Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart

Author: John Guy
Narrator: John Guy
Published by: Harper Collins Publishers (2004)
Length: 6 hours (abridged)
My Rating: 4/5

History is both fascinating and forgettable for me. I love to read or listen to history books, but my retention of facts is minimal. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother--I'm certainly not entertaining any notions of scholarliness. What it boils down to is entertainment, and the life of Mary, Queen of Scots could never be described as boring. I knew before listening to this book some of the well-known facts about Mary, particularly her gruesome execution. But here are some examples of the utterly unscholarly facts that I have managed to remember:

• When Mary gave birth to her first baby, she said, "If I had known it would hurt this bad, I would never have gotten married." (Amen, sister!)
  
• She had a few enemas to treat various illnesses. (Do you think she wanted us all to know about them?)
  
• When she was imprisoned, what she longed for most was exercise and she ate too much. (I can relate to this.)
  
• She was tall. (I can't relate to this.)
  

So, while I may not be increasing my chances of getting on Jeopardy, or slamming my opponents at Trivial Pursuit, I will still read history and non-fiction because it's just plain interesting. This was a great audio-book to listen to, and with fiction about royalty being so popular, it would be a great companion to any story about Mary Stuart. Hopefully other readers will remember more significant details than I have, but if not, just remember--no history tests!