The tragic story of Lady Jane Grey, the "queen for nine days" has been told in romance and film as well as Tudor history. Ives (English history, University of Birmingham, emeritus) makes it clear from the start that he believes Jane was the rightful queen and that Mary, the elder daughter of Henry VIII, was the usurper. This argument may be debated but the research Ives has put into his account of the girl (she was beheaded at the age of seventeen) and the influences on her development is impeccable. Ives treats the political wrangling that seemed to make Jane nothing more than a pawn, but he also delves into her religious upbringing and makes a good case for Jane being chosen by Edward VI because of her sincere Protestant beliefs. This biography reads like a novel with the tension growing in each chapter as Jane approaches her doom. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)