It's frustrating because in a lot of ways it's actually really well-executed--the writing is great, the historical stuff is great. It's just missing something: I never quite believed it, really.

It's so difficult, because at the end of the day all history is biased--but yes, it's extremely difficult when plunging into a new era/place/circle of people to sort out which biographers take which approach and how fair they may or may not be. This one wasn't horrible on that count--I think her portrayals of the various figures are more or less fair--but it just wasn't a great piece of historical writing in general.