Catherine de Medici: A biography [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

'This intelligent and well-researched biography of her is a worthy testament to Catherine's formidable strength. CATHERINE DE MEDICI reveals Frieda, a first-time biographer, to be a writer of tremendous talent and skill (Amanda Foreman THE OBSERVER )

'Leonie Frieda has handled the history of this complex period with skill. Without skimping on the drama and debauchery of the court of the Valois, she has defended, but not whitewashed, Catherine and produced a fascinating picture of a remarkable woman. (Sarah Bradford THE EVENING STANDARD )

'it is narrative history at its best, both scholarly and as captivating as a thriller. She has brought a largely forgotten heroine-villainess and a whole sumptuously vicious era to life again. She is equally at home in the luxurious debauchery of the royal court as she is in the blood-reeking gutters of Paris: this is The Godfather meets Elizabeth.' (Simon Sebag Montefiore THE MAIL ON SUNDAY )

'As Leonie Frieda shows in this absorbing biography, Catherine was a well-intentioned woman who resorted to extreme measures only under pressure. With its engaging style and deft handling of complex events, this accomplished account of Catherine's career is an engrossing tale, compellingly narrated.' (Anne Somerset THE SPECTATOR )

'As Leonie Frieda relates in this well-researched and immensely readable first biography, from her turbulent home in Florence Catherine found herself presiding over perhaps the nastiest period in all French history. Frieda is much to be praised for painting a wonderfully rich canvas.' (Alistair Horne THE TIMES )

'Frieda succeeds in making her subject interesting and coherent, and shows her operating in a political context that left no room for squeamishness or scruple.' (Charles Nicholl THE SUNDAY TIMES )

'Capably she re-creates the rivalries within the royal family and the marital and dynastic negotiaitons on which the fate of kingdoms hung. She conveys, too, vividly at times, the outsize style of Renaissance rule.' (Blair Worden SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

'Mrs Frieda's book is a well-written and colourful journey through 16th century France, entertaining to read as well as frequently illuminating.' (Simon Heffer COUNTRY LIFE )

'A real historical treat.' (SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE )

'This admirable new biography ... Leonie Frieda gives a vivid picture ... Leonie Frieda does this remarkable woman full justice. Refusing to play judge, she reveals her to us through the best of means, which is narrative. The skill with which Frieda finds her way through the maze of this confusing period is exemplary. You read on eagerly. An enthralling book.' (Allan Massie LITERARY REVIEW )

'This is a masterly biography, and a fascinating one' (John Jolliffe THE INDEPENDENT )

'Leonie Frieda has produced an absorbing, entertaining study of a time when the luxury and depravity of princes went hand-in-hand with power-plotting, assassination and bloody vengeance.' (Peter Lewis THE DAILY MAIL )

'An assured and genuinely gripping tale of a woman - 'the Black Queen' - who ruthlessly conspired in 16th-century France and battled against more adversities in a day than most of us have had in a lifetime.' (Paul Palmer ES Magazine )

'Leonie Frieda's richly detailed account ... paints a most fascinating picture of French court life. The political complexities are kept mercifully clear, the main lines of rivalry sharp, the characters vivid.' (Ann Wroe THE DAILY TELEGRAPH )

'In Frieda's scholarly tome, Catherine de Medici is painted not in the dark hues of her critics but using a more colourful palate. Through a prodigious amount of research, that was assisted by the author's versatility in five European languages, all the colour and splendour of Catherine's court is recreated.' (Stephen McGinty THE SCOTSMAN )

'It is a most excellent book that should be read by everybody who believes that education for its own sake has value, and that history in particular has cautionary tales to offer. ....... The author paints a brilliant picture of the French court and of her subject's private life.' (Claus von Bulow CATHOLIC HERALD )

'impressively exhaustive' (Sarah Dunant THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )

'Leonie Frieda has written a biography of scrupulous detail' (Ethna Viney THE IRISH TIMES )

'this is an interesting and well-written book that enlightens the reader about a turbulent and fascinating period which still arouses debate and disagreement.' (David McLaurin THE TABLET )

'this sympathetic and gloriously detailed biography.' (Caroline Murphy NEW STATESMAN AND SOCIETY )

Leonie Frieda's description of events leading up to the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre are dramatic and fascinating - a real page-turner. Thoroughly recommended.' (Tim Newark Military Illustrated )

'An old-fashioned narrative historian, Frieda demonstrates a sure control of her material and combines passion and precision in equal measure. Her sprightly narrative is laced with cool and polished judgements.' (Christopher Silvester THE FINANCIAL TIMES )

