Most Tudor-philes are familiar with Lady Jane Grey, the tragic "9 Days Queen" bullied by her parents and in-laws into usurping the crown from Mary Tudor. The story is far more complicated however; Jane and her 2 younger sisters were considered the true heirs by a significant portion of the British population, and Jane's accession was the honest intent of the young King Edward. The Grey sisters had three advantages over Henry VIII's daughter Mary: they were unquestionably legitimate, they were Protestant, and they were 100% English with English husbands. De Lisle dispels many of the romantic myths that have grown up around Lady Jane: though shy, she was no innocent pawn but considered herself a leader of the Protestant cause. De Lisle also redeems from obscurity Jane's younger sister Katherine, whose secret marriage to a Protestant nobleman produced a male heir, making the Greys more of a threat to Queen Elizabeth's throne than the infamous Mary, Queen of Scots.

A fascinating dissection of how gender, religion, and xenophobia continued to threaten the succession for several generations.