Tracy Borman has 6 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 8 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.7★ across 27 ratings. The most-rated is The Private Lives of the Tudors.
The Private Lives of the Tudors
Summary
Tracy Borman, author of the best-selling biography of Thomas Cromwell, takes us behind the scenes to reveal the intimate secrets of the Tudor court and the private lives of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I and more. 'I do not live in a corner. A thousand eyes see all I do.' (Elizabeth I) The Tudor monarchs were constantly surrounded by an army of attendants, courtiers and ministers. Even in their most private moments, they were accompanied by a servant specifically appointed for the task. A groom of the stool would stand patiently by as Henry VIII performed his daily purges, and when Elizabeth I retired for the evening, one of her female servants would sleep at the end of her bed. These attendants knew the truth behind the glamorous exterior. They saw the tears shed by Henry VII upon the death of his son, Arthur. They knew the tragic secret behind 'Bloody' Mary's phantom pregnancies. And they saw the 'crooked carcass' beneath Elizabeth I's carefully applied makeup, gowns and accessories. It is the accounts of these eyewitnesses, as well as a rich array of other contemporary sources, that historian Tracy Borman has examined more closely than ever before. With new insights and discoveries, and in the same way that she brilliantly illuminated the real Thomas Cromwell, The Private Life of the Tudors will reveal previously unexamined details about the characters we think we know so well.
©2016 Tracy Borman (P)2016 Hodder & Stoughton
The King's Witch
Summary
In March of 1603, as she helps to nurse the dying Queen Elizabeth of England, Frances Gorges dreams of her parents’ country estate, where she has learned to use flowers and herbs to become a much-loved healer. She is happy to stay at home when King James of Scotland succeeds to the throne. His court may be shockingly decadent, but his intolerant Puritanism sees witchcraft in many of the old customs - punishable by death. But when her ambitious uncle forcibly brings Frances to the royal palace, she is a ready target for the twisted scheming of the Privy Seal, Lord Cecil. As a dark campaign to destroy both King and Parliament gathers pace, culminating in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, Frances is surrounded by danger, finding happiness only with the King’s precocious young daughter, and with Tom Wintour, the one courtier she feels she can trust. But is he all that he seems? Acclaimed as a brilliant historian, Tracy Borman proves with this thrilling debut novel that she is also a born storyteller.
©2018 Tracy Borman. First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Hodder & Stoughton, an Hachette UK company. Recorded by arrangement with Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2018 Audible, Inc.
Tracy Borman
Summary
Exclusive to Audible. Tracy Borman, author of the best-selling biography of Thomas Cromwell, takes us behind the scenes to reveal the intimate secrets of the Tudor court and the private lives of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I and more. If you could follow Henry VIII as he left the court and went to his private chambers, what would you see? Focusing on the daily routines of iconic royalty, Tracy Borman reveals the truth behind the glamorous exterior.
©2016 Audible Ltd (P)2016 Audible Ltd
Thomas Cromwell
Summary
Thomas Cromwell is known to millions as the leading character in Hilary Mantel's best-selling Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. But who was the real Cromwell? Born a lowly tavern keeper's son, Cromwell rose swiftly through the ranks to become Henry VIII's right-hand man, and one of the most powerful figures in Tudor history. The architect of England's break with the Roman Catholic Church and the dissolution of the monasteries, he oversaw seismic changes in our country's history. Influential in securing Henry's controversial divorce from Catherine of Aragon, many believe he was also the ruthless force behind Anne Boleyn's downfall and subsequent execution. But although for years he has been reviled as a Machiavellian schemer who stopped at nothing in his quest for power, Thomas Cromwell was also a loving husband, father, and guardian; a witty and generous host; and a loyal and devoted servant. With new insights into Cromwell's character, his family life and his close relationships with both Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII, joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces Tracy Borman examines the life, loves, and legacy of the man who changed the shape of England forever.
©2014 Tracy Borman (P)2014 Hodder & Stoughton
Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him
Summary
Tracy Borman, author of the best-selling biography Thomas Cromwell, takes us behind the scenes of Henry VIII's court and sheds new light on the most notorious Tudor monarch through the fresh perspective of his male relationships. Henry VIII is well known for his tumultuous relationships with women, and he is often defined by his many marriages. But what do we see if we take a different look? When we see Henry through the men in his life, a new perspective on this famous king emerges.... Henry's relationships with the men who surrounded him reveal much about his beliefs, behaviour and character. They show him to be capable of fierce but seldom abiding loyalty, of raising men only to destroy them later. He loved to be attended and entertained by boisterous young men who shared his passion for sport, but at other times he was more diverted by men of intellect, culture and wit. Often trusting and easily led by his male attendants and advisers during the early years of his reign, he matured into a profoundly suspicious and paranoid king whose favour could be suddenly withdrawn, as many of his later servants found to their cost. His cruelty and ruthlessness would become ever more apparent as his reign progressed, but the tenderness that he displayed towards those he trusted proves that he was never the one-dimensional monster that he is often portrayed as. In this fascinating and often surprising new biography, Tracy Borman reveals Henry's personality in all its multifaceted, contradictory glory.
©2018 Tracy Borman (P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
The Fallen Angel
Summary
In the gripping conclusion to Tracy Borman’s Stuart-era trilogy, Frances Gorges must face a dangerous new enemy deep within the court of James I Life has never been quiet for Frances Gorges at the court of King James, but after finding herself at the center of plots and conspiracies for many years both as an accused witch and a secret Catholic, by 1614 Frances hopes to distance herself from the decadence and ruthlessness of the aging and venal monarch. However, when a handsome stranger appears at a courtier’s country estate, he immediately draws the wandering eyes of the King, throwing the established order of the court into upheaval. George Villiers is ambitious and violent, ready to take down whatever - and whoever - stands in his way, including Frances and her husband Sir Thomas Tyringham. New friends and old alliances - from Francis Bacon and Prince Charles to Sir Walter Raleigh - will offer Frances ways to resist the treachery of Villiers, but danger and Catholic plotting always lurks just around the corner, and sometimes from unexpected sources. With her meticulous eye for detail and evocative storytelling, Tracy Borman’s The Fallen Angel is a riveting conclusion to her trilogy set during the first Stuart monarch’s reign.
©2020 Tracy Borman. Recorded by arrangement with Atlantic Monthly Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2020 Audible, Inc.