Showing titles in Royalty

Discover the golden age of sixteenth-century England and its fascinating monarch. Elizabeth the 1st was perhaps the most influential sovereign England has ever known. Her father, Henry VIII, brutally murdered her mother and declared her a bastard; as he kept taking and discarding wives, Elizabeth had to build intelligence and presence to stay alive in the intrigue-laden Tudor court. When she at last ascended the throne, it was to inherit a bankrupt, famished, and powerless country.

Immerse yourself in dramatic British history through the intimate biographies of ten rulers torn by duty and desire. Whether you need a gripping narrative for your daily commute or an epic saga to fuel a relaxing walk, this sweeping exploration of power delivers. Experience the brutal...

Anne Boleyn is most likely the best-known of Henry VIII’s six wives; she is also the most controversial. History has represented Anne as either a whore or a martyr. The true story, however, is far more complex...Catherine of Aragon had failed to provide Henry VIII of England with a male heir to the throne, so the king looked to Catherine’s maid of honor, Anne Boleyn, to secure his Tudor lineage. When Anne also failed to give birth to a son, her fate was sealed. She was charged with multiple counts of adultery during a trial everyone agreed was a sham.

In June 1701, a young widow, Mary Grosvenor wakes up in a hotel room in Paris and finds a man in her bed. Within hours they are married. Yet three weeks later, Mary fled to London and swore that she had never agreed to the wedding. So begins one of the most intriguing stories of madness, tragic...

The 1929 collection of short and exquisitely written biographical essays on the lives of such famed adventurers as Alexander the Great, Casanova, Christopher Columbus, Napoleon, and Isadora Duncan. The author, William Bolitho, celebrates the contradictions and bipolar tensions that live inside and often drive even history's most celebrated heroes. Although all the greats featured in the book lived ages ago, the principles by which they lived their lives hold valuable lessons for those of us in contemporary times.

Loyal sister and friend to Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret grew up in the public gaze and was one of the most-discussed women in the world. But what was early life like for the younger sibling of the future monarch? And what role did she carve for herself within the Royal Family?

As the longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II has presided over an era of tremendous social, political and cultural change. In 2012, to mark her Diamond Jubilee, Radio 4 looked back on the long span of her reign, and asked the public to choose high-profile public figures who have helped to define this New Elizabethan Age. Almost a thousand nominations poured in, and the final selection was decided by a panel of leading writers and historians, including Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne and Max Hastings.

The lives of the sons of Eleanor of Aquitaine are the stuff of legend. Her daughters, however, are less well known, and the fascinating personalities of her daughters-in-law have been almost entirely overlooked, as have those of the daughters she bore Louis VII of France. The Families of Eleanor of Aquitaine redresses this balance and showcases the lives, travels, and careers of these ten very different women, who formed a great international network of political alliances that linked their parents, siblings, husbands, and children all across Europe and the Holy Land.

Bloomsbury presents Nemesis: Medieval England's Greatest Enemy by Catherine Hanley, read by Veronika Hyks. The extraordinary tale of Philip Augustus, one of medieval Europe’s greatest monarchs, and the part he played in the downfall of four Plantagenet kings of England. Philip II ruled France...

The 15:17 to Paris is an amazing true story of friendship and bravery, of near terrorist attack averted by three young men who found the heroic unity and strength inside themselves at the moment when they, and 500 other innocent travellers, needed it most. An ISIS terrorist planned to kill more...

We can hardly imagine a Britain without Elizabeth II on the throne. It seems to be the job she was born for. And yet, for much of her early life, the young princess did not know the role that her future would hold. She was our accidental Queen. As a young girl, Elizabeth was among the guests in...

From the Nation’s Favourite Storyteller Sir Michael Morpurgo comes a poetic celebration of our new monarch, King Charles III. There once was a little boy, born a prince. Encouraged by his parents, he grew up with a passion for the countryside, wanting to look after it. Then, as the longest-serving Prince of Wales in British history, he dedicated decades of his life to raising awareness for conservation. Now our king, his devoted work will continue to inspire the protection of our planet for future generations.

Sayyida Salme lived a remarkable life in remarkable times and told the tale more than a century ago in her Memoirs of an Arabian Princess, the first book published by an Arab woman. She was born in 1844 as a princess on the island of Zanzibar, daughter of the great Omani Sayyid Said bin Sultan and his Circassian slave Djilfidan. By the time she published her Memoirs in German in 1886, she had moved from Arab royalty amidst harem politics to the challenges of raising a family as a single mother in a foreign land, with her new Christian name, Emily Ruete.

To this day Marie Antoinette remains one of history's most misunderstood heroines. How she triumphed over the petty jealousies and backstairs rivalries of the court, how she sustained a good-hearted but malleable king, and how she was transformed from French queen to Austrian "whore" is the story told with skill and fascinating detail. 

King Edward VI, the only legitimate male heir of King Henry VIII, took his seat on the throne at the age of nine. His life would come to an end when he was only 15 years old, but the mark he would come to leave on England’s history has endured to this day. Edward VI led his country into a new age where the Church of England was no longer tied to the Catholic Church. Putting his efforts into spreading Protestantism throughout all of England, he continued his father’s work of freeing England from the Holy Roman Empire’s grasp.

Princess Masuma lived during the time when Afghanistan was ruled by kings. In this real-life Cinderella story, as relayed by her granddaughter Dr. Sherzai, Masuma is transformed from a simple Hazara orphan into a princess when she marries the son of Prince Regent Nasrullah Khan. Her fairy tale life is filled with both tragedy and triumph as political intrigue, rivalry, assassinations, and arrests directly affect her life, fortune, and family.

In 46 BC, at just two years old, a young North African prince named Juba was paraded through the streets of Rome as part of Julius Caesar’s victory parade. This traumatic beginning, however, did not define his future. As a young man, Juba fought alongside Emperor Augustus and was sent back to...

As Tudors go, Elizabeth of York is relatively unknown. Yet she was the mother of the dynasty, with her children becoming King of England (Henry VIII), Queens of Scotland (Margaret) and France (Mary Rose) and her direct descendants included three Tudor monarchs, two executed queens, and ultimately, the Stuart royal family.

Recent research has revealed that the richest person of all time lived in the 14th century in West Africa and went by many names, including Kankan Musa Keita, Emir of Melle, Lord of the Mines of Wangara, Conqueror of Ghanata, and the Lion of Mali II, but today he is usually referred to as Mansa Musa. Adjusting his wealth to modern values, he was worth about an estimated $400 billion as the Sultan of ancient Mali, which controlled the trade routes across the Sahara Desert.  

A vivid account of the political triumphs and domestic tragedies of the Jewish king Herod the Great during the turmoil of the Roman revolution.