In Triumph's Wake: Royal Mothers, Tragic Daughters, and the Price They Paid for Glory

Queen Isabella of Castile, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and Queen Victoria of England were respected and admired rulers whose legacies continue to be felt today. Their daughters - Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England; Queen Marie Antoinette of France; and Vicky, the Empress Frederick of Germany - are equally legendary for the tragedies that befell them, their roles in history surpassed by their triumphant mothers'. Because of his doomed marriage to Queen Catherine, Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic Church, triggering the English Reformation. To many, responsibility for the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror fell squarely upon Marie Antoinette. And Empress Frederick proved insufficient in getting Germany to rise to political maturity: under her son's reign, the country would be plunged into the beginnings of world war. Exhaustively researched and utterly compelling, In Triumph's Wake" is the powerful and moving story of three royal mothers whose quest for power led to the downfall of their equally extraordinary daughters.