StemCell Therapy

Englands most notorious dynasty owes much to the trials of a 13-year-old girl: Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond. On January 28, 1457, the young widowher first husband, Edmund Tudor, had died at age 26 several months priorbarely survived the birth of her only child, the future Henry VII. Twenty-eight years later, in large part due to Margarets tenacious, single-minded campaign for the crown, she saw her son take the throne as the first Tudor king.

Margaret never officially held the title of queen. But as Nicola Tallis argues in Uncrowned Queen: The Life of Margaret Beaufort, Mother of the Tudors, she fulfilled the role in all but name, orchestrating her familys rise to power and overseeing the machinations of government upon her sons ascension.

The latest installment in our series highlighting new book releases, which launched in late March to support authors whose works have been overshadowed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, centers on the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty, the oft-conflicting science of skin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poets tragic past, the twilight years of Japanese isolationism and a Supreme Court decision with lasting implications for the criminal justice system.

Representing the fields of history, science, arts and culture, innovation, and travel, selections represent texts that piqued our curiosity with their new approaches to oft-discussed topics, elevation of overlooked stories and artful prose. Weve linked to Amazon for your convenience, but be sure to check with your local bookstore to see if it supports social distancing-appropriate delivery or pickup measures, too.

Margaret Beaufort had little reason to dream of the throne. The Wars of the Rosesa dynastic clash between two branches of the royal Plantagenet familyraged on for much of her early life, and more often than not, her Lancastrian relatives were on the losing side. Still, she managed to find favor under Yorkist king Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville, embedding herself in the royal household with such success that she was named godmother to one of the couples children. All the while, Margaret worked to restore her son, Henry, then in exile as one of the last remaining Lancastrian heirs, to power.

Edward IVs untimely death in 1483, compounded by his brother Richard IIIs subsequent usurpation of the throne, complicated matters. But Margaret, working behind the scenes with the dowager queen Elizabeth and others who opposed Richards reign, ultimately proved victorious: On August 22, 1485, Henry defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field, winning the crown and, through his impending union with Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, uniting the warring royal houses after decades of civil war.

Nicola Tallis Uncrowned Queen details the complex web of operations that resulted in this unlikely victory, crediting Margaret for her sons success without lending credence to the commonly held perception of her as a religious fanatic who was obsessively ambitious on her sons behalf and who dominated his court. Instead, the historian presents a portrait of a singular woman who defied all expectations of the era, pressing against the constraints imposed by her sex and society, [and] slowly demanding more and more control over her life, until the crown on her sons head allowed her to make the unprecedented move for almost total independence: financially, physically and sexually.

A shower a day does not keep the dermatologist awayor so James Hamblin, a preventative medicine physician and staff writer at the Atlantic, argues in his latest book. Part history, part science, Clean addresses the many misconceptions surrounding skincare, outlining a compelling case for showering less and embracing (figuratively speaking) the many naturally occurring microbes found on the skin. To demonstrate his point, Hamblin swore off showering for the duration of the books writing; as Kirkus notes in its review of Clean, He did not become a public nuisance, and his skin improved.

The modern personal hygiene and beauty industry owes much to post-Industrial Revolution developments in germ theory, which identifies microbes as vectors of disease that must be destroyed or avoided. But certain bacteria and fungi are beneficial to the body, notes Hamblin in an excerpt for the Atlantic: Demodex mites, for instance, act as a natural exfoliant, while Roseomonas mucosa blocks the growth of another bacterium linked to eczema flares. And though parabens ensure the longevity of commercial products including deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste and lotion, these preservatives also eliminate helpful microbes, upsetting the balance essential to healthy skin.

Ultimately, writes Kirkus, Hamblin argues for more skin microbiome research and greater biodiversity in all aspects of our lives, underscoring the value of pets and plants and parks to enhance our livesand those that live in and on us.

When Natasha Trethewey was 19 years old, her abusive former stepfather murdered her mother. This tragedy echoes throughout the former United States poet laureates work: In Imperatives for Carrying On in the Aftermath, she describes how abusers wait, are patient, that they / dont beat you on the first date, sometimes / not even the first few years of a marriage, and reminds herself not to hang your head or clench your fists / when even your friend, after hearing the story, / says, My mother would never put up with that.

Gwendolyn Turnboughs killing was a pivotal moment in the young poets artistic development, but as Trethewey writes in her new memoir, she avoided confronting painful memories of the murder for decades. With the publication of Memorial Drivea searing examination of the authors upbringing in the Jim Crow South and the disastrous second marriage that followed her white father and African American mothers divorceshe hopes to make sense of our history, to understand the tragic course upon which my mothers life was set and the way my own life has been shaped by that legacy.

As Publishers Weekly concludes in its review, Memorial Drive is a beautifully composed, achingly sad reflection on the horrors of domestic abuse and a daughters eternal love for her mother.

Tsuneno, the central figure in historian Amy Stanleys debut book, was the loudest, the most passionate child of a 19th-century Buddhist priest named Emon. Restless and plagued by bad luck, according to Lidija Haas of Harpers magazine, she endured three failed marriages before abandoning her tiny Japanese village in favor of the bustling city of Edo, soon to be renamed Tokyo. Here, she worked a variety of odd jobs before meeting her fourth and final husband, a mercurial samurai named Hirosuke.

In addition to presenting a portrait of a city on the brink of a major cultural shiftCommodore Matthew Perry sailed into Japan and demanded the isolationist country reopen to the West in 1853, the year of Tsunenos deaththe work conveys a strong sense of its subjects personality, from her stubborn independent streak to her perseverance and self-described terrible temper. Drawing on letters, diary entries and family papers, Stanley revives both the world Tsuneno inhabited and the wise, brilliant, skillful woman herself.

To read Stranger in the Shoguns City, writes David Chaffetz for the Asian Review of Books, is to hear the sounds of the samurai trampling through the city, smell the eels grilling in tiny food stands, [and] see the color of posters for Kabuki performances.

Journalist Matthew Van Meters exploration of Duncan v. Louisiana, a 1968 Supreme Court case that affirmed defendants right to trial by jury, is decidedly timely reading, notes Kirkus in its review. Arriving amid a global reckoning on police brutality and criminal justice, Deep Delta Justice demonstrates how a seemingly minor incident brought massive, systemic change, according to the books description.

The legal battle in question began in 1966, when Gary Duncan, a 19-year-old black teenager, was arrested for placing his hand on a white peers arm while attempting to de-escalate a brewing fight. Duncan requested a trial by jury but was denied on the grounds that he was facing a misdemeanor, not felony, charge of simple battery; a judge sentenced him to 60 days in prison and a $150 fine.

Duncan appealed the verdict with the help of Richard Sobol, a white attorney at New Orleans most radical law firm. As Van Meter writes in the books prologue, the two-year legal odysseyreconstructed through first-person interviews and archival documentseventually affirmed the function of civil rights lawyers in the South and the fundamental right to a trial by jury in all cases carrying potential sentences of at least two years.

See the article here:
An Uncrowned Tudor Queen, the Science of Skin and Other New Books to Read - Smithsonian Magazine

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