Henry VI Through Shakespeare's Eyes

Henry VI is the most tragic figure on the English throne—in a new historical book by Alexandra Marinina.

At eight months old, he sat on his father’s throne. At nine, he was crowned with the French crown. It seemed that William the Conqueror’s golden dream of a “single and indivisible” Anglo-French monarchy had come true. But it didn’t… Henry VI lost everything—everything! He lost the Hundred Years’ War to Joan of Arc with her “frog-eaters.” He couldn’t prevent the fratricidal bloodbath of the Wars of the Roses—Red and White. For months he lingered in a schizophrenic stupor. Malicious tongues whispered that his wife, the beautiful Margaret of Anjou, was unfaithful. Power slipped away from his hands, while he dreamed of an idyllic life as a shepherd and a poet. At 49, the last of the House of Lancaster witnessed the murder of his only son, Edward, and died himself in captivity. Is it any wonder that the creator of Prince Hamlet devoted to Henry VI his most extensive play?

By inviting Shakespeare himself as the chief witness, Alexandra Marinina tells this story of a miserable king and his extravagant contemporaries—ironically and psychologically convincingly. You will learn many interesting facts about medieval England and France. You will grasp the key details of a turbulent period in English history that shaped the country for several centuries. You’ll be able to see the real game of thrones.

Thanks to Alexandra Marinina, the old tales of deep antiquity turn out to be just as captivating as a detective story—and just as elegant and light as a musical miniature.

“So, my friends, what do we have here? The year is 1422, England…”