Acclaimed author Alison Weir brings to life the extraordinary tale of Katherine Swynford, a royal mistress who became one of the most crucial figures in the history of Great Britain. Born in the mid-fourteenth century, Katherine de Roët was only twelve when she married Hugh Swynford, an impoverished knight. But her story had truly begun two years earlier, when she was appointed governess to the household of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and fourth son of King Edward III. Widowed at twenty-one, Katherine became John's mistress and then, after many twists of fortune, his bride in a scandalous marriage. Mistress of the Monarchy reveals a woman ahead of her time—making her own choices, flouting convention, and taking control of her own destiny. Indeed, without Katherine Swynford, the course of English history, perhaps even the world, would have been very different.

Nearly five hundred years after her violent death, Anne Boleyn, second wife to Henry VIII, remains one of the world's most fascinating, controversial, and tragic heroines. Now acclaimed historian and bestselling author Alison Weir has drawn on myriad sources from the Tudor era to give us the first book that examines, in unprecedented depth, the gripping, dark, and chilling story of Anne Boleyn's final days.

The tempestuous love affair between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn scandalized Christendom and altered forever the religious landscape of England. Anne's ascent from private gentlewoman to queen was astonishing, but equally compelling was her shockingly swift downfall. Charged with high treason and imprisoned in the Tower of London in May 1536, Anne met her terrible end all the while protesting her innocence. There remains, however, much mystery surrounding the queen's arrest and the events leading up to it: Were charges against her fabricated because she stood in the way of Henry VIII making a third marriage and siring an heir, or was she the victim of a more complex plot fueled by court politics and deadly rivalry?

    The Lady in the Tower examines in engrossing detail the motives and intrigues of those who helped to seal the queen's fate. Weir unravels the tragic tale of Anne's fall, from her miscarriage of the son who would have saved her to the horrors of her incarceration and that final, dramatic scene on the scaffold. What emerges is an extraordinary portrayal of a woman of great courage whose enemies were bent on utterly destroying her, and who was tested to the extreme by the terrible plight in which she found herself. 

    Richly researched and utterly captivating, The Lady in the Tower presents the full array of evidence of Anne Boleyn's guilt—or innocence. Only in Alison Weir's capable hands can readers learn the truth about the fate of one of the most influential and important women in English history.

Acclaimed author Alison Weir has been prolific with her books on English royalty covering everything from the Houses of York and Lancaster to the reigns of the Tudors and beyond. Now this remarkable historian brings to life the extraordinary tale of the woman who was ancestor to them all: Katherine Swynford, a royal mistress who was to become one of the most crucial figures in the history of the British royal dynasties.

Born in the mid-fourteenth century, Katherine de Roët was only twelve when she married Hugh Swynford, an impoverished knight. But her story had already begun when, at just ten years old, she was appointed to the household of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and fourth son of King Edward III, to help look after the Duke's children. Widowed at twenty-one, Katherine, gifted with beauty and undeniable charms, was to become John of Gaunt's mistress.

Their years together played out against a backdrop of court life at the height of the Age of Chivalry. Katherine experienced the Hundred Years' War, the Black Death, and the Peasants' Revolt. She survived heartbreak and adversity, and crossed paths with many eminent figures of the day, among them her brother-in-law, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Yet as intriguing as she was to many of her contemporaries, there were those who regarded her as scandalous and dangerous.

Throughout the years of their illicit union, John and Katherine were clearly devoted to each other, and in middle age, after many twists of fortune, they wed. The marriage caused far more scandal than the affair had, for it was unheard of for a royal prince to wed his mistress. Yet Katherine triumphed, and her children by John, the Beauforts, would become the direct forebears of the Royal Houses of York, Tudor, and Stuart, and of every British sovereign since 1461 (as well as four U.S. presidents).

Drawing on rare documentation, Alison Weir paints a vivid portrait of a passionate spirit who lived one of medieval England's greatest love stories. Mistress of the Monarchy reveals a woman ahead of her time–making her own choices, flouting convention, and taking control of her destiny. Indeed, without Katherine Swynford the course of English history, perhaps even the world, would have been very different.

Following the tremendous success of her first novel, Innocent Traitor, which recounted the riveting tale of the doomed Lady Jane Grey, acclaimed historian and New York Times bestselling author Alison Weir turns her masterly storytelling skills to the early life of young Elizabeth Tudor, who would grow up to become England's most intriguing and powerful queen.

Even at age two, Elizabeth is keenly aware that people in the court of her father, King Henry VIII, have stopped referring to her as “Lady Princess” and now call her “the Lady Elizabeth.” Before she is three, she learns of the tragic fate that has befallen her mother, the enigmatic and seductive Anne Boleyn, and that she herself has been declared illegitimate, an injustice that will haunt her.

