Victoria: The Queen: The Woman Who Shaped the Modern World
Hardcover – 15 November 2016 (UK & US)
For readers of Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra and Sally Bedell Smith’s Elizabeth the Queen comes the story of the indefatigable British queen who built an empire and made the modern world: a sweeping, gorgeously written, page-turning new biography of Queen Victoria, with insights drawn from unpublished archives.
The Secret Queen: Eleanor Talbot, the Woman Who Put Richard III on the Throne
Paperback – 7 July 2016 (UK) & 1 November 2016 (US)
When Edward IV died in 1483, the Yorkist succession was called into question by doubts about the legitimacy of his son, Edward (one of the ‘Princes in the Tower’). The crown therefore passed to Edward’s undoubtedly legitimate younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. But Richard, too, found himself entangled in the web of uncertainly, since those who believed in the legitimacy of Edward IV’s children viewed Richard III’s own accession as a usurpation. From the day when Edward IV married Eleanor, or pretended to do so, or allowed it to be whispered that he might have done so, the House of York, previously so secure in its bloodline, confronted a contentious and uncertain future. John Ashdown-Hill argues that Eleanor Talbot was married to Edward IV, and that therefore Edward’s subsequent marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was bigamous, making her children illegitimate. He thereby offers a solution to one of history’s great mysteries.
Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey
Hardcover – 6 December 2016 (US) & 3 November 2016 (UK)
Following Lady Jane Grey’s journey from the deadly intrigues of her childhood that led inexorably through to her trial and execution at the age of seventeen, Nicola Tallis explores new evidence that brings fresh insight to the life of the Nine Days Queen.
She reveals the human and emotional story that has thus far been ignored, introducing us to a young woman and religious radical who ultimately became a martyr for her faith.
Blanche of Castile, Queen of France
Hardcover – 16 November 2016 (UK) & 10 January 2017 (US)
This is the first modern scholarly biography of Blanche of Castile, whose identity has until now been subsumed in that of her son, the saintly Louis IX. A central figure in the politics of medieval Europe, Blanche was a sophisticated patron of religion and culture. Through Lindy Grant’s engaging account, based on a close analysis of Blanche’s household accounts and of the social and religious networks on which her power and agency depended, Blanche is revealed as a vibrant and intellectually questioning personality.
Margaret, Queen of Sicily
Paperback – 14 February 2017 (US) & 23 November 2016 (UK)
Margaret of Navarre, Queen of Sicily, was one of the most important women of the twelfth century, acting as regent during a pivotal phase in her kingdom’s history. Her life and times make for the compelling story of a wife, sister, mother and leader. This is the first biography of the great-granddaughter of El Cid and friend of Thomas Becket who could govern a nation and inspire millions.
In Margaret’s story sisterhood is just the beginning. The Basque princess who rose to confront unimagined adversity became the epitome of medieval womanhood in a world dominated by men, governing one of the wealthiest, most powerful – and most socially complex – states of Europe and the Mediterranean.
This book is the result of original, scholarly research, yet its narrative is lively and interesting. In addition to its main text, the volume presents maps, genealogical tables and numerous photographs, reflecting information gathered by the author in Italy, Spain and England (and even in the United States). Her research took her from the tiny town in Navarre where Margaret was born to the locality in Sicily where the queen died, and a lot of places in-between. The author’s keen knowledge of history and her mastery of Italian, Spanish, French and Sicilian aided her in following every step of Margaret’s journey. If you could travel back in time to the twelfth century, Ms Alio would be the perfect guide, and in this book she guides you through an eventful life in a perilous age.
Closer to our times, Jackie Alio stands out as the only Sicilian woman writing books in English about the women of medieval Sicily. Her previous titles include The Peoples of Sicily: A Multicultural Legacy and Women of Sicily: Saints, Queens and Rebels. She has published papers on the Jews of medieval Sicily and she co-authored a book on the history of Sicilian cuisine.
Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe
Hardcover – 29 November 2016 (US) & 6 October 2016 (UK)
Sixteenth-century Europe saw an explosion of female rule. From Isabella of Castile and her granddaughter Mary Tudor, to Catherine de Medici, Anne Boleyn, and Elizabeth Tudor, women wielded enormous power over their territories for more than a hundred years. In the sixteenth century, as in our own, the phenomenon of the powerful woman offered challenges and opportunities. Opportunities, as when in 1529 Margaret of Austria and Louise of Savoy negotiated the “Ladies’ peace” of Cambrai. Challenges, as when both Mary Queen of Scots and her kinswoman Elizabeth I came close to being destroyed by sexual scandal.
The Victoria Letters
Hardcover – 6 October 2016 (UK) & 3 November 2016 (US)
The official companion to ITV’s hotly anticipated new drama, The Victoria Letters delves into the private writings of the young Queen Victoria, painting a vivid picture of the personal life of one of England’s greatest monarchs.
From the producers of Poldark and Endeavour, ITV’s Victoria follows the early years of the young Queen’s reign, based closely on Victoria’s own letters and journals. Now explore this extensive collection in greater depth, and discover who Victoria really was behind her upright public persona.
At only 18 years old, Victoria ascended the throne as a rebellious teenager and gradually grew to become one of the most memorable, unshakeable and powerful women in history. The extensive writings she left behind document this personal journey and show how she triumphed over scandal and corruption. Written by Internationally bestselling author, historian of 12 books and Victoria historical consultant, Helen Rappaport, and including a foreword by Daisy Goodwin – acclaimed novelist and scriptwriter of the series – The Victoria Letters details the history behind the show. Revealing Victoria’s own thoughts about the love interests, family dramas and court scandals during her early reign, it also delves into the running of the royal household, the upstairs-downstairs relationships, and what it was like to live in Victorian England.
Full of beautiful photography from the series and genuine imagery from the era, come behind the palace doors and discover the girl behind the Queen.
Henry VIII’s Last Love: The Extraordinary Life of Katherine Willoughby, Lady-in-Waiting to the Tudors
Paperback – 15 Jun 2016 (UK) & 14 November 2016 (US)
In 1533 Katherine Willoughby married Charles Brandon, Henry VIII’s closest friend. She would go on to serve at the court of every Tudor monarch bar Henry VII and Mary Tudor.
Duchess of Suffolk at the age of fourteen, she became a powerful woman ruling over her houses at Grimsthorpe and Tattershall in Lincolnshire and wielding subtle influence through her proximity to the king. She grew to know Henry well. In 1538, only three months after Jane Seymour’s death, it was reported that they had been ‘masking and visiting’ together, and in 1543 she became a lady-in-waiting to his sixth wife, Catherine Parr. Henry had a reputation for tiring of his wives once the excitement of the pursuit was over, and in February 1546, only six months after Charles Brandon’s death, it was rumoured that Henry intended to wed Katherine Willoughby himself if he could end his present marriage.
This is the remarkable story of a life of privilege, tragedy and danger, of a woman who nearly became the seventh wife of Henry VIII.
Victoria
Paperback – 20 Oct 2016 (UK) & 22 November 2016 (US)
From the author of the bestselling MY LAST DUCHESS and THE FORTUNE HUNTER comes Victoria – to be screened on ITV, with scripts written by Daisy Goodwin. Perfect for fans of epics such as War and Peace, Poldark or Granchester and for any reader of The Paris Wife or War and Peace
‘To me, ma’am, you are every inch a Queen’
In 1837, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria – sheltered, small in stature, and female – became Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and from the moment William IV died, the young Queen startled everyone: abandoning her hated first name in favor of Victoria; insisting, for the first time in her life, on sleeping in a room apart from her mother; resolute about meeting with her ministers alone.
