Clare Jackson The Mirror of Great Britain : A Life of James VI & I Hardback Book

A major reassessment of one of Britains most important monarchsA Financial Times History Book of the Year 2025A Times Best Book of the Year 2025A History Today Best Book of the Year 2025A Royal Academy Magazine Best Book of the Year 2025After finishing this beguiling book, there seems no point in reading anything else... In research, analysis and imagination, its a masterpiece Gerard de Groot, The TimesJames VI & I, who died 400 years ago, was one of Britains most consequential and interesting monarchs, not least in creating the British monarchy itself by joining the English and Scottish thrones. A major intellectual, Jamess preoccupations ranged from witchcraft and theological controversy to hunting, diplomacy, poetry and sartorial fashion. The Mirror of Great Britain was a spectacular jewel that gave symbolic endorsement to Jamess vision of British union, but mirrors themselves with their limitless capacity to magnify, illuminate and distort supplied James with one of his favourite literary metaphors. Ruler of Scotland for nearly four decades before his accession to the English throne in 1603, James was a cradle king whose long reigns encompassed extraordinary dramas, including his abduction in the Ruthven Raid in 1582 and his attempted assassination in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. In his lifetime, James often confounded contemporaries expectations while his posthumous reputation has been distorted by crude stereotypes. Closely attentive to Jamess own words in numerous... | Clare Jackson The Mirror of Great Britain : A Life of James VI & I Hardback Book