What comes next is a succession of stepmothers, bringing with them glimpses of love, fleeting security, tempestuous conflict, and tragedy. The death of her father puts the teenage Elizabeth in greater peril, leaving her at the mercy of ambitious and unscrupulous men. Like her mother two decades earlier she is imprisoned in the Tower of London–and fears she will also meet her mother's grisly end. Power-driven politics, private scandal and public gossip, a disputed succession, and the grievous example of her sister, “Bloody” Queen Mary, all cement Elizabeth's resolve in matters of statecraft and love, and set the stage for her transformation into the iconic Virgin Queen.

Alison Weir uses her deft talents as historian and novelist to exquisitely and suspensefully play out the conflicts between family, politics, religion, and conscience that came to define an age. Sweeping in scope, The Lady Elizabeth is a fascinating portrayal of a woman far ahead of her time–an orphaned girl haunted by the shadow of the axe, an independent spirit who must use her cunning and wits for her very survival, and a future queen whose dangerous and dramatic path to the throne shapes her future greatness.


From the Hardcover edition.

A full length biography of the extraordinary love affair between John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford. Katherine was renowned for her beauty and regarded as enigmatic, intriguing and even dangerous by some of her contemporaries. Weir has rescue

I am now a condemned traitor . . . I am to die when I have hardly begun to live.

Historical expertise marries page-turning fiction in Alison Weir's enthralling debut novel, breathing new life into one of the most significant and tumultuous periods of the English monarchy. It is the story of Lady Jane Grey–“the Nine Days' Queen”–a fifteen-year-old girl who unwittingly finds herself at the center of the religious and civil unrest that nearly toppled the fabled House of Tudor during the sixteenth century.

The child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she is merely a pawn in a dynastic game with the highest stakes, Jane Grey was born during the harrowingly turbulent period between Anne Boleyn's beheading and the demise of Jane's infamous great-uncle, King Henry VIII. With the premature passing of Jane's adolescent cousin, and Henry's successor, King Edward VI, comes a struggle for supremacy fueled by political machinations and lethal religious fervor.

Unabashedly honest and exceptionally intelligent, Jane possesses a sound strength of character beyond her years that equips her to weather the vicious storm. And though she has no ambitions to rule, preferring to immerse herself in books and religious studies, she is forced to accept the crown, and by so doing sets off a firestorm of intrigue, betrayal, and tragedy.

Alison Weir uses her unmatched skills as a historian to enliven the many dynamic characters of this majestic drama. Along with Lady Jane Grey, Weir vividly renders her devious parents; her much-loved nanny; the benevolent Queen Katherine Parr; Jane's ambitious cousins; the Catholic “Bloody” Mary, who will stop at nothing to seize the throne; and the protestant and future queen Elizabeth. Readers venture inside royal drawing rooms and bedchambers to witness the power-grabbing that swirls around Lady Jane Grey from the day of her birth to her unbearably poignant death. Innocent Traitor paints a complete and compelling portrait of this captivating young woman, a faithful servant of God whose short reign and brief life would make her a legend.

“An impressive debut. Weir shows skill at plotting and maintaining tension, and she is clearly going to be a major player in the . . . historical fiction game.”
–The Independent

“Alison Weir is one of our greatest popular historians. In her first work of fiction . . . Weir manages her heroine's voice brilliantly, respecting the past's distance while conjuring a dignified and fiercely modern spirit.”
–London Daily Mail


From the Hardcover edition.

Alison Weir, pre-eminent popular historian, has now fulfilled her ambition to write historical fiction. She takes as her subject the bravest, most sympathetic and wronged heroine of Tudor England, Lady Jane Grey. The hardback edition received g

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. Her marriage to the heir to England’s throne was designed to heal old political wounds between the two countries, and in the years that followed she became an important figure, a determined and clever woman whose influence would come to last centuries. Many myths and legends have been woven around Isabella’s story, but in this first full biography in more than 150 years, Alison Weir gives a groundbreaking new perspective.

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Handsome, accomplished, and charming, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, staked his claim to the English throne by marrying Mary Stuart, who herself claimed to be the Queen of England. It was not long before Mary discovered that her new husband was interested only in securing sovereign power for himself. Then, on February 10, 1567, an explosion at his lodgings left Darnley dead; the intrigue thickened after it was discovered that he had apparently been suffocated before the blast. After an exhaustive reevaluation of the source material, Alison Weir has come up with a solution to this enduring mystery. Employing her gift for vivid characterization and gripping storytelling, Weir has written one of her most engaging excursions yet into Britain's bloodstained, power-obsessed past.

