Queen Anne: The politics of passion - A Biography.

UK,thick 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 1.] FINE/FINE. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,matt, colour painting portrait of subject - Queen of Great Britain and Ireland (1665-1714),oil on canvas by William Wissing (1656-87) with bright, crisp,fluorescnt red gilt lettered title+sub-title and capitalised,black-lettered author name to front panel of dw/dj,spine/backstrip with miniaturised colour portrait detail from front illustration at head with remainder of spine a fluorescent red gilt panel with bright,glossy,white-lettered part title and capitalised black-lettered author name and white illustrated+lettered publisher's colophon to foot of same;rear panel of dw/dj with colour portrait painting of subject and Duke of Gloucester (as a boy),studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller Br,oil on canvas c.1694. Negligible shelf-wear,bumping or creasing to edges and corners - head of spine/backstrip with miniscule bumping with reciprocal creasing,but no nicks,tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges lightly toned but without foxing/spotting or other blemish; contents bright, tight,clean,solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips - appears an unread copy,other than my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,unblemished,sharp-cornered,original plain red cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked white lettering - part title and author name and publisher's white lettered+ illustrated colophon to foot of spine/backstrip and immaculate plain red endpapers.UK,thick 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,xiipp+2-626pp [paginated] includes reverse of illustrations list/table 16 chapters,16pp historical colour+monochrome illustrations/paintings/portraits in 1 block,between pp306/7,acknowledgements,Endnotes,abibliuography and an Index; plus [unpaginated]half-title+title pages,a dedication, contents list/table,double-page genealogical family tree chart [The House of STUART],the recto of illustrations list/table,and Author's Note with blank verso. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and even internally, the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation. It really is an exceptional copy for its cleanliness and brightness.
In 1702,fourteen years after she helped oust her father from his throne and deprived her newborn half-brother of his birthright,Queen Anne inherited the crowns of England and Scotland.Childless,despite seventeen pregnancies that had either ended in failure or produced heartrendingly short-lived offspring,in some respects she was a pitable figure.This poorly educated and chronically shy invalid seemed ill-equipped to take on the responsibilities of sovreignty,but against all expectations she proved Britain's most successful Stuart ruler. Her reign was marked by many triumphs,including union with Scotland and glorious victories in war against France.Yet even while her great general,the Duke of Marlborough,was performing feats of military genius on the continent,Anne's relationship with his wife Sarah was becoming ever more rancorous.Political differences partly explained why the Queen's earlier passionate adoration for this wilful and outspoken woman transformed to loathing,but Sarah precipitated the final rupture with the startling clain that,despite Anne's ostensibly happy marriage,it was the Queen's lesbian infatuation with another lady-in-waiting,Abigail Masham,that had destroyed their friendship.

Having lost the will to continue a riunously expensive war that the marlboroughs and their political allies favoured,the Queen changed her ministers and embarked upon a peace process that some condemned as dishonourable. Drawing widely on unpublished sources,Anne Somerset vividly depicts the clashes of personality,party rivalries and backstairs intrigues that aroused such strong feelings atthe time,and made politics so contentious.Traditionally depicted as a weak ruler dominated by female favourites and haunted by remorse at having deposed her father,Queen Anne emerges rather as a woman whose great good sense and unshakeable commitment to duty enabled her to overcome private tragedy and painful disabilities,setting her kingdom on the path to greatness.
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