Bloody Mary's Martyrs: The Story of England's Terror

Rating:
Summary: An very unenlightening list
Review: Bloody Mary's executions of Protestants created a deep seated hatred of Catholics in the English soul and cast a long shadow. Understanding what happened in this period of English history is essential to understanding the next 400 years. However this book is primarily a distillation of John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and provides little more than a list of martyrs with only a limited attempt at understanding the forces at play.

Rating:
Summary: Mildly entertaining, but deeply flawed
Review: There is no question that Ridley's book is mildly entertaining to read--any work based upon Foxe's "Book of Martyrs" should contain a certain amount of gripping material. Unfortunately, this book is little more than a rather tepid summary of some of the more salacious portions of Foxe. Ridley's prose occasionally evinces a dry wit, but more often it is simply banal and overly simplistic. It almost seems as though he was writing for a juvenile audience. Moreover, he makes little attempt to analyze the experience of the martyrs, preferring instead simply to repeat the narrative details supplied in Foxe. Most unforgivable, however, are Ridley's continually distorted moral and historical judgments, which render this book a very pale shadow of serious history. Opinions are certainly welcome in the study of history, but surely Ridley could have done better than to repeat some rather tired old cliches. It's really a shame and a surprise that this book is not better, considering the fine books Ridley has written in the past (e.g. biographies of Thomas Cranmer and Nicholas Ridley, two of the most prominent Marian martyrs.)

Rating:
Summary: Bloody Mary should be Burnin' Mary
Review: True to the title, Mr. Ridley's account is a listing and play by play of the many men and women who were subjected to the ritual "burning at the stake" for alleged "heretical" behaviour. Ridley seems to delight in the particulars of each event. Some were roasted singularly, and others were grouped together... The author does paint a grisly picture... especially when the wind changes.... As I read the accounts, I could not help but wonder what about the psychological makeup of Mary. I would have been equally interested in Ridley's assessment, based on historical evidence, of her state of mind. I wonder if there have been other accounts that deal with her pathological state of mind rather than the historical tail of her rein...