At the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII, his virtues were extolled by those who served him. How does the adulation the young King initially inspired of the court compare to the subsequent attitudes his courtiers held toward him? In which ways was he burdened by unrealistic expectations? How did the King manipulate his early reputation to his advantage? 2. It's an adage that a man can often be judged by the company he keeps. How did this prove true of Henry VIII? How much choice did he have over who comprised the court, and how much of it was determined by external factors (for example, tradition, custom, blood ties, or the influence of others)? 3. How did the rich physical appearance of the court and his various palaces reflect the way that Henry VIII felt about himself and his place in the world? Why were opulent surroundings, including innovations in architecture, so important to him? How did the physical arrangement of the King's palaces establish the hierarchy of his courtiers? 4. What characteristics of a courtier do you think that the King held in highest regard? Which characteristics were undesirable? Can you apply these to advisors of leaders in modern times? In your opinion, which of the King's courtiers was most successful in serving Henry VIII? Who was the most successful in advancing his own personal interests? 5. How did the itinerant nature of the court and its constant movement from place to place affect its makeup? How might it have been different--both physically and politically--if it had been permanently situated in one spot? 6. The Privy Council and the Privy Chamber formed the most elite core of Henry's courtiers and advisors. Was this similar or different to the setup of the King's father, Henry VII? What were the differences between the two groups? How did these individuals wield their influence? How did Henry VIII's mistrust of the gentry shape the court, and how did it prove less constrained by a strict social hierarchy than the outside world as a whole at that time? 7. At the time of Henry VIII's kingship, the ideas of the Renaissance were flourishing. Which of these ideas were most influential to the King and his court? How did influential humanists--for example, Petrarch or Sir Thomas More--shape the thoughts and policies of the King? How was the King's warlike spirit at odds with the opinions of his humanist friends and confidants? 8. Thomas Wolsey enjoyed a spectacular rise to power, becoming a cardinal who was considered as powerful--or even more--than his master, Henry VIII. Which attributes make him indispensable to the King? How does he arouse antipathy from the others around him? What role does his background, breeding, and personal ambition play in his rise and eventual downfall? What purpose did Wolsey serve for both his friends and his enemies? 9. How could the King's favor--or displeasure--toward a courtier affect their fortunes? Examples to discuss could include Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, Archbishop Cranmer, Sir Thomas More, the Duke of Suffolk, Sir Nicholas Carew, and Fray Diego Fernandez. 10. Henry VIII's love for Anne Boleyn changed not only the court, but also the path of England. It led to the King's 'Great Matter'--his desire to nullify his marriage to Queen Katherine of Aragon. How did this issue factionalize the court? What issues do you believe it eclipsed, and which did it bring to the forefront? How did the religious climate of the time, and Luther's 95 Theses in particular, also affect the question of religion? 11. Anne Boleyn positioned herself as a paragon of virtue and morality. How did this contrast with her ascent to the throne and some of her own personal characteristics? How did her influence compare to that enjoyed by Katherine, and how did pomp and patronage play into her reign? How did the opinion held of her by the courtiers evolve, and how did that compare to public's view of her? What attributes that initially attracted Henry to her proved to be her undoing? 12. Thomas Cromwell was the second powerful figure to take precedence in the court of Henry VIII. How did he compare to Wolsey? In which ways did Cromwell wield more influence on the King and on the policies of England than Wolsey? Why? How was his downfall similar to that of Wolsey? How was he merely the victim of his adversaries? 13. How did the question of succession shape not only Henry VIII's marriages and liaisons, but also the court in general? How did the birth of Prince Edward affect this? What type of relationship do you believe that Henry's children by three different mothers enjoyed with one another? In particular, how did the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth thrive? What restrictions were placed upon it? 14. How did the lavish spending on coronations, palaces, queens, and wartime activity affect the later years of the King? How did he react to the constant scourge of plague and illness? 15. How was the Reformation of Henry VIII a dividing point between the conservatives and the radicals of his court? How was the Act of Six Articles, which established the doctrine of the Church of England as law, received by both groups? What elements of the Act most reflected Renaissance thinking? 16. How did Henry's advisors use the King's faith to their own advantage, often in ousting their enemies? How did his position of head of the Church influence the King and his way of thinking? In your opinion, how much of his faith was motivated by personal desires (for example, the nullification of his marriages)? 17. How did the various wives--particularly Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn--wield power and influence? How were they employed to advance the interests of particular courtiers, especially in regard to alliances with other countries? Which causes were advanced by each Queen? 18. How were at least three of the wives removed from power by the maneuverings of the King, the court, or both? Do you think that the influence enjoyed by women in Henry VIII's court was unusual based on the gender attitudes of the time? Why or why not? 19. At the close of his life, Henry VIII had grown quite ill. How did this affect the day-to-day workings of the court and the King's advisors? How would you characterize the management style of the King? Would you say that Henry VIII was by nature a laissez-faire manager, or was he merely forced to become one because of his failing health? Why or why not?

