English Royalty History

In the third drily hilarious volume of A Comic History Of England, we move forward to the thirteenth century, when a succession of Edwards and Henrys gain the throne and immediately use it to steal everything they can from the population, in order to fund attempts to conquer France (or pay their debts from conquering England). Along the way we get the fabled Black Prince, one of the greatest battles in English history, a queen far more powerful than her king or sons, and a consideration of the manners and condition of the English period up to this point in the history.

King Edward I was the first of three Edwards who reigned in perfect succession. He was one of the most important kings in English history, but he was also one of the most controversial. This was the king who subdued Wales and fought Scotland to a standstill for much of his reign. He battled leading Scottish figures that are recognizable to even novice history students. Both William Wallace and Robert the Bruce butted heads with this English ruler.

In 1526, when the nomadic Timurid warrior-scholar Babur rode into Hindustan, his wives, sisters, daughters, aunts and distant female relatives travelled with him. These women would help establish a dynasty and empire that would rule India for the next 200 years and become a byword for opulence and grandeur. In Daughters of the Sun, we meet remarkable characters like Khanzada Begum who, at 65, rode on horseback through 750 kilometres of icy passes and unforgiving terrain to parley on behalf of her nephew, Humayun....

She was peaches-and-cream innocence; he was a handsome war hero. Both had royal blood coursing through their veins. The marriage of Britain's Princess Elizabeth to Lt Philip Mountbatten in November 1947 is remembered as the beginning of an extraordinary lifelong union but success was not guaranteed. Elizabeth and Philip: A Story of Young Love, Marriage and Monarchy plunges us back into 1940s Britain where a teenage Princess fell in love with a foreign Prince.

One of the most powerful men who ever lived was a Holy Roman Emperor and controlled vast swathes of the planet. Quite a bit has been written over the centuries about Charles V, but even so, historical texts do not always reveal the complex personality that this man possessed. He was a man of purpose who felt destined to hold both Europe and the Christian faith together. He knew this would be no easy task, but he nevertheless threw himself into it whole-heartedly. This is the life and the story of Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire.

On 6 July 1868, when told of the birth of her seventh granddaughter, Queen Victoria remarked that the news was "a very uninteresting thing for it seems to me to go on like the rabbits in Windsor Park". Her apathy was understandable - this was her 14th grandchild, and, though she had given birth to nine children, she had never been fond of babies, viewing them as "frog-like and rather disgusting...particularly when undressed".

On today's world stage, there is one leader who stands apart from the rest. Queen Elizabeth II has seen more of the planet and its people than any other head of state and has engaged with the world like no other monarch in modern history. The iconic monarch never ventured further than the Isle of Wight until the age of 20 but since then has now visited over 130 countries across the globe in the line of duty, acting as diplomat, hostess, and dignitary as the world stage has changed beyond recognition.

In 1895, archaeologists excavating a villa outside Pompeii unearthed a hoard of Roman silverware. Among the treasures was a bowl featuring a female figure with thick, curly hair, deep-set eyes, a slightly hooked nose and a strong jaw, and sporting an elephant scalp headdress. Modern scholars believe this woman to be a depiction of Cleopatra Selene, daughter of the infamous Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Using this discovery as her starting point, Jane Draycott recreates the life and times of a remarkable woman.

In this remarkable biography, Carolly Erickson brings Elizabeth I to life and allows us to see her as a living, breathing, elegant, flirtatious, diplomatic, violent, arrogant, and outrageous woman who commands our attention, fascination, and awe. With the special skill for which she is acclaimed, Carolly Erickson electrifies the senses as she evokes with total fidelity the brilliant colors of Elizabethan clothing and jewelry, the texture of tapestries, and even the close, perfumed air of castle rooms. Erickson demonstrates her extraordinary ability to discern and bring to life psychological and physical reality.

An intimate, myth-shattering new biography of Mary Queen of Scots by a premier historian that draws on a trove of newly discovered sources. Queen of Scots, the first full-scale biography of Mary in more than 30 years, offers a singularly novel, nuanced, and dramatic portrait of one of history's greatest women.

The murder of the Romanov family in July 1918 horrified the world, and its aftershocks still reverberate today. In Putin's autocratic Russia, the Revolution itself is considered a crime, and its anniversary was largely ignored. In stark contrast, the centenary of the massacre of the imperial family will be commemorated in 2018 by a huge ceremony to be attended by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. While the murder itself has received major attention, what has never been investigated in detail are the various plots behind the scenes to save the family.

The question of who is entrusted to guide the royals has never been more vital, and yet the task those courtiers face has never been more challenging. With a cloud hanging over Prince Andrew, as well as Harry and Meghan's departure from royal life, the complex relationship between modern courtiers and royal principals has been exposed to global scrutiny. Courtiers pulls back the veil to reveal an ever-changing system of complex characters, shifting values and a battle of ideas over what the future of the institution should be.

In The Diana Chronicles, you will meet a formidable female cast and understand as never before the society that shaped them: among them, Diana's sexually charged mother, bad-girl sister-in-law Fergie, and, most formidable of them all, her mother-in-law, the Queen. Add Camilla Parker-Bowles, the ultimate "other woman" into this combustible mix, and it's no wonder that Diana broke out of her royal cage into celebrity culture, where she found her own power and used it to devastating effect.

Dating back to the fifth century, the legend of King Arthur, his Queen Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table is an integral part of British national mythology. From its beginning as a few lines of Latin text written in a sixth-century monk’s hand, Arthurian legend has blossomed over the years into a unique universe built on the real foundations of Britain’s Dark Ages and the principles of ancient chivalry.

In 1936, the life of ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth of York changed forever. Although she was a member of the British Royal Family, she never expected to become queen. But when her uncle Edward gave up the throne, suddenly her father was the new king, which meant young Elizabeth was next in line! Queen Elizabeth reigned for seventy years, and while there were palaces galore, the crown jewels, and trips around the world, her life was one of strict discipline and duty.

After the untimely death of Prince Albert, the Queen and her nation were plunged into a state of grief so profound that this one event would dramatically alter the shape of the British monarchy. For Britain had not just lost a prince: during his 20-year marriage to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert had increasingly performed the function of King in all but name. The outpouring of grief after Albert's death was so extreme that its like would not be seen again until the death of Princess Diana 136 years later.

The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world's surface. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world's greatest empire? And how did they lose it all? This is the intimate story of 20 tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition.

In 1785, a sensational trial began in Paris that would divide the country and captivate Europe. A leading Catholic cardinal and scion of one of the most distinguished families in France stood accused of forging the queen's signature to obtain the most expensive piece of jewelry in Europe: a 2,800-carat diamond necklace. Where were the diamonds? Was the cardinal innocent? Was, for that matter, the queen?

The Wars of the Roses didn't start on the battlefield: Blood Roses traces it back to the beginning. Starting in 1245 with the founding of the House of Lancaster, Kathryn Warner follows a twisted path of political intrigue, bloody war, and fascinating characters over 200 years. From the Barons' Wars to the overthrowing of Edward II, Eleanor of Castile to Isabella of France, and true love to Loveday, Blood Roses reframes some of the biggest events of the medieval era—not as stand-alone conflicts, but as part of a long-running family feud that would have drastic consequences.

Set against a backdrop of glittering privilege, The Assassination ofthe Archduke combines royal history, touching romance, and political murder in a moving portrait of the end of an era. One hundred years after the event, it offers the startling truth behind the Sarajevo assassinations, including Serbian complicity, and examines rumors of conspiracy and official negligence.