Review: The Six Loves of James I by Gareth Russell

The Six Loves of James I

by Gareth Russell

Release Date: December 2, 2025

2025 Atria Books

Ebook Edition; 496 Pages

ISBN: 978-1668049686

ASIN: B0DV674KT4

Audiobook: B0DW1WW4QH

Genre: Non-Fiction / Historical / Biography

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

5 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Gareth Russell’s “rollicking, gossipy” (Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets), and scholarly voice invites us into James’s world, revealing a monarch whose reign was defined by both his public power and personal vulnerabilities. For too long, historians have shied away from or condemned the exploration of his sexuality. Now, Russell offers a candid narrative that not only reveals James’s relationships with five prominent men but also challenges the historical standards applied to the examination of royal intimacies.

This biography stands as a significant contribution to the understanding of royal history, illuminating the personal experiences that shaped James’s political decisions and his philosophical views on masculinity and sexuality.

 

My Thoughts

The Six Loves of James I was both riveting and fascinating. Having just read The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham by Lucy Hughes-Hallett (review coming shortly), I was happy to read another accounting of this king, but from a different perspective.  And while it did focus on the men who influenced him, this book was so much more than that, something that I really appreciated. This book satisfied me in a way that many others have not.

 

I am very familiar with the life of King James I, but somehow the author made me feel something new for this very fragile king, a connection that made me empathize with this man who struggled with so much on his shoulders from such a young age. Even though I have read about it frequently, I don't think I can still grasp the enormity of the responsibility he had from such a young age, dealing with the tragic outcome of the falling out of both his parents, Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley, two people so equally despised their names still reverberate throughout history today.  The political shenanigans from the fallout and what happened afterwards left their indelible mark on this man, something that would haunt him for the rest of his life and colour his perceptions of people and events.

 

While this book implies it's about the love life of James I, it is so much more than that, showing how much James relied on his relationships in order to survive the day to day struggles of ruling a country that had so many political issues. I liked how the author outlined exactly what James was up against, showcasing his brilliance and his intelligence in dealing with so much, and quite successfully. But there was the darker side to everything as well, and the author wrote about those episodes clearly, leaving it up to the reader to decide for themselves what they choose to believe about what happened.  I certainly appreciated the different viewpoints as well as the new research that is exploring some other theories about some of the events that occurred throughout his reign. And perhaps more information will come to light in the future that will change what we know about some of the events that happened as well. To understand things through a man's eyes who possibly had ADHD and more than likely experienced PTSD (both of which were definitely terms that were non-existent during this time period), it gives valuable insight into some of his choices and his reactions when dealing with dangerous situations. I also really liked how the author looked into different sources to give us a better understanding of his physical characteristics, his personality, his intelligence, and other traits that have been twisted over the years, and how this would have happened.

 

I thought the author did a great job outlining the relationships that James had in his life, the men as well as with his wife and his children. It really gave us a great viewpoint to see who James leaned on during certain times in his life and how important these relationships were to him, but it also gave us great insight into how fragile he was, and how much he needed support and love to keep going.  While others around him may not have agreed with his choices, he certainly seemed to choose well and managed to control the vipers at court for many years and balance the power that could be so dangerous at court.  

 

Verdict

The Six Loves of James I was an interesting book, and I will admit that this monarch is one of those monarchs over whom I long have had a huge fascination, both for the contradictions about his life and reign as well as the amount of obstacles he had to overcome.  This man survived multiple assassination attempts, religious issues, the death of his children, the loss of his parents, treasonous lords (and ladies), tumultuous relationships (including his wife),  the witch trials, the trials over the unification of two countries, quarrelsome courtiers, money issues, and so much more, using intelligence and a whole lot of patience.  And there was no way he could have done this without being extremely cunning.  That being said, if you are going into this book expecting an outline of James' sexual life, this is not what this book is about. It's more about James' relationships and how it shaped his life throughout his reign, and that suited me just fine.