Purkiss reviews White King: Charles 1--traitor, murderer, martyr by Leanda de Lisle and Lady Fanshawe's Receipt Book: The life and times of a Civil War heroine by Lucy Moore: Almost ten years ago, David Starkey complained that Tudor history was being “feminised”. It’s good to see that the same thing is happening to Stuart history, for here are two fascinating new books about women during the Civil War. And yet one of these two books is ostensibly a biography of Charles I. Leanda de Lisle is best known as an early Tudor historian, so it makes sense that in her new biography she turns her attention to making Charles as glamorous as the Tudors. No biographer has ever succeeded in making this small, serious, deeply religious man attractive to the modern era. De Lisle’s is a gallant attempt, and Charles would appreciate her efforts to emphasize the prestige of his court and his enthusiasm for the arts, something we can see for ourselves at the new Royal Academy exhibition.
