HOT ON THE heels of Jane Dunn's wonderfully readable Elizabeth and Mary comes this biography of Mary Queen of Scots by John Guy. One might assume that another book on this subject would be superfluous, but it quickly becomes clear that this is far from the case. While not so elegantly written as Dunn's study, this is a work of great importance, crammed with electrifying new material from archives in England, Scotland and France.

Mary's life was family of high drama, alternating dizzily between triumph and tragedy. She had a breathtaking ability to extricate herself from disastrous situations, only to be overwhelmed by fresh catastrophes. How far she was responsible for her own misfortunes has been much debated, and the question of whether or