Catherine de Medici

Originally published in 1968 this book is an unforgettable portrait of an impoverished orphaned daughter of the Medici, pitchforked at the age of fourteen into her royal destiny and having to bear the rivalry of Diane de Poiters and the description 'the Florentine shopkeeper' who nevertheless became one of the most powerful characters in the shaping of sixteenth century Europe.

Jean Heritier

Part 1: Youth and Humility 1. Naked as a New Born Babe (1519 - 33) 2. The Bow and the Crescent (1533-59) 3. The Florentine Shopkeeper (1559-60) Part 2: The Accession 1. Governess of France (1560) 2. Impotent Wisdom (1560-2) Part 3: The Royal Tragedy 1. Towards the matins of Paris (1562-70) 2. Machiavellism and Maternal Love (1570-7) 3. The Struggle for Unity (1577-84) Part 4: The Solitude of Evening 1. The Victory of Violence (1584-8) 2. A Dead Goat (1589)