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Find out moreLucy Worsley is Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity that runs the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace and other sites, which attract more than four million visitors a year. Lucy also presents history programmes for the BBC on topics including royal palaces and the court, such as Britain's Tudor Treasure with David Starkey. She had an exciting new project about Henry VIII and his court coming up on BBC One in 2016.
April 2020 Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month April 2020 | Best-loved TV presenter Lucy Worsley’s version of the background to the author Jane Austen’s life is a delightfully vivid story that effortlessly whirls readers into a very different, long-ago world. There are balls and proposals, carriages and nurseries, rich and poor and even a scene in a debtors prison all of which frame the lives of the young girls who are Jane Austen’s nieces. What an extraordinary existence it is! The wise aunt Jane Austen is a great guide through all of this especially, as Lucy Worsley makes clear, it is one in which the young girls think their only ambition is to find a husband! Hugely good fun to read The Austen Girls is also packed-full of unforgettable historical details.
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month April 2018 Princess Mary lives in a palace and is the daughter of Henry V111, the King of England but, when her parents’ marriage begins to fall apart, the sadness she feels is not so very different from that of any child in the same situation and Lucy Worsley captures that brilliantly. But for Mary, the divorce has far, far more significance than it would for anyone else as it changes Mary’s life completely and puts her in great danger. As Anne Boleyn takes her mother’s place Mary is demoted from Princess Mary to Lady Mary and finds herself usurped by her new baby sister Elizabeth. How can Mary win back her father and keep herself safe? Lucy Worsley’s child centred view of this moment in English history captures all the drama and danger and wraps it in an enthralling family story. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for April 2018 The Grotlyn by Benji Davies The Book Case: An Emily Lime Mystery by Adam Stower Lady Mary by Lucy Worsley The Wardrobe Monster by Bryony Thomson The Tale of Angelino Brown by David Almond You Are Awesome by Matthew Syed
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month February 2018 Revered and deservedly popular as a Queen, Victoria was much less successful or celebrated when she was still a princess. TV historian Lucy Worsley spins a wonderful adventure around the childhood of the queen as seen through the eyes of a girl of the same age brought in to be a playmate for the headstrong young princess – and to spy on her. Packed with sinister intrigue and adult dishonesty the adventure is gripping. So too is the portrait of a difficult young royal being brought up in very challenging circumstances. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for February 2018 Kevin by Rob Biddulph My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley Lots: The Diversity of Life by Nicola Davies A Busy Day for Birds by Lucy Cousins Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal The Iron Man by Ted Hughes Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram No More Kissing by Emma Chichester Clark
TV historian Lucy Worsley is gifted at bringing the past to life and shows it to great effect here. Her detailed knowledge of the Tudors, the people and above all the places, provides the perfect background to a coming of age story set in a different time. Eliza Camperdowne comes from an old but impoverished family; she knows that the future of her family’s fortunes depend on her making the right kind of marriage. Ideally, that means marrying a man with money and a title. But Eliza’s life plan is changed when she is sent with her cousin to be a maid of Honour at the Court of King Henry V111. Katherine may be a cousin but can Eliza trust her? As Katherine finds favour with the King himself, Eliza must learn to survive the intrigue and treachery of the court. ~ Julia Eccleshare
A Julia Eccleshare Book of the Month March 2017 | Revered and deservedly popular as a Queen, Victoria was much less successful or celebrated when she was still a princess. TV historian Lucy Worsley spins a wonderful adventure around the childhood of the queen as seen through the eyes of a girl of the same age brought in to be a playmate for the headstrong young princess – and to spy on her. Packed with sinister intrigue and adult dishonesty the adventure is gripping. So too is the portrait of a difficult young royal being brought up in very challenging circumstances. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for March 2017 Jellicle Cats by T.S. Eliot and Arthur Robins William Bee's Wonderful World of Trucks by William Bee The Story of the Dancing Frog by Quentin Blake George's Marvellous Experiments inspired by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley Many Moons by Remi Courgeon Freddie Mole, Lion Tamer by Alexanda McCall Smith Black Cats and Butlers by Janine Beacham Triangle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
One of our Books of the Year 2016 | Julia Eccleshare's Debut of the Month, April 2016 TV historian Lucy Worsley is gifted at bringing the past to life and shows it to great effect here. Her detailed knowledge of the Tudors, the people and above all the places, provides the perfect background to a coming of age story set in a different time. Eliza Camperdowne comes from an old but impoverished family; she knows that the future of her family’s fortunes depend on her making the right kind of marriage. Ideally, that means marrying a man with money and a title. But Eliza’s life plan is changed when she is sent with her cousin to be a maid of Honour at the Court of King Henry V111. Katherine may be a cousin but can Eliza trust her? As Katherine finds favour with the King himself, Eliza must learn to survive the intrigue and treachery of the court. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for April 2016 Eliza Rose by Lucy Worsley Tidy by Emily Gravett Freddie Mole, Lion Tamer by Alexander McCall Smith Slug Needs a Hug by Jeanne Willis There's a Moose on the Loose by Lucy Feather Nature's Day: Out and About by Kay Maguire
In the vibrant, volatile court of Henry VIII, can even the most willful young woman direct her own fate and follow her heart in a world ruled by powerful men?Clever, headstrong Elizabeth Rose Camperdowne knows her duty. As the sole heiress to an old but impoverished noble family, Eliza must marry a man of wealth and titleits the only fate for a girl of her standing. But when a surprising turn of events lands her in the royal court as a maid of honor to Anne of Cleves, Eliza is drawn into the dizzying, dangerous orbit of Henry the Eighth and struggles to distinguish friend from foe. Is her glamorous flirt of a cousin, Katherine Howard, an ally in this deceptive place, or is she Elizas worst enemy? And then theres Ned Barsby, the kings handsome page, who is entirely unsuitable for Eliza but impossible to ignore. British historian Lucy Worsley provides a vivid, romantic glimpse of the treachery, tragedy, and thrills of life in the Tudor court.
