Queen James

The Life and Loves of Britain’s First King

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Queen James

By: Gareth Russell

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Summary

A BBC History magazine, Esquire, Historia magazine and Waterstones History Book of the Year

'James comes alive in full flamboyance … Russell expertly weaves the bedchamber gossip into the tapestry of a tumultuous reign' SUNDAY TIMES

'Brings the backbiting and power struggles of the Jacobean court to life with wit and vigour' OBSERVER

‘A warts and all story told with compassion’ PHILIPPA GREGORY

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‘Elizabeth was king,

Then James was queen.’ – English author (1603)

James Stuart, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland did not always love wisely, but he never failed to do so boldly.

He fell in love three times – with a Scottish lord, a knight and George Villiers, ‘the handsomest man in the whole world’. He was infatuated three more times – with a Highland earl, a Welsh lord and an English spy.

We know so much about the six wives of Henry VIII, why not the six loves of James I?

This groundbreaking new book puts James – genius, liar, spendthrift, idealist, witch-hunter – and the men he loved at the centre of one of the most dramatic stories in British royal history.

Beginning with the brutal and mysterious murder of his father in 1567, James’s life encompassed kidnapping, witchcraft trials, torture, his mother’s beheading, poison, political radicalism, religious fundamentalism, a queen’s alleged abortion, passionate sex, strong love, stronger hate, espionage, brothels, and a decade-long love affair that ended in assassination.

It is unquestionably one of the most gripping stories in British history, retold in Gareth Russell’s Queen James with scholarship, biographical insight and wit.

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'Books like this don't come along very often. Told with Gareth Russell's characteristic verve and exquisite eye for detail, it is a story so compelling and surprising that it feels as if it has been hiding in plain sight for 400 years. A stunning achievement and a must for history fans everywhere' TRACY BORMAN

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17th Century Best of 2025 Biographies & Memoirs Europe Great Britain Historical LGBTQIA+ Creators Modern Politics & Activism Royalty Scotland Thought-Provoking England Espionage Magic Highlander Tudor Witchcraft

Editorial Review

A stirring look at Great Britain’s first king

Beautifully performed by the author himself, The Six Loves of James I is a triumph in historical biography. Through meticulous research, historian Gareth Russell paints a vivid portrait of the Jacobean era, its court dynamics, and the man who became the first king of Great Britain, uniting the crowns of England and Scotland under a single monarch. Despite the political plots, religious turmoil, and intense scheming of the time, Russell’s deeply human depiction of King James I explores how his life was ruled by passions, paranoia, and love. But it’s not a narrow view of James’s romantic and political maneuverings; it’s a well-rounded exploration of his legacy, which feels like it’s been hiding in plain sight for more than four centuries. —Michael C., Audible Editor

Critic reviews

'A very intimate portrait; James comes alive in full flamboyance …Russell expertly weaves the bedchamber gossip into the tapestry of a tumultuous reign. The book is serious when it needs to be and fun when appropriate. Academic historians are often reluctant to discuss emotions and rather limp when it comes to sex. Russell, in contrast, immerses himself in James’s complex personality, producing a portrait that is robust and exquisitely detailed…a superbly nuanced biography'

Sunday Times

'Confident, compelling… a sober, rounded portrait of James Stuart, which rescues him from the caricature, product of later parliamentarian bias, of the slobbering (not true) weakling (also not true) who was forever fiddling with his codpiece (there is no contemporary evidence for this). Instead we meet a complicated man, an obsessive hunter, an intellectual who wrote decent poetry and books, superstitious, impulsive, passionate, and above all, deeply paranoid. This last detail is little wonder. The most striking lesson of this propulsive biography is just how brutal life was 450 years ago'

Guardian

'Superb…stands apart in its mixture of acute psychological insight and intricate research, as he brings the backbiting and power struggles of the Jacobean court to life with wit and vigour. His greatest achievement here is to redefine James as one of Britain’s few queer kings, and he dispenses with the euphemisms and evasiveness of other historians in this stirring account of the man who would be queen'

Observer

'Seeks to unravel the monarch – the first to rule Scotland, England and Ireland following the Union of the Crowns in 1604 – who found love, sex and comfort with a string of male ‘favourites’ and a release in dirty jokes and coarse language'

The Scotman

Most relevant

After listening to Gareth Russell on the Betwixt the Sheets podcast, I just knew I had to download this book. With absolutely zero previous interest in this monarch and time period, I was expecting the novelty to wear off. However, it is a compelling and immersive listen, I feel like I know the King - even though that is not possible. A fantastic book. Highly recommend.