Four Queens: The Provençal Sisters Who Ruled Europe

She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth

Helen Castor · 477 pages

When Edward VI died in 1553, the extraordinary fact was that there was no one left to claim the title of king of England. For the first time, England would have a reigning queen, but the question was which one: Katherine of Aragon's daughter, Mary; Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth; or one of their cousins, Lady Jane Grey or Mary, Queen of Scots. But female rule in England also had a past. Four h

Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess

Alison Weir · 366 pages

In her remarkable new book, Alison Weir recounts one of the greatest love stories of medieval England. It is the extraordinary tale of an exceptional woman, Katherine Swynford, who became first the mistress and later the wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Katherine Swynford’s charismatic lover was one of the most powerful princes of the 14th century, the effective ruler of England behind

The Sisters Who Would Be Queen

Leanda de Lisle · 386 pages

Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York

Lisa Hilton · 536 pages

Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources

Asser, Alfred the Great · 368 pages

Asser's Life of King Alfred, written in 893, is a revealing account of one of the greatest of medieval kings. Composed by a monk of St David's in Wales who became Bishop of Sherborne in Alfred's service and worked with him in his efforts to revive religion and learning in his kingdom, this life is among the earliest surviving royal biographies. It is an admiring account of King Alfred's life, writ

The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation

Ian Mortimer · 448 pages

Queen of the Conqueror: The Life of Matilda, Wife of William I

Tracy Borman · 295 pages

Tracy Borman lays out Matilda's remarkable story against one of the most fascinating and transformative periods in European history. Stirring, richly detailed, and wholly involving, Queen of the Conqueror reveals not just an extraordinary figure but an iconic woman who shaped generations, and an era that cast the essential framework for the world we know today.

Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings

Amy Kelly · 442 pages

A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain

Marc Morris · 471 pages

Blood Sisters: The Women Behind The War Of The Roses

Sarah Gristwood · 408 pages

"In Pembroke Castle, on 28 January 1457, the 13-year-old Margaret Beaufort gave birth to a son she named Henry. Her husband was already dead; her sufferings in childbirth were grave... England was in the grip of civil war - the War of the Roses. Known to contemporaries as 'The Cousins War', beyond the fields of battle raged a family feud, a violent and emotional domestic drama. For the noble women

The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, the Queen, and the King's Mother

Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin, Michael K. Jones · 342 pages

A non-fiction companion to The White Queen, The Red Queen, and The Lady of the Rivers. Philippa Gregory and two historians, leading experts in their field, tell the extraordinary 'true' stories of the lives of these women who until now have been largely forgotten by history, their background and times, highlighting questions which are raised in the fiction and illuminating the novels. With a forew

Catherine of Aragon: The Spanish Queen of Henry VIII

Giles Tremlett · 448 pages

She Wolves: the Notorious Queens of England

Elizabeth Norton · 285 pages

Two Lives of Charlemagne

Einhard, Notker the Stammerer · 227 pages

"These two LIVES provide a fascinating contrast. Einhard, who spent twenty-three years in Charlemagne's service, chose to approach his Vita Caroli as a public history and, in beautifully expressed language, recounts Charlemagne's personal life and his achievements in warfare, learning, art, building, and in the skilful administration of the state. Notker the monk's De Carolo Magno is a collection

The Last Days of Richard III

John Ashdown-Hill · 190 pages

This book contains details about what Richard III did in his last five months, what happened to his body, and how his DNA was found in Canada. This book explores these events from the standpoint of Richard himself and his contemporaries. By deliberately avoiding the hindsight knowledge that he will lose the Battle of Bosworth Field, this book presents a new Richard - not a passive victim, awaiting

Isabella: The Warrior Queen

Kirstin Downey · 532 pages

Drawing on new scholarship, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Woman Behind the New Deal presents a biography of Isabella of Castile, the controversial Queen of Spain who sponsored Christopher Columbus' journey to the New World, established the Spanish Inquisition and became one of the most influential female rulers in history.

Queen Emma: A History of Power, Love, and Greed in 11th-Century England

Harriet O'Brien · 288 pages

The Woodvilles: The Wars of the Roses and England's Most Infamous Family

Susan Higginbotham · 224 pages

224 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : 25 cm

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Antonia Fraser · 496 pages

The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, The Power Behind Five English Thrones

Thomas Asbridge · 464 pages

The story of the largely forgotten William Marshal Pembroke of the English medieval period, who, "as a five-year-old boy ... was sentenced to execution and led to the gallows, yet this landless younger son survived his brush with death, and went on to train as a medieval knight. Against all odds, [he] rose through the ranks--serving at the right hand of five English monarchs--to become a celebrate

Richard the Third

Paul Murray Kendall · 516 pages

Paul Murray Kendall's masterful account of the life of England's King Richard III has remained the standard biography of this controversial figure.

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman

Robert K. Massie · 791 pages

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure young German princess who traveled to Russia at fourteen and rose to become one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating women in history. Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself

The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra

Helen Rappaport · 518 pages

"They were the Princess Dianas of their day--perhaps the most photographed and talked about young royals of the early twentieth century. The four captivating Russian Grand Duchesses--Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia Romanov--were much admired for their happy dispositions, their looks, the clothes they wore and their privileged lifestyle. Over the years, the story of the four Romanov sisters and

Anne Boleyn: A New Life of England's Tragic Queen

Joanna Denny · 384 pages