Thorns, Lust and Glory

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

Dr Estelle Paranque is a Lecturer in Early Modern History at New College of the Humanities and earned a PhD in Early Modern European History from University College London in 2016. She was previously a Lecturer in the History Department of King's College London. She has participated in award-winning international historical documentaries, including Secrets d'Histoire (France 2/ France 3), and has appeared on BBC radio and TV, including Radio 4 Great Lives, and frequently appears on history podcasts including Viral History and Dan Snow's History Hit podcast.