Set of Three Great Hardback Books
Title 1: The Romanovs Under House Arrest
Title 2: Rasputin and his Russian Queen
Title 3: The Anne Boleyn Bible
Genre: History - Biographies
Format: Hardbacks
Signed: Dedications Available YES
Bids Accepted: UK Only
Title 1: The Romanovs Under House Arrest
Although many books cover the lives of Russia’s last
royal family in some considerable detail, their time
spent under house arrest in their own domestic home –
the Alexander Palace, outside St. Petersburg – is often
explained in a few scant pages, or a chapter at most.
But when set against the Revolution and the abdication
of the Tsar, these few months from February to August
1917 take on tremendous significance and deserve to
be studied in detail. Therein, as events spiralled out of
control, the Romanovs would find themselves virtual
prisoners in their own palace.
Worse still, with the aforementioned Tsar –
Nicholas II – away and ensconced in the vicissitudes
of World War One, it was left to his wife Alexandra
– favourite granddaughter of Queen Victoria – to
commandeer a household increasingly under siege.
She did this with aplomb, whilst simultaneously caring
for a haemophiliac son and four daughters laid low
by life-threatening measles. Alexandra’s boast that she
was the one who ‘wore the trousers’ was thus put to the
test in the hardiest of scenarios, as she found herself
forced both to bolster a flagging palace garrison against
the possibility of attack by bloodthirsty insurgents,
whilst attempting to hold together a domestic staff
increasingly fearful for their own lives in the face
of mob retribution. Meanwhile, the German High
Command set about releasing a veritable human
bacillus – Lenin himself – back toward his native
Russia, in a novel attempt to destabilise the Russian
war machine further still.
Not simply a blow-by-blow account of the daily lives
of a monarchy defiled, this book runs in tandem with
the Russian Revolution as it surges out from Petrograd
and toward the idyllic suburbs that the Romanovs
called their home … without Rasputin to rally them,
who can save the dynasty now?!
Title 2: Rasputin and his Russian Queen: The True Story of Grigory and Alexandra
RASPUTIN’S RELATIONSHIP with Russia’s last Tsarina, Alexandra, notorious from the famous Boney M song, has never been adequately addressed; biographies are always for one or the other, or simply Alexandra and her husband Nicholas. In this new work, Mickey Mayhew reimagines Alexandra for the #MeToo generation; ‘neurotic’; ‘hysterical’; ‘credulous’ and ‘fanatical’ are shunted aside in favour of a sympathetic reimagining of a reserved and pious woman tossed into the heart of Russian aristocracy, with the sole purpose of providing their patriarchal monarchy with an heir. When her longed-for son then developed haemophilia, she turned to the one man capable of curing the child’s agonising pain – Grigory Rasputin. Some say that between them, Grigory and Alexandra brought down 300 years of Romanov rule and ushered in the Russian Revolution, but theirs was simply the story of a mother fighting for the health of her son against a backdrop of bigotry, sexism and increasing secularism. She liked to pray and he liked to party, but when they found themselves steering Russia through the First World War, her gender and his class gave society no option but to destroy them. Bubbling with his trademark bon mots, Mickey Mayhew’s latest book breathes fresh life into two of history’s most fascinating – and polarising – figures. This is the real story of Rasputin and his Russian Queen.
Title 3: The Anne Boleyn Bible
Anne Boleyn sells, but she sells in segments; a biography here, a study over there on her guilt and something else yonder concerned with where she lived or what she liked to wear. This book, covering not just her life but her life onscreen, in theatre, on TV and also the impact of the first black actress to play her, is the definitive, all-encompassing story of Anne Boleyn from 1501 (or thereabouts) to 2023. Having examined the ardent fandom of Anne Boleyn for his doctorate, Dr Mickey Mayhew is in a unique position to offer something new to say on this much-discussed 'tragic' Tudor queen and is not afraid to tackle some of the less palatable aspects of her life. Also, this book is the first to examine with authenticity the reality of Anne's relationship with the most important man in her life, the man whose name she repeated in comfort whilst facing the Swordsman of Calais on the scaffold, having spent her life promulgating his doctrine; Jesus Christ himself. As for the aforementioned executioner, Dr Mayhew's research in Calais and Saint-Omer can now lift a lid on a few of the particulars of this elusive and yet essential figure of Anne Boleyn mythos; and yes, now he even has a name as well. The Anne Boleyn Bible also offers a straightforward retelling of Anne's actual historical life, albeit one that outlines an entirely fresh and empowering perspective on her rise to prominence; this is followed by a series of considered arguments on the 'for' and 'against' in regard to her guilt & execution; then her entry into popular culture, firstly in plays and masques, before she went on to headline movies, TV series, cosplay, and now, with the first black woman to portray her, model and actress Jodie Turner-Smith. This book is simply what it says on the cover - The Anne Boleyn Bible - leaving no depiction, no religious aspect, no appearance in popular culture, from The Simpsons to the West End musical 'Six', overlooked; likewise, Dr Mayhew also turns his trademark brand of rather wry commentary toward the vast plethora of Anne Boleyn merchandising, tourist spots, rubber ducks, beanies and the wrangling question of who was the ultimate onscreen Anne; Genevieve Bujold or Natalie Dormer?!
Author Bio:
Mickey Mayhew is an author and historian from London, working mainly on Mary Queen of Scots, Anne Boleyn, and the Romanovs; he has a PhD focusing on the online ‘tragic queen cult’ surrounding Mary and Anne. He wrote ‘The Little Book of Mary Queen of Scots’ (published by The History Press) in 2014 and then ‘I love the Tudors’ (published by Pitkin Publishing) in 2016. ‘House of Tudor – A Grisly History’ and ‘Imprisoning Mary Queen of Scots – The Men Who Kept the Stuart Queen’ were released by Pen & Sword Books in 2022. ‘Rasputin and his Russian Queen – The True Story of Grigory and Alexandra’, will be released in March 2023, with ‘The Anne Boleyn Bible’ due in August.
Previously to this, he was co-author on three books relating to Jack the Ripper, whilst fictional work includes the urban fantasy trilogy ‘The Barrow Boys of Barking’, beginning with ‘Jack and the Lad’ and concluding, for now, with ‘Jamie’s Big Bang’. His tongue-in-cheek memoir ‘Mickeypedia’ is also now available, with all proceeds going to the Anna Kennedy Online autism charity.
Follow:
Website:
http://www.mickeymayhew.comX:
https://x.com/Mickey_Mayhew 
