The Wisest Fool
The Lavish Life of James VI and I
by Steven Veerapen
£14.99
- Paperback
- E-Book
Reviews
The Wisest Fool is a sensitive portrait of a king who, despite errors of judgement managed to negotiate a period of exceptional political and religious turbulence... this is a probing, wellrounded and very readable account of a king too often over-looked, despite his pivotal role in modern British politics.'
Herald
It does not flinch from the flaws of character and errors of rule but makes a fair analysis of James the man as he struggled to become James the king ... a real page-turner for lovers of history
Philippa Gregory
Two kingdoms, two very different reputations. Veerapen brings fresh life and acute insight into the conundrum that is the reigns of King James
Leanda de Lisle
[James] was derided as "the wisest fool in Christendom" - wise in small things, but a fool when it came to weightier matters. That image has now been punctured. Not for the first time a historical parody emerges on closer inspection to be largely based on manufactured propaganda
The Times
Steven Veerapen's biography of James VI/I is so good that it seems likely to become the definitive work about the life of a much maligned and perhaps poorly understood character.
Undiscovered Scotland
He may not always have acted wisely during his reign, but a new biography shows that James VI and I was no fool...this is a very engaging book
The Scotsman
James has, in the past, been ill-served by historians, but Veerapen’s balanced and minutely researched account redresses this lack, and anyone reading it will learn an enormous amount from it, about the king himself, his court, and the competing philosophies of monarchical power in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Tudor Times
an extremely well-balanced account of James' character... a highly accomplished and well-written work of creative non-fiction
Country Life
A really interesting biography… a deep dive into the facts and information paints something of a different story… busts some of the false ideas and presents a better picture of this historical person
Newbooks Network (British Studies)
Veerapen weaves a fresh and honest tapestry of James’s character in all its imperfect glory. It is based on scholarly study and achieved with appropriate gravitas . . . Only by examining his time as King of Scotland can later years be fully understood – and this is expertly done
GoodReads, FIVE stars
Steven Veerapen has done a splendid job in bringing this neglected king and the extraordinary life he led so vividly to the page . . . Expertly researched and eminently readable
The Writing Desk blog
rescues James from the slurs and condescensions of history
West Highland Free Press
This is a thorough, detailed chronological life of James that concentrates on the links between his private and public life, especially in the period before his accession to the English throne.
Bookmunch
Extraordinary stuff
Aspects of History
A rich and rewarding read
Preach Magazine
About the Book
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 fool whose speech could barely be understood. For too long, he has paled in comparison to his more celebrated Tudor and Stuart forebears.
But who was he really? To what extent have myth, anecdote, and rumour obscured him?
In this new and ground-breaking biography, James’s story is laid bare and a welter of scurrilous, outrageous assumptions penned by his political opponents put to rest. What emerges is a portrait of Elizabeth I's successor as his contemporaries knew him: a gregarious, idealistic man obsessed with the idea of family, whose personal and political goals could never match up to reality. With reference to letters, libels and state papers, it casts fresh light on the personal, domestic, international and sexual politics of this misunderstood sovereign.
'A real page-turner for lovers of history' - Philippa Gregory
The Author
Steven Veerapen
Steven Veerapen was born in Glasgow to a Scottish mother and a Mauritian father and raised in Paisley. Pursuing an interest in the sixteenth century, he was awarded a first-class Honours degree in English, focussing his dissertation on representations of Henry VIII’s six wives. He is the author of The Wisest Fool: The Lavish Life of James VI and I, and lives in Glasgow.
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