Comments and Suggestions Received.

Mr. Taylor. 

Several years ago I set out to write about Helen Kane. I found her a very interesting woman. One problem I had was locating the full trial transcript. Your hard work was rewarded. After reading the transcript and comparing it to all the bits of information out there, it amazes me how so many people are ill informed and do not know it. So much incorrect information about Ester Jones could be eliminated by those armchair researchers with this transcript that you shared and propagate facts for a change. Thank you for providing this trial transcript to hopefully correct the bad information out there. Good job. Your book was a pleasure to read. Your opinion about Wikipedia, by-the-way, is absolutely correct. Dr. Thomas Hopkins. Baton Rouge, LA. 

James.

Hello, we are indirectly related to Thomas Wyatt and we learned a great deal about our ancestor. We knew some of his involvement with the rebellion in 1553/54, but your description made us feel like we were there. Your book is packed full of facts. In this information age, it is good to see someone in the “old school’ as you call it, still producing factual interesting works. The bibliography of several of your works is as interesting as the books themselves. We are glad to see that someone still looks at original material instead of regurgitating material from recent works. We look forward to more of your work. Thank you. Dolores Steinhauger,  NM

James. I have been researching material on Tudor era crime and punishment for a book project in the future. I reviewed your publication Complete State Trials of the Tudor Era. You have accomplished a great deal and your work was a tremendous assistance to my research.  I must say, what impressed me the most was the fact that you did not embellish a few facts. Your short narratives are clear and to-the-point. I will certainly acknowledge your contributions. Thank you. Sylvia Jerome, Royal Oak, MI. 

Mr. Taylor. We are reviewing material for a future movie/documentary on flapper era women. We reviewed both your publications on Mae Questel and Helen Kane and found them invaluable in accumulating material. We found your attention to detail refreshing. Your material was well researched. Should this project move into production, we hope to bring you on board in a consultation capacity. Thomas Cline, Los Angeles, CA

Published information on Lady Jane is scant and contradictory; here, primary sources including Jane's own letters illustrate the drama of a high-born, high-minded and intelligent young lady sacrificed on the pyre of ambition by her kin. The teenaged Lady Jane faced her shocking fate with shocking fortitude; her own performance is inspirational, while some of those around her showed themselves to be the very embodiment of treachery and betrayal. The result is a complete and accurate study of Lady Jane Grey and her short reign, through primary and secondary sources, that will stimulate new questions in the mind of readers and researchers alike.

“Taylor succeeds in furnishing insights into the remarkable mind of this young, 16th-century Protestant noblewoman” & “serious students of English history will relish the new material offered here”

Publishers Weekly, Jan 2005. 

ISBN: 978-0-87586-334-4-Biography

DA345.1.D9D63 2004

Algora Publishing, New York. 2004

Edward Courtenay, the twelfth Earl of Devonshire, walked a fine line that separated treason and loyalty to the crown. Although he spent over half of his life imprisoned in the Tower of London, he was considered a possible marriage partner for Mary Tudor. He was released from prison but ended his days adrift on the continent. Here, James Taylor has pieced together the story of his dramatic life through remnants of correspondence and documents from the era. This volume was prepared in consultation with current Earl of Devon.

ISBN: 978-0-87586-473-0-Biography

DA347.1.D48T39 2006

Algora Publishing, New York. 2006

Thomas Wyatt the Younger, born into a Catholic family with a history of loyal service to the Crown, was a supporter of Queen Mary — until she decided to marry Philip II of Spain. Wyatt had seen the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition and was dead set against tying England to this "foreigner." What happened next helped Mary earn the moniker "Bloody Mary." James D. Taylor Jr. has brought together all known surviving documents from the life of Thomas Wyatt the Younger and presents them in their original form, allowing the reader to piece together a pointillistic picture of the historical narrative, the thinking of a daring man, and the drama leading up to and during Wyatt's rebellion against the Queen.

