The Beauforts: Lineage, Ambition and Obligation 1373-1510
Hardcover – 15 September 2022 (UK) & 15 January 2023 (US)
Four bastard children of John of Gaunt and his mistress Katherine Swynford vigorously made their way in the world despite their questionable origin, and when all four were retrospectively declared legitimate they were each set on course for advancement. Following the coup in 1399 when their half-brother became King Henry IV, the Beauforts were placed at the centre of government, and for three generations they served the Lancastrian monarchy in its grandiose ambitions, and in its decline to eventual extinction.
When Women Ruled the World: Making the Renaissance in Europe
Paperback – 6 December 2022 (US) & 6 January 2023 (UK)
The sixteenth century in Europe was a time of chronic destabilization in which institutions of traditional authority were challenged and religious wars seemed unending. Yet it also witnessed the remarkable flowering of a pacifist culture, cultivated by a cohort of extraordinary women rulers―most notably, Mary Tudor; Elizabeth I; Mary, Queen of Scots; and Catherine de’ Medici―whose lives were intertwined not only by blood and marriage, but by a shared recognition that their premier places in the world of just a few dozen European monarchs required them to bond together, as women, against the forces seeking to destroy them, if not the foundations of monarchy itself.
Queens and Prophets: How Arabian Noblewomen and Holy Men Shaped Paganism, Christianity and Islam
Hardcover – 10 January 2023 (US) & 1 December 2022 (UK)
Arab noblewomen of late antiquity were instrumental in shaping the history of the world. Between Rome’s intervention in the Arabian Peninsula and the Arab conquests, they ruled independently, conducting trade and making war. Their power was celebrated as queen, priestess and goddess. With time some even delegated authority to the most important holy men of their age, influencing Arabian paganism, Christianity and Islam.
Charlene: In Search of a Princess
Paperback – 5 January 2023 (UK) & 14 March 2023 (US)
Journalist Arlene Prinsloo sifts fact from fiction in this revealing unauthorised biography of Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene.
Prinsloo traces her life from humble beginnings in Zimbabwe, Johannesburg and Durban to the Olympic Games, her jet-set romance with the bachelor prince, the fairy-tale wedding and becoming a mother to twins. At its heart, it’s the story of a woman is search of happiness for herself and her family – and also of the beginning of Charlene defining her own space amid the royal protocol.
The Times Queen Elizabeth II: Commemorating her life and reign 1926 – 2022
Hardcover – 31 January 2023 (US) & 27 October 2022 (UK)
Drawn from nearly a century of detailed and fascinating reporting by The Times, discover insights and memories of the extraordinary period of social change that was our nation’s second Elizabethan age. Featuring Queen Elizabeth’s obituary, as published in The Times Reflections of a nation in mourning, with images from the state funeral A collection of essays and articles written by leading royal historians, including Ben Macintyre, Hugo Vickers, Valentine Low and Professor Kate Williams.
Artful Subversion: Empress Dowager Cixi’s Image Making
Hardcover – 24 January 2023 (US) & 14 February 2023 (UK)
Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908), who ruled China from 1861 until her death in 1908, is a subject of fascination and controversy, at turns vilified for her political maneuvering and admired for modernizing China. In addition to being an astute politician, she was an earnest art patron, and this beautifully illustrated book explores a wide range of objects, revealing how the empress dowager used art and architecture to solidify her rule.
Elizabeth: A Celebration in Photographs of Elizabeth II’s Life & Reign
Hardcover – 10 January 2023 (US) & 24 November 2022 (UK)
Elizabeth: A Celebration in Photographs, looks at this remarkable period in the history of Britain’s monarchy in lavish and fascinating detail, featuring over 250 photographs. Constantly under scrutiny the entire time she was on the throne, this book presents a balanced and absorbing account of the Queen’s life and of her role as the head of state in a country and a world that have changed almost beyond recognition in the seventy years she held the throne.
Gloriana: Elizabeth I and the Art of Queenship
Hardcover – 1 January 2023 (US) & 16 June 2022 (UK)
Sumptuously illustrated, Gloriana tells the story of Elizabethan art as a powerful device for royal magnificence and propaganda. By illuminating several key artworks of Elizabeth’s reign, Linda Collins and Siobhan Clarke create a unique portrait of the Tudor monarch as she has never been seen before.
