Book description
In
My End Is My Beginning is the story of Mary Queen of Scots
(1542-87), the tragic heroine par excellence. Queen of an
unfamiliar and troubled nation when she was a week old, it was her
misfortune to be a pawn in the game of international politics
throughout her life. Even in the brief period from 1561 to 1567 when
she was ruler of Scotland in fact as well as in name, she was beset
with problems that would have defeated a much stronger, more
experienced monarch. A talented poet and a charismatic leader, she
contended with a treacherous, self-serving nobility, the religious
ferment of the Reformation, and the political ambitions of larger and
more powerful neighbours.
With little real authority and few resources, Mary's reign was
successful, until her disastrous marriage to the dissolute Darnley set
in motion the events that brought about her downfall. For the last 20
years of her life she was a prisoner in the hands of her cousin,
Elizabeth I of England, and the subject of treacherous plots and
conspiracies. A hostage to fortune, she represented a threat and a
rallying-point for English Catholics. Her tragic end was inevitable.
Yet her life, with all its adventurous, failures and disasters,
produced the son - James - who ultimately brought about the union of
Scotland and England.
In the End Is My Beginning uncovers the true facts of Mary's
life in the context of Anglo-Scottish relations and shows why, after
more than 400 years, she remains arguably the greatest character in
popular Scottish history.
Dr James Mackay is a historian and author. Widely regarded as the
world's greatest authority on the life and works of Robert Burns,
Mackay's definitive biography,
Burns
, won the 1994 Saltire Society Book of the Year award. He is also the
author of
Vagabond of Verse: A Biography of Robert Service
,
Brave Heart: William Wallace
,
Allan Pinkerton: The Eye Who Never Slept
and
Sounds Out of Silence: A Life of Alexander Graham Bell.
