Anne Clifford’s Great Books of Record

In her Great Books of Record Anne Clifford places herself within the dynamic history of the ancient Clifford family, providing an unbroken view into medieval and early modern life for nearly six centuries. In this annotated edition, we glimpse the lives of simple widows, traders, farmers, and labourers juxtaposed with the adventures of soldiers, lords and ladies, princes and princesses. Throughout, Anne Clifford asserts the centrality of women to the success of noble families, including the monarchy. Her Great Books draw upon medieval traditions and early modern scholarship and builds upon these through biographies of the Clifford lords and ladies, along with an extended biography of her mother Margaret Russell and her own autobiographical, ‘The Life of Mee’. Those interested in the lives of medieval and early modern women, changes in culture, the effect of the political upon individuals, and the inspiring life of Anne Clifford will find this a rich and rewarding book.