DAUGHTERS OF THE WINTER QUEEN

As a historian one always has a period: Crimean War, absolutely; Edward II, slightly confusing; Tudors, yes; Stuarts, less so. The Winter Queen has proved a discovery – and a remarkable one. Her story is told with compelling verve by Nancy Goldstone.

Elizabeth Stuart was the daughter of James I, married (and in love) with a German count, her inferior in rank but equal in hutzpah, the match was conceived with the throne of Bohemia as the prize. The vacillations and betrayal of her weakwilled father lost her the throne and contributed to the devastation of the Thirty Years’ War, the bloodiest European conflict in terms of loss of life until 1945. Her story is pivotal, both as a queen in exile, as the mother of four fascinating daughters, sister to a beheaded King and aunt to a restored monarch.

While Elizabeth of Bohemia reigned for just one winter, it is her bloodline that sits on the British throne today. Goldstone brings her protagonist to life and reminds us of the enduring legacy of this often forgotten queen.