Thank goodness for the genealogical chart at the start of the book.  Even being well-versed in Tudor history, this reviewer was confused a few times by Ashdown’s narrative and had to consult the chart.  Granted with multiple people throughout three generations sharing the same names, it can trick anyone let alone a narrative focused on the ‘cousins.’  And Ashdown does focus on the cousins—especially the children of Henry VII’s daughters, Mary (ex-Queen of France) and Margaret (she herself had a checkered past similar to her brother Henry VIII). 

Ashdown does lay out the political rivalries (why people were spied on, imprisoned, even executed) between some of the more obscure members of the Tudor-Stuarts dynasties but for those readers less versed in the time period, the associations of the Pole family could seem inconsequential and unnecessary.  It is difficult for us to understand how just by being in close proximity to the throne, you could be treated with suspicion and threats to your life—like Arbella Stuart who was not covered as extensively as this reviewer would have thought in a book about Tudor cousins. Understandably, the structure of this book was not designed to be a comprehensive biography—there were too many characters involved for that to happen.

Ashdown’s text could be seen as an introduction to the historical figures of the time period and an opportunity for the reader to select specific people to delve more deeply into their lives via their own biographies.

Three Tudor Roses Out of Five