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Open Letters Review

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Open Letters Review

Open Letters Review

An Arts & Literature Review

Open Letters Review

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September 16, 2023

Fool by Peter Andersson

September 16, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
Fool by Peter Andersson

A study of what it meant to be a fool at King Henry VIII’s court.

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September 16, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, History
Steve Donoghue, Biography, English Monarchy, Princeton University Press, 2023
January 07, 2023

Tudor England by Lucy Wooding

January 07, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
Tudor England by Lucy Wooding

A big, bustling new history of the Tudor age.

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January 07, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Lucy Wooding, Tudor England, English Monarchy, English history, Steve Donoghue, 2023
April 27, 2021

The Crown in Crisis by Alexander Larman

April 27, 2021/ Peggy Kurkowski
The Crown in Crisis by Alexander Larman

Alexander Larman recounts the story of the Abdication Crisis.

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April 27, 2021/ Peggy Kurkowski/
History
The Crown in Crisis, Abdication Crisis, Alexander Larman, Queen Elizabeth II, The Duke of Windsor, House of Windsor, English Monarchy, Peggy Kurkowski
November 14, 2019

King Charles by Robert Jobson

November 14, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
King Charles by Robert Jobson

An enthusiastic new biography of the heir apparent to the Throne.

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November 14, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, History
Prince Charles, British Royal Family, English Monarchy, Robert Jobson, biography, Steve Donoghue
May 24, 2019

Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior by Catherine Hanley

May 24, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior by Catherine Hanley

Hanley’s assessment of the various roles Matilda filled in her life is uniformly thought-provoking.

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May 24, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Matilda, Catherine Hanley, Yale University Press, English Monarchy, English history, Steve Donoghue
May 13, 2019

Author interview: Alison Weir

May 13, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
Author interview: Alison Weir

In Anna of Kleve, Weir crafts an intriguingly multifaceted portrait of this oddest of all English queens. Open Letters asked her some questions about the challenges of this latest installment in the “Six Tudor Queens” series.

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May 13, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Books & Authors
Anne of Cleves, King Henry VIII, English Monarchy, English history, Alison Weir, Author Interview
May 10, 2019

The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI by Lauren Johnson

May 10, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI by Lauren Johnson

An immensely readable popular biography of Henry VI, warmly sympathetic to the tormented figure at its center.

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May 10, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, History
Henry VI, Lauren Johnson, biography, English history, English Monarchy, History
March 05, 2019

Devices and Desires by Kate Hubbard

March 05, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
Devices and Desires by Kate Hubbard

A big, bouncily-written biography of Bess, the Countess of Shrewsbury—a fascinating figure from the era.

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March 05, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Kate Hubbard, Harper Collins, English history, Bess of Hardwick, Queen Elizabeth I, English Monarchy, nonfiction, The Tudors, Steve Donoghue
March 01, 2019

Among the Wolves of Court by Lauren Mackay

March 01, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
Among the Wolves of Court by Lauren Mackay

Mackay’s intensely painstaking excavation of what life was like for an infamous set of Tudor courtiers is eye-opening.

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March 01, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Lauren Mackay, IB Tauris, Bloomsbury, Anne Boleyn, Thomas Boleyn, George Boleyn, English Monarchy, English history, King Henry VIII
January 10, 2019

Queen of the World by Robert Hardman

January 10, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
Queen of the World by Robert Hardman

Queen Elizabeth II has met more people, smiled into more eyes, and shaken more hands than any other human being on Earth.

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January 10, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Queen of the World, Robert Hardman, Queen Elizabeth, English Monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II, Steve Donoghue
December 26, 2018

The Gown by Jennifer Robson

December 26, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
The Gown by Jennifer Robson

A historical novel about Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown, and the women who made it.

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December 26, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Historical Fiction
Jennifer Robson, William Morrow, Harper Collins, British Royal Family, British aristocracy, Queen Elizabeth, historical fiction, English Monarchy, English history, Steve Donoghue
September 01, 2018

The King’s Assassin by Benjamin Woolley

September 01, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
The King’s Assassin by Benjamin Woolley

Research reveals new details about the conspiracy to kill King James I by the Duke of Buckingham

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September 01, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, History
Benjamin Woolley, St. Martin's Press, English history, English Monarchy, conspiracies, assassins, King James I, Duke of Buckingham, MacMillan Publishers, Steve Donoghue
May 29, 2018

Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir

May 29, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir

Full of atmospheric historical details, this novel about King Henry VIII’s third wife portrays the dramas of the most notorious court in English history.

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May 29, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Literary Fiction, Biography/Memoir
Alison Weir, Ballantine Books, English history, English Monarchy, The Tudors, literary fiction, historical fiction, Queens of England, Jane Seymour, Katherine Howard, Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII, Penguin Random House, Steve Donoghue
May 14, 2018

The Black Prince by Michael Jones

May 14, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
The Black Prince by Michael Jones

A direct and engaging narrative line runs throughout The Black Prince, making it an involving reading experience.

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May 14, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
History, Biography/Memoir
Michael Jones, Pegasus Books, King Edward III, Prince Edward, The Black Prince, English history, English Monarchy, Steve Donoghue
May 09, 2018

Harry: A Biography of a Prince by Angela Levin

May 09, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Harry: A Biography of a Prince by Angela Levin

A grounded but readable biography of Prince Harry; faux-forensic but faintly fawning.

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May 09, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir
Prince Harry, Angela Levin, British Royal Family, Prince Charles, Prince William, biography, England, English Monarchy, Princess Diana, Steve Donoghue
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Editors:

Steve Donoghue
Sam Sacks
Britta Böhler
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Olive Fellows
Jack Hanson
Jennifer Helinek
Justin Hickey
Hannah Joyner
Zach Rabiroff
Jessica Tvordi

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