royalty
Blood, Fire & Gold: The Story of Elizabeth I & Catherine de Medici
A brilliant and beautifully written deep dive into the complicated relationship between Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici, two of the most powerful women in Renaissance Europe who shaped each other as profoundly as they shaped the course of history.
Queens of Jerusalem: The Women Who Dared to Rule
Exploring the role women played in the governing of the Middle East during periods of intense instability, and how they persevered to rule and seize greater power for themselves when the opportunity presented itself.
Two Houses, Two Kingdoms: A History of France and England, 1100–1300
An exhilarating, accessible chronicle of the ruling families of France and England, showing how two dynasties formed one extraordinary story.
The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World
The remarkable, little-known story of two trailblazing women in the Early Middle Ages who wielded immense power, only to be vilified for daring to rule.
Paths to Kingship in Medieval Latin Europe c. 950–1200
Drawing on a rich array of remarkable sources, this engaging study explores how the fears and hopes of a ruler's subjects shaped both the idea and the practice of power.
Princes of the Renaissance: The Hidden Power Behind an Artistic Revolution
A vivid depiction of the lives and times of the aristocratic elite whose patronage created the art and architecture of the Renaissance, setting the aesthetic achievements of these aristocratic patrons in the context of the volatile, ever-shifting politics of an age of change and innovation.
Lost Heirs of the Medieval Crown: The Kings & Queens Who Never Were
History is written by the winners, but every game of thrones has its losers too, and their fascinating stories bring richness and depth to what is a colorful period of history.
Cnut the Great
A seminal biography of Cnut, the underappreciated eleventh-century Scandinavian warlord-turned-Anglo-Saxon monarch who united the English and Danish crowns to forge a North Sea empire
Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, & Murder in Medieval England
In this vibrant biography, acclaimed author Alison Weir reexamines the life of Isabella of England, one of history’s most notorious and charismatic queens. Isabella arrived in London in 1308, the spirited twelve-year-old daughter of King Philip IV of France.
