Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion

An eager book-buying public consumes many books on the charismatic Queen Elizabeth I, last of the Tudors, but who cares about "Good Queen Anne" (1665–1714), the last of the Stuarts? Some may recall Anne's patronage of Sarah and John Churchill (first Duke and Duchess of Marlborough) and their fall from grace. Fewer may know of Anne's struggles to produce an heir. Through Anne's 17 pregnancies, leading to few live births, Somerset (The Affair of the Poisons) presents a fascinating glimpse into 18th-century medicine (for strong stomachs only). The one child to survive past infancy was the hydrocephalic Duke of Gloucester, by far the most appealing character in this long biography. His death at age 11 ended Anne's hope of continuing the Stuart dynasty. On her own death, the throne passed to distant cousins, the Hanoverian Georges. Somerset offers a persuasive portrait of Anne as a ruling monarch (rather than a tool of her ministers and her serving women), lacking the intellectual gifts and extroversion of Elizabeth I, but determined to steer the ship of state herself. The evil Sarah Churchill's powers ultimately paled next to those of her plodding but deeply serious queen.