Renowned in her time for being the most beautiful woman in Europe, the wife of two kings and mother of three, Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the great heroines of the Middle Ages. At a time when women were regarded as little more than chattel, Eleanor managed to defy convention as she exercised power in the political sphere and crucial influence over her husbands and sons. In this beautifully written biography, Alison Weir paints a vibrant portrait of this truly exceptional woman, and provides new insights into her intimate world. Eleanor of Aquitaine lived a long life of many contrasts, of splendor and desolation, power and peril, and in this stunning narrative, Weir captures the woman— and the queen—in all her glory. With astonishing historic detail, mesmerizing pageantry, and irresistible accounts of royal scandal and intrigue, she recreates not only a remarkable personality but a magnificent past era.

Perhaps the most influential sovereign England has ever known, Queen Elizabeth I remained an extremely private person throughout her reign, keeping her own counsel and sharing secrets with no one--not even her closest, most trusted advisers. Now, in this brilliantly researched, fascinating new book, acclaimed biographer Alison Weir shares provocative new interpretations and fresh insights on this enigmatic figure.

Against a lavish backdrop of pageantry and passion, intrigue and war, Weir dispels the myths surrounding Elizabeth I and examines the contradictions of her character. Elizabeth I loved the Earl of Leicester, but did she conspire to murder his wife? She called herself the Virgin Queen, but how chaste was she through dozens of liaisons? She never married--was her choice to remain single tied to the chilling fate of her mother, Anne Boleyn? An enthralling epic that is also an amazingly intimate portrait, The Life of Elizabeth I is a mesmerizing, stunning reading experience.

'Fascinating . . . Alison Weir does full justice to the subject.'
--The Philadelphia Inquirer

At his death in 1547, King Henry VIII left four heirs to the English throne: his only son, the nine-year-old Prince Edward; the Lady Mary, the adult daughter of his first wife Katherine of Aragon; the Lady Elizabeth, the teenage daughter of his second wife Anne Boleyn; and his young great-niece, the Lady Jane Grey. In this riveting account Alison Weir paints a unique portrait of these extraordinary rulers, examining their intricate relationships to each other and to history. She traces the tumult that followed Henry's death, from the brief intrigue-filled reigns of the boy king Edward VI and the fragile Lady Jane Grey, to the savagery of 'Bloody Mary,' and finally the accession of the politically adroit Elizabeth I.

As always, Weir offers a fresh perspective on a period that has spawned many of the most enduring myths in English history, combining the best of the historian's and the biographer's art.

'Like anthropology, history and biography can demonstrate unfamiliar ways of feeling and being. Alison Weir's sympathetic collective biography, The Children of Henry VIII does just that, reminding us that human nature has changed--and for the better. . . . Weir imparts movement and coherence while re-creating the suspense her characters endured and the suffering they inflicted.'
--The New York Times Book Review

Lancaster and York. For much of the fifteenth century, these two families were locked in battle for control of the English throne. Kings were murdered and deposed. Armies marched on London. Old noble names were ruined while rising dynasties seized power and lands. The war between the royal houses of Lancaster and York, the most complex in English history, profoundly altered the course of the monarchy. Alison Weir, one of the foremost authorities on British history, brings brilliantly to life both the war itself and the larger-tha-life figures who fought it on the great stage of England. The Wars of the Roses is history at its very best—swift and compelling, rich in character, pageantry, and drama, and vivid in its re-creation of an astonishing period of history.

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Despite five centuries of investigation by historians, the sinister deaths of the boy king Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, remain two of the most fascinating murder mysteries in English history. Did Richard III really kill “the Princes in the Tower,” as is commonly believed, or was the murderer someone else entirely? Carefully examining every shred of contemporary evidence as well as dozens of modern accounts, Alison Weir reconstructs the entire chain of events leading to the double murder. We are witnesses to the rivalry, ambition, intrigue, and struggle for power that culminated in the imprisonment of the princes and the hushed-up murders that secured Richard's claim to the throne as Richard III. A masterpiece of historical research and a riveting story of conspiracy and deception, The Princes in the Tower at last provides a solution to this age-old puzzle.

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