Why did the flushing toilet take two centuries to catch on? Why did medieval people sleep sitting up? When were the two "e;dirty centuries"e;? Why, for centuries, did rich people fear fruit?In her brilliantly and creatively researched book, Lucy Worsley takes us through the bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen, covering the history of each room and exploring what people actually did in bed, in the bath, at the table, and at the stovefrom sauce stirring to breast-feeding, teeth cleaning to masturbating, getting dressed to getting marriedproviding a compelling account of how the four rooms of the home have evolved from medieval times to today, charting revolutionary changes in society.
Hampton Court Palace, to the south-west of London, is one of the most famous and magnificent buildings in Britain. The original palace was begun by Cardinal Wolsey, but it soon attracted the attention of his Tudor king and became the centre of royal and political life for the next 200 years. In this new, lavishly illustrated history, the stories of the people who have inhabited the palace over the last five centuries take centre stage. Here Henry VIII and most of his six wives held court, Shakespeare and his players performed, and Charles I escaped arrest after his defeat in the Civil War. William III and Mary II introduced French court etiquette, and Georgian kings and princes argued violently amid the splendid interiors. Alongside the royal residents, there have been equally fascinating characters among courtiers and servants. Queen Victoria opened the palace to the public in the nineteenth century, and since then millions of visitors have been drawn to Hampton Court by its grandeur, its beauty and the many intriguing stories of those great and small who once lived here.
This is the story of a national obsession. Ever since the Ratcliffe Highway Murders caused a nation-wide panic in Regency England, the British have taken an almost ghoulish pleasure in 'a good murder'. This fascination helped create a whole new world of entertainment, inspiring novels, plays and films, puppet shows, paintings and true-crime journalism - as well as an army of fictional detectives who still enthrall us today. A Very British Murder is Lucy Worsley's captivating account of this curious national obsession. It is a tale of dark deeds and guilty pleasures, a riveting investigation into the British soul by one of our finest historians.
Why did the flushing toilet take two centuries to catch on? Why did Samuel Pepys never give his mistresses an orgasm? Why did medieval people sleep sitting up? When were the two 'dirty centuries'? Why did gas lighting cause Victorian ladies to faint? Why, for centuries, did people fear fruit? All these questions - and more - are answered in this juicy, truly intimate history of the home. Through the bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen, Lucy Worsley explores what people actually did in bed, in the bath, at the table, and at the stove. From sauce-stirring to breast-feeding, teeth-cleaning to masturbation, getting dressed to getting married, this book will make you see your home with new eyes.
In the eighteenth century, the palace's most elegant assembly room was in fact a bloody battlefield. This was a world of skulduggery, politicking, wigs and beauty-spots, where fans whistled open like flick-knives... Ambitious and talented people flocked to court of George II and Queen Caroline in search of power and prestige, but Kensington Palace was also a gilded cage. Successful courtiers needed level heads and cold hearts; their secrets were never safe. Among them, a Vice Chamberlain with many vices, a Maid of Honour with a secret marriage, a pushy painter, an alcoholic equerry, a Wild Boy, a penniless poet, a dwarf comedian, two mysterious turbaned Turks and any number of discarded royal mistresses.
William Cavendish, courageous, cultured and passionate about women, embodies the popular image of a cavalier. Famously defeated at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644, he went into a long and miserable continental exile before returning to England in triumph on the restoration of King Charles II to the throne in 1660. Lucy Worsley brings to life a fascinating household of the 17th century, painting a picture of conspiracy, sexual intrigue, clandestine marriage and gossip. From Ben Jonson and Van Dyck to a savage, knife-wielding master-cook, Cavalier is a brilliant illumination of the stately home in England and all its many colourful inhabitants.
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