One of those ministers, Lord Melbourne, became Victoria’s private secretary. Perhaps he might have become more than that, except everyone argued she was destined to marry her cousin, Prince Albert . But Victoria had met Albert as a child and found him stiff and critical: surely the last man she would want for a husband?
Drawing on Victoria’s diaries as well as her own brilliant gifts for history and drama, Daisy Goodwin brings the inner life of the young queen even more richly to life in this magnificent novel.
Queen Victoria and the European Empires
Hardcover – 25 November 2016 (US) & 6 October 2016 (UK)
This latest book from John Van der Kiste, the eminent historian of European royalty, is an account of Queen Victoria’s personal and political relationships with the empires, or to be more exact, the Kings and Queens, Emperors, Empresses and their families of France, Germany, Austria and Russia. Victoria had close connections with the royal houses of Germany long before the King of Prussia became the German Emperor in 1871, and with the exiled former Emperor and Empress of the French and their son, the Prince Imperial, after the fall of the French Empire in 1870. Van der Kiste deftly weaves together the various strands of the relationships―including the close family marriage ties―to provide a fascinating picture of European royalty in the last two thirds of the nineteenth century.
Anna of Saxony: The Scarlet Lady of Orange
Paperback – 7 November 2016 (US & UK)
In the early 1570s, Anna of Saxony (1544-77), second wife of the Dutch nobleman and rebel leader William of Orange, set Europe’s noble courts ablaze with one of the sixteenth century’s most sensational scandals. Although destined to a life of fabulous riches on the side of her glamorous husband, Anna failed to find happiness as political reversals and revolution in the Low Countries led to near destitution and a profound marital crisis. The embittered princess embarked on a love affair with the father of one of the age’s greatest painters and gave birth to an illegitimate child. Anna’s dramatic tale concludes with her descent into madness and subsequent death in solitary confinement.
Anna of Saxony is not merely a gothic tale of a poor little rich girl who lost her heart and then her mind. It is also the story of the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish amidst the backdrop of the Protestant Reformation. Several chapters of this engrossing biography are therefore devoted to William of Orange’s military and intelligence tactics, his monumental efforts to repel a foreign occupation force as well as his eventual assassination by a Spanish agent.
The first English biography of a troubled royal existence filled with drama worthy of the court of Henry VIII, Anna of Saxony breaks new ground in uncovering the little known tale of a sixteenth-century noblewoman who dared to defy convention and renounce the strictures of gender.
Game of Crowns: Elizabeth, Camilla, Kate, and the Throne
Paperback – 1 January 2017 (UK) & 15 November 2016 (US)
A moving and compulsively readable look into the lives, loves, relationships, and rivalries among the three women at the heart of the British royal family today: Queen Elizabeth II, Camilla Parker-Bowles, and Kate Middleton from the #1 New York Timesbestselling author of The Good Son, These Few Precious Days, and The Day Diana Died. One has been famous longer than anyone on the planet a dutiful daughter, a frustrated mother, a doting grandmother, a steel-willed taskmaster, a wily stateswoman, an enduring symbol of an institution that has lasted a thousand years, and a global icon who has not only been an eyewitness to history but a part of it. One is the great-granddaughter of a King s mistress and one of the most famous other women of the modern age a woman who somehow survived a firestorm of scorn to ultimately marry the love of her life, and in the process replace her arch rival, one of the most beloved figures of the twentieth century. One is a beautiful commoner, the university-educated daughter of a flight attendant-turned-millionaire entrepreneur, a fashion scion the equal of her adored mother-in-law, and the first woman since King George V s wife, Queen Mary, to lay claim to being the daughter-in-law of one future king, the wife another, and the mother of yet another. Game of Crowns is an in-depth and exquisitely researched exploration of the lives of these three remarkable women and the striking and sometimes subtle ways in which their lives intersect and intertwine. Examining their surprising similarities and stark differences, Andersen travels beyond the royal palace walls to illustrate who these three women really are today and how they will directly reshape the landscape of the monarchy.”
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