GAME OF QUEENS: THE WOMEN WHO MADE SIXTEENTH CENTURY EUROPE

A fascinating account of the explosion of female rule in the sixteenth century when an extraordinary group of women rose to power. They governed nations while kings fought in foreign lands, ruled on behalf of nephews, brothers and sons and negotiated peace between their warring nations. From mother to daughter and mentor to protegee, Sarah Gristwood follows the passage of power from Isabella of Castile and Anne de Beaujeu through Anne Boleyn - the woman who tipped England into religious reform - and on to Elizabeth I and Jeanne d'Albret, heroine of the Protestant Reformation.