A review of Bloody, Brilliant Tudors: 100 Tales of Gowns, Gossip and Gory Ends by Elizabeth Goff

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A truly witty, enthralling and adventurous read that will leave you intrigued, astonished and often disappointed—more like downright mad—at the Tudor monarchs, their courtiers and the scandalous stories surrounding them.

Elizabeth Goff’s, better known to the world as @the_historical_gal, debut effortlessly brings to life over one hundred stories of drama, mystery, love, death, triumphs and defeats of the famous Tudor era. Featuring juicy tales from each of the six—yes, we are most certainly counting Lady Jane Grey in this list—Tudor monarchs, Elizabeth Goff captivates the reader with her elegant writing style, her witty humour and her refreshing blunt perspectives regarding some of history’s most scandalous and yet some lesser known facts and stories of the past. Which, yes, are mostly the fault of the most famous King of England of all time—bar King Arthur although there is still the debate of ‘fact or fiction’—Henry VIII, the man who took six wives and chopped off two of their heads!

One aspect of Elizabeth’s book that I found rather intriguing was the decision to write these stories in a chronological order, rather than just in a random selection. Other readers might disagree with me on this matter, however I found this approach rather helpful for a neurodivergent reader such as myself who admittedly forgets what she’s read two seconds after reading it so having the small contextual reminders for each tale really kept me intrigued and captivated throughout. Naturally, as a Tudor historian, most of what was written about was not new to me—although I will admit that it was a thrill to learn about the Black Pearls and the Three Brother’s Jewel for the first time—I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is either new to, unfamiliar with or even loves the Tudor era as Elizabeth truly does bring these remarkable figures and their stories to life in such a beautiful way.

If Bloody, Brilliant Tudors is just a small glimpse of what Elizabeth Goff can offer us history lovers, then I cannot wait to see what else she has in stock for us!

And if you haven't already read this book, I suggest you do as you will not regret it! 

Until next time!

-        Have a ‘Tudor-fic’ week!