The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart is the first complete edition of Elizabeth Stuart's letters ever published. Volume II covers the years between 1632 and 1642: Elizabeth's life as a widow controlling the regency during her eldest son's minority and imprisonment.

Elizabeth Stuart is one the most misrepresented - and underestimated - figures of the seventeenth century. This biography reveals the impact that she had on both England and Europe

Between the years 1643 and 1649, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–80) and René Descartes (1596–1650) exchanged fifty-eight letters—thirty-two from Descartes and twenty-six from Elisabeth. Their correspondence contains the only known extant philosophical writings by Elisabeth, revealing her mastery of metaphysics, analytic geometry, and moral philosophy, as well as her keen interest in natural philosophy. The letters are essential reading for anyone interested in Descartes’s philosophy, in particular his account of the human being as a union of mind and body, as well as his ethics. They also provide a unique insight into the character of their authors and the way ideas develop through intellectual collaboration. Philosophers have long been familiar with Descartes’s side of the correspondence. Now Elisabeth’s letters—never before available in translation in their entirety—emerge this volume, adding much-needed context and depth both to Descartes’s ideas and the legacy of the princess. Lisa Shapiro’s annotated edition—which also includes Elisabeth’s correspondence with the Quakers William Penn and Robert Barclay—will be heralded by students of philosophy, feminist theorists, and historians of the early modern period.

'What a compelling read! Nancy Goldstone has brought to life the four female Stuarts in all their tragic glory' Amanda Foreman Valentine's Day, 1613. Elizabeth Stuart, the sixteen-year-old granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Frederick V, a German count and ally of her father, James I of England. In just five years a terrible betrayal will ruin 'the Winter Queen', as Elizabeth will forever be known, imperil the lives of those she loves and launch a war that lasts thirty years. In a sweeping narrative encompassing political intrigue, illicit love affairs and even a murder mystery, Nancy Goldstone tells the riveting story of a queen in exile, and of her four defiant daughters.