Katherine Parr: Opportunist, Queen, Reformer: A Theological Perspective
Hardcover –15 March 2021 (US) & 15 December 2020 (UK)
Unlike other biographies, which have focused on the court politics of the Tudor era, the romantic desires of Henry VIII that drove his serial marriages, and the military and economic challenges to England at the time, this biography remembers the central influence of religious belief on the king and queen, and explains how Katherine’s devotion to the self-questioning protestant ethos had a directing influence on her actions. In particular, the author identifies her seminal work, “The Lamentation of a Sinner,” as the key to unlocking Katherine’s personality. These were more religious times than secular readers today might at first appreciate, but this book shows it is crucial to our understanding of why the last years of Henry VIII’s reign played out as they did, and how his last queen survived when her predecessors suffered divorce and execution.
Americans and Queen Marie of Romania: A Selection of Documents
Paperback – 16 March 2021 (US & UK)
This collection of documents, comprised of three parts, illustrates the queen’s relationships with two remarkable Americans. The first selection is the diary of George Huntington, an American professor who visited Queen Marie, together with his family, in 1925. The second part, compiled by the British writer Hector Bolitho, presents the correspondence between Queen Marie and an American admirer, Ray Baker Harris. This text contains extensive quotes from the queen’s letters to the young American. The final section is a selection of letters written by Ray Baker Harris to the queen. Ray Baker Harris, later a librarian at the Library of Congress, compiled an extensive collection of materials relating to the Romanian queen and later donated them to the archives of Kent State University in Ohio.
Empress: Queen Victoria and India
Paperback – 9 March 2021 (US) & 9 February 2021 (UK)
In this engaging and controversial book, Miles Taylor shows how both Victoria and Albert were spellbound by India, and argues that the Queen was humanely, intelligently, and passionately involved with the country throughout her reign and not just in the last decades. Taylor also reveals the way in which Victoria’s influence as empress contributed significantly to India’s modernization, both political and economic. This is, in a number of respects, a fresh account of imperial rule in India, suggesting that it was one of Victoria’s successes.
Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters
Hardcover – 30 March 2021 (US & UK)
From the idyll of their cloistered early life, through their hidden war-time lives, into the divergent paths they took following their father’s death and Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne, this book explores their relationship over the years. Andrew Morton’s latest biography offers unique insight into these two drastically different sisters—one resigned to duty and responsibility, the other resistant to it—and the lasting impact they have had on the Crown, the royal family, and the ways it adapted to the changing mores of the 20th century.
Cleopatra: The Queen Who Challenged Rome and Conquered Eternity
Hardcover – 23 March 2021 (US) & 29 April 2021 (UK)
Cleopatra focuses on a twenty-year period that marked a sweeping change in Roman history, beginning with the assassination of Julius Caesar that led to the end of the Republic, and ending with the suicides of Antony and Cleopatra and the birth of the Augustan Empire. Angela brings the people, stories, customs, and traditions of this fascinating period alive as he transports us to the chaotic streets of the capital of the ancient world, the exotic port of Alexandria in Egypt, and to the bloody battlefields where an empire was won and lost.
Meticulously researched and rich with vivid detail, this sweeping history, reminiscent of the works of Simon Schama, Mary Beard’s SPQR, and Tom Holland’s Rubicon, recreates this remarkable era and the woman at its turbulent center.
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