An exciting new telling of the life of Anne Boleyn, using new archival research to reveal the woman behind the myth, from the acclaimed historian Dr Estelle Paranque.
A queen on the edge.
Anne Boleyn has mesmerised the English public for centuries. Her tragic execution, orchestrated by her own husband, never ceases to intrigue. How did this courtier's daughter become the queen of England, and what was it that really tore apart this illustrious marriage, making her the whore of England, an abandoned woman executed on the scaffold? While many stories of Anne Boleyn's downfall have been told, few have truly traced the origins of her tragic fate.
In Thorns, Lust and Glory, Estelle Paranque takes us back to where it all started- to France, where Anne learned the lessons that would set her on the path to becoming one of England's most infamous queens. At the court of the French king as a resourceful teenage girl, Anne's journey to infamy began, and this landmark biography explores the world that shaped her, and how these loyalties would leave her vulnerable, leading to her ruin at the court of Henry VIII.
A fascinating new perspective on Tudor history's most enduring story, Thorns, Lust and Glory is an unmissable account of a queen on the edge.
About the Author
Estelle Paranque is an Associate Professor in History at Northeastern University London as well as an Honorary Research Fellow within the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick. She earned a PhD in Early Modern European History from University College London in 2016. She has participated in international historical TV documentaries including BBC Two's The Boleyns- A Scandalous Family (2021) and Channel 4's The Queens Who Changed the World (2023). She appears regularly on podcasts and gives talks to prestigious history and literary festivals. She is the author and editor of six books.
Industry Reviews
A fascinating book that sheds new light on one of Tudor history's most compelling and controversial characters * Tracy Borman *
Paranque brings her trademark mix of serious scholarship and lighthearted prose to that great English obsession: Henry and Anne. She finds new angles, and makes us see that epochal relationship in an exciting new way. * Dan Snow *
A provocative, impassioned and empathetic account of England's most famous queen consort * Gareth Russell *
An empathetic and moving study of a truly captivating Queen. Paranque has unveiled Anne Boleyn as you have never experienced her before. Enthralling. * Owen Emmerson *