ISBN: 978-1-62894-009-1-Biography

DA347.T39 2013

Algora Publishing, New York. 2013

Henry Grey gave up a comfortable, quiet and leisurely life to become one of the most powerful and influential figures in England. The father of Lady Jane Grey, he was descended from a distinguished and noble heritage back as far as 1100 CE that produced two queens. In the end, Henry Grey brought destruction upon his daugh­ter and himself, as they were sent to the executioner within a week of each other. 

A genealogy of the Grey family, descriptive information on Henry Grey's wife Frances Brandon — an ambitious grand­daughter of King Henry VII, a list of Knights made by King Edward VI, and other historical documents accompany the text. The author also presents some dramatic narratives from the 1700s and 1800s which add flavor to the story and corrects several incorrect facts often reprinted.

ISBN: 978-1-62894-181-4-Biography

DA345.1.S84T39 2015

Algora Publishing, New York. 2015

Betty Boop is an iconic figure that has endured for decades. In addition to cartoons and short movies, she is seen on almost everything from automotive and motorcycle merchandise to household items and clothing. Just about anything you can think of, her sexy little figure can be seen on it. But few people know the voice that helped make her into the icon she is.

Mae Questel was an American actress and vocal artist who put the “boop” in the “boop boop a doop.” It was because of Mae Questel that Betty Boop has a characteristic voice heard and remembered by millions. In this book, historian James D. Taylor provides a look into the life of a wonderful woman and the contributions she made to American pop culture. She was dedicated to her work and remained active until the last ten years of her long life.

Individuals such as Woody Allen, Lou Hirsch, Doris Roberts and Bob Newhart shared their accounts of Mae Questel with the author, and he listened to hundreds of hours of old audio recordings and viewed many hours of film to accumulate material for this biography. With every hour, he says, his respect grew for this admirable and talented woman who entertained millions of people.

This book has ranked at 87,182 out of Amazon's top 4 million. Thank you to those readers who purchased this book. I hope Mrs. Questel enjoys the renewed and certainly deserved popularity again. 

ISBN: 978-1-62894-204-0-Biography

Algora Publishing, New York. 2016

Betty Boop has been a beloved character since the 1930s. The quintessential “flapper,” her character was based on a handful of popular performers, and fans are still arguing who was the principal model.

This book is the only comprehensive collection of documented facts about Helen Kane, the face of Betty Boop. Historian James D. Taylor has painstakingly accumulated all the facts that can be found about her life and her performing career - and these details make for an interesting story in themselves.

Those who do know of Helen Kane are aware of the controversy that broke out and became a major court case. Mr. Taylor gained access to the official transcript of the trial that was a pivotal event in her life.

Too many short, inaccurate biographies have been published that incorrectly quote from that trial. Helen Kane was dedicated to her work and remained active until the last ten years of her life.

While Mae Questel was the vocal artist whose distinctive voice helped make Betty Boop a favorite character, it’s the image of Betty Boop that is most recognizable. She would not look the way she does if it had not been for the performances of Helen Kane.

ISBN-978-1-62894-240-8 Biography

DDC 782.42164092

Algora Publishing, New York. 2017

This book presents the full documentation of all known and recorded capital trials during the Tudor dynasty.

Trials were very different back then. It was very rare for the accused to even have representation, and mainly people had to defend themselves; but one can read several examples of how individuals accused of treason skillfully defended themselves, evading the sentence of death.

Biographies have been published about some of these individuals, including the events that led up to the trials, but all too often the trials themselves have been left out of have been included only by way of a few exerts, so that this volume is the first to included as many are presented here.

The inducement to put together this book is two-fold. These trials were life and death events, an integral part of the individual's biographical story and of history; secondly, some readers of my past publications have requested a book just about the trials of those best known to readers interested in English Tudor history.

The trials included in this edition are accumulated from many sources. Only a very few cases, where actual trial records were not found, have been left out. During the reign of Elizabeth I, record keeping and trial transcripts became more frequent and regular.

Through this book, the refinement of Tudor law can be seen as it evolved from being a matter of the monarch's will to following clearly-established law that governed everyone.

ISBN 978-1-62894-376-4 State Trials.

Algora Publishing. New York. 2018.