Unsteady Crowns: Why the World’s Monarchies are Struggling for Survival
Paperback – 1 January 2023 (US)
In Unsteady Crowns, historian A.W. Purdue explores the important role played by monarchies as agents of continuity, guarding and representing the national ethos, and brings the story up to date in a fully revised second edition, exploring the roles of celebrity, rivalry, and much more in monarchies worldwide.
In Search of Amrit Kaur: An Indian Princess in Wartime Paris
Kindle Edition – 12 January 2023 (US & UK)
Filled with glamour and terror, beauty and sorrow, In Search of Amrit Kaur is an engrossing detective story, a kaleidoscopic history lesson, and a moving portrait of mothers, lovers and daughters across the century, seeking personal freedom.
Hitler’s Spy Princess: The Extraordinary Life of Stephanie von Hohenlohe
Paperback –1 January 2023 (US)
She was the unofficial go-between for some of the most important people of the era, conveying secret messages and organizing meetings between Adolf Hitler, Lord Rothermere, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and more than one US president. She would even be one of only a handful of women to be awarded the Nazi Party’s Gold Medal for ‘outstanding service to the National Socialist movement’. But then the Second World War began, and everything changed.
Hitler’s Spy Princess is a tale of lovers and manipulation, cleverness and deceit in the remarkable life of the woman Hitler called his ‘dear princess’.
Founder, Fighter, Saxon Queen: Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians
The Final Year of Anne Boleyn
Hardcover – 30 November 2022 (UK) & 30 January 2023 (US)
There are few women in English history more famous or controversial than Queen Anne Boleyn. She was the second wife of Henry VIII, mother of Elizabeth I and the first English queen to be publicly executed. Much of what we think we know about her is coloured by myth and legend, and does not stand up to close scrutiny. Reinvented by each new generation, Anne is buried beneath centuries of labels: homewrecker, seductress, opportunist, witch, romantic victim, Protestant martyr, feminist. In this vivid and engaging account of the triumphant and harrowing final year of Queen Anne Boleyn’s life, the author reveals a very human portrait of a brilliant, passionate and complex woman.
Embroidering Her Truth: Mary, Queen of Scots and the Language of Power
Paperback – 19 January 2023 (UK) & 30 May 2023 (US)
In sixteenth-century Europe women’s voices were suppressed and silenced. Even for a queen like Mary, her prime duty was to bear sons. In an age when textiles expressed power, Mary exploited them to emphasise her female agency. From her lavishly embroidered gowns as the prospective wife of the French Dauphin to the fashion dolls she used to encourage a Marian style at the Scottish court and the subversive messages she embroidered in captivity for her supporters, Mary used textiles to advance her political agenda, affirm her royal lineage and tell her own story.
Henry VIII’s Imprisoned Women: The Women of the Tower
Hardcover – 30 January 2023 (UK) & 30 March 2023 (US)
The stories of women, including Henry’s two queens, who were persecuted, condemned and ultimately executed will be explored in this book. Alice Tankerville, the first woman to escape the infamous Tower of London, albeit for a short while; Elizabeth Barton, The Nun of Kent and the only woman to be dealt the dishonour of having her head spiked on London Bridge; Queen Anne Boleyn, whose fall was as tragically spectacular as her rise to fame; Margaret Pole, the last living Plantagenet princess who was denounced as a traitor and met a merciless end in her twilight years; Queen Katheryn Howard, whose daring yet seemingly foolish decisions ultimately led to her downfall; and finally, Anne Askew, the brave Protestant who gained infamy as the only woman to be racked at the Tower. Through the lives of these women, we will get a glimpse into the reign of the capricious monarch who changed the face of England forever.
Camilla: From Outcast to Queen Consort
Paperback – 7 February 2023 (US) & 10 January 2023 (UK)
A compelling new biography of Camilla, Queen Consort, that reveals how she transformed her role and established herself as one of the key members of the royal family.
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