'Leonie Frieda has produced a formidable book. Meticulously researched and extremely well-written, this surely will be the definitive biography of Catherine de Medici for many years to come.' (Andrew Smith Medieval History Magazine )

'Leonie Frieda makes a spirited case in a stimulating, exhaustively researched panorama of European history which is altogether wider in scope than anything normally viewed as biography.' (Joseph Farrell THE HERALD )

'Leonie Frieda has drawn together the elements of a complex story with great skill. Her style of narrative turns this book from a potentially turgid historical description into a very easily read and easily understood document. I recommend this volume highly.' Disability Times (DISABILITY TIMES )

'As compelling as a page-turning novel and full of colour and insight, this biography goes a long way in shedding light on a strong and fascinating woman.' (Sally Zigmund THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW - Feb 2004 )

'This is a masterly biography, and a fascinating one'

'impressively exhaustive'

'Leonie Frieda has written a biography of scrupulous detail'

'this sympathetic and gloriously detailed biography.'

Catherine de Medici was half French, half Italian. Orphaned in infancy, she was the sole legitimate heiress to the Medici family fortune. Married at fourteen to the future Henri II of France, she was constantly humiliated by his influential mistress Diane de Poitiers. When her husband died as a result of a duelling accident in Paris - Leonie Frieda's magnificient, throat-grabbing opening chapter - Catherine was made queen regent during the short reign of her eldest son (married to Mary Queen of Scots and like many of her children he died young). When her second son became king she was the power behind the throne. She nursed dynastic ambitions, but was continually drawn into political and religious intrigues between catholics and protestants that plagued France for much of the later part of her life.. It had always been said that she was implicated in the notorious Saint Barthlomew's Day Massacre, together with the king and her third son who succeeded to the throne in 1574, but was murdered - he was left standing with his assassin's dagger in one hand, and his own entrails in the other. Her political influence waned, but she survived long enough to ensure the succession of her son-in-law who had married her daughter Margaret. Leonie Frieda has returned to original sources and re-read the thousands of letters left by Catherine. There has not been a biography in English of Catherine for many years and she believes that the time has come to show her - like Queen Elizabeth I of England - as one of the most influential women in sixteenth-century Europe.

'To be a great prince,' wrote Machiavelli, 'one must sometimes violate the laws of humanity.' Catherine de Medici (1519-1589) has been described as 'the Black Queen' and 'the Maggot from Italy's tomb' for her undoubted violations of humanity's laws, but - asks her new biographer Leonie Frieda - what choice did she have? Orphaned in infancy, heiress to an ancient name and vast fortune, Catherine was brought up in the Florentine court and married off at fourteen to Henry, Duke of Orleans. Catherine, the unwanted bride, suffered cruelly as Henry loved only his formidable mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Twenty-five years later, when Henry, by then King of France, died horrifically in a jousting accident, Catherine was thrust into the lethal maelstrom of French power politics. The forty-year-old widow and Queen Mother was the most powerful personality in French politics for over half a century. Having fostered religious tolerance, she was forced by the early 1570s to adopt extreme methods as she struggled for her own and her family's survival. This led to the notorious St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 24 August 1572, when thousands of Huguenots were slaughtered. A superb political strategist and ruthless conspirator whom many regarded as a common interloper with no natural power base of her own, Catherine single-mindedly ruled France for her sickly and corrupt children, three of who became Kings of France, including one who married Mary, Queen of Scots. Her obsessive love for them was her fatal blind spot and ultimately threatened her magnificent achievements for France. In a remarkable debut as a biographer, Leonie Frieda tells an enthralling story that includes incest, vicious religious wars, assassination, poison, the occult and, in her own words, 'passion, hatred and vengeance'. ILLUSTRATED 25 price in UK [AUTHOR PHOTO TO COME] Swedish by birth, but educated in Britain, Leonie Frieda speaks five languages and is a member of the Institute of Linguists. Her long interest in Catherine de Medici has taken her to archives in Paris, Florence, Rome and Madrid, as well as the chateaux of the Loire. Her next book is a biography of the Great War soldier and letter-writer Edward Horner. She lives in London with her daughter Elisabeth and son Jake. Front cover illustration: credit to come Author photograph: credit to come Weidenfeld & Nicolson The Orion Publishing Group Orion House 5 Upper Saint Martin's Lane London, WC2H 9EA

[leave blank - supply copy on proof]

Swedish by birth, but educated in Britain, Leonie Frieda speaks five languages and is a member of the Institute of Linguists. Her long interest in Catherine de Medici has taken her to archives in Paris, Florence, Rome and Madrid, as well as the chateaux of the Loire. She lives in London with her daughter Elisabeth and son Jake.