Book cover of The Wisest Fool: The Lavish Life of James VI and I

Book description

James VI and I, the first monarch to reign over Scotland, England and Ireland, has long endured a mixed reputation. To many, he is simply the homosexual King, the inveterate witch-roaster, the smelly sovereign who never washed, the colourless man behind the authorised Bible bearing his name, or the drooling…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Wisest Fool as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I am a lover of the Plantagenet, Tudor, and Stuart decades of Britain. I enjoy reading about the history but also about the people who created that history. I didn't know anything about James VI and I except that he was Mary, Queen of Scots' only child and that he was the first monarch to hold the title in Scotland, Ireland, and England. I always he got short mention and was dismissed merely as a 'fool'. Which is why I was eager to read this book. It's a bit more than a biography -- it shows Scotland and England during…

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