- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: W&N; First edition (13 Jan 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0297813102
- ISBN-13: 978-0297813101
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.3 x 4.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
273,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #73 in Books > History > Britain & Ireland > British Heads of State > James I
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Anew interpretation by a direct descendant of a notorious murder based on original documents:a tale of love ,bribery,poison,treachery and retribution in Jacobean england.
About the Author
Anne Somerset was born in 1955 and read History at King's College London.Her first book, published in 1980, was The Life and Times of William IV.This was followed by Ladies-in-Waiting: From the Tudors to the Present Day and an acclaimed biography, Elizabeth I. Her most recent work was the bestselling Unnatural Murder, an account of the sensational Overbury murder which was shortlisted fro the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger award for non-fiction. Anne Somerset is married and lives in London with her husband and daughter.
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First Sentence
On 5 January 1606 a very grand wedding took place in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
On 5 January 1606 a very grand wedding took place in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Unnatural Murder captures the essence of the 1600's with such fascinating detail that I can't put it down! I'm about 3/4 of the way through at the moment and I'm amazed at the information I'm learning about the history of the period - a topic that I am familiar with anyway.
History books can sometimes be a collection of well researched facts and little else. They can be dry to read and easy to forget. Anne Somerset has included so much everyday detail in with the facts of this murder enquiry that I feel as if I'm there in the court room with them all.
The book has given me so much more insight into our past as a Nation. It's not quite 400 years ago, which seems a long time in one way, but hardly anytime at all when you read the case. The medical knowledge of the time was extremely limited, the treatments barbaric, yet the practicing of law, although very different then from now, has recognisable threads that will come forward into our own times. We always think that our time is the most advanced. We think we work harder than ever before and longer hours with greater inventions. Yet reading about Lord Coke, the Lord Chief Justice, made me realise that striving to be the best in your choosen career and being ruthless along the way is not a recent thing.
For information about the court life of King James 1 of England, for everyday details, the way courtiers sought to better themselves at the expense of the King, this book is a valuable source. For realising that greed, power and unauthorised spending are not a sign of our times the details contained in the pages are facinating. For detective process and law and order, this book is an eye opener which closes the gap of the years between us. For medical treatment detail, it turns your stomach and for the shear wonder of the letters, so many and preserved so long, that give us the perfect picture of life in the court, this book is a delight to read.
If you are interested in history, you will almost certainly enjoy this thoroughly good detective case.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am fascinated by history and especially historical kings and queens. However, I had never delved very much into James Ist and his court so this book really caught my eye. I was not disappointed by Anne Somerset's work. Initially she lays down a very good foundation with great descriptions and insights into all the characters involved in the affair of Thomas Overbury's death and the subsequent trials that followed. Each character becomes so alive and one really feels that you are living alongside them at court, in London, and in the Tower. I would recommend Anne's book to anyone who, like me, enjoys a good historical read, whether fiction or non-fiction as she forgets no detail whatsoever but provides a feast where her characters are concerned. I hope to read her book on William IV next as this is one of the Kings that I do not know too well. I am sure I will feel very close to him and his court though once I get my teeth into her meaty meal.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a totally gripping book, bringing to life an intriguing period in English history and combining that detail with a thriller-like narrative. I'd never heard of the Overbury murder before, nor had I heard of the historian Anne Somerset... I'm glad to have remedied both situations. I certainly hope to read more of Ms Somerset's work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Absorbing story of sex, scandal and murder at the Jacobean court
Anne Somerset does a good job of re-telling the wonderfully scandalous tale of beautiful Frances Howard and her eventful life. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Roman Clodia
Unnatural Murder: Poison in the Court of James 1
This was an excellent murder mystery/court scandal, written from a completely unbiased point of view - even at the end, despite considerable evidence of guilt, it is still left to... Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2010 by Mrs. M. Key
Humungous detail on a scandal that should be better known
I'm an academic historian by training but full marks to Anne Somerset for a cracking read on a now obscure scandal that riveted Jacobean England: the trial of King James I's fallen... Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2010 by A. Warmington
Forget murder mysteries try this...
A beautifully written book that compels you to feel sympathy to the two favourites of James the first bound up in the centre of this scandel. Read more
Published on 22 Nov 2008 by K Haycock
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