period, and a pacy and illuminating good read."—Alison Weir, authorof The Lost Tudor Princess