Showing titles in Royalty

Since his death in the year 1547, King Henry VIII has been celebrated as a chivalrous pioneer and reviled as a brutal tyrant, but he has never been ignored. Henry was responsible for the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, the ramifications of which reverberated through subsequent centuries of European history. Domestically, Henry revolutionized the English Constitution, elevating his own status to that of a God.

This compelling book begins on the 2nd of August 1793, the day Marie Antoinette was torn from her family's arms and escorted from the Temple to the Conciergerie, a thick-walled fortress turned prison. It was also known as the "waiting room for the guillotine" because prisoners only spent a day or two here before their conviction and subsequent execution. The ex-queen surely knew her days were numbered, but she could never have known that two and a half months would pass before she would finally stand trial and be convicted.

The bar was high after the glorious reign of the Sun King. Louis XV, his successor, had a difficult time driving the country through religious disputes, intellectual shifts and economical hardness. This eventually led to a steep economic decline, which played an important role in the reaction of the French people against the monarchy, and eventually gave way to the French Revolution.

The lives of the Scottish queens, both those who ruled in their own right and the consorts, have largely been neglected in conventional history books. One of the earliest known Scottish queens was none other than the notorious Lady Macbeth. Was she really the wicked woman depicted in Shakespeare's famous play? Was St. Margaret a demure and obedient wife? Rosalind K. Marshall delves into these questions and more in this entertaining, impeccably researched book.

This book offers a complete and profoundly human portrait of Louis XIV of France, the celebrated Sun King, from his childhood marked by the Fronde to his final days dominated by illness, mourning, and concern for the future of his kingdom.

America has always been a constitutionally classless society, yet an American aristocracy emerged anyway—a private club whose members run in the same circles and observe the same unwritten rules. He identifies which families in which cities have always mattered, and how they've defined America. America's Secret Aristocracy offers an inside look at the estates, marriages, and financial empires of America's most powerful families—from the Randolphs of Virginia and the Roosevelts of New York to the Carillos and Ortegas of California.

Diana, la principessa del popolo, e Camilla, regina del Regno Unito. Due donne molto diverse, con un denominatore comune: il matrimonio con il principe Carlo. Un triangolo che per anni ha riempito le pagine dei giornali e i media di tutto il mondo e ha cambiato la Casa reale inglese. Una storia di tre dolori, ma anche di ingiustizie subite da due donne che la vita ha reso antagoniste ma che sono state essenzialmente vittime dello stesso sistema.

This book presents a comprehensive portrait of Richard I of England, the 'Lionheart', from his courtly and military training to the construction of a legacy that combines stone, law, and myth. This volume explores his disciplined bravery in the East, the complex rivalry with Philip II on the continent, his engineering of fortresses like Château Gaillard, and the fiscal-administrative machinery that sustained campaigns and reforms.

In the full ferment of the twelfth century, the Kingdom of Jerusalem found in Baldwin IV a singular ruler: a king marked by leprosy who turned pain into discipline, fragility into method, and faith into state policy. This book traces his childhood and education, his ascension amidst intrigue, his campaigns against Saladin, the construction of a sober administrative machinery, the complex diplomacy with military orders and neighboring powers, and the twilight of power amid regencies and succession disputes.

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour. King of England, claimant King of France, Lord – and later King – of Ireland, Supreme Head of the Church of England and, perhaps most famously, six times a husband, Henry VIII is England’s most notorious monarch. Succeeding his father...

Marie-Antoinette, Daughter of the Caesars is about the life, death, and legacy of Louis XVI's tragic queen, based upon the author's 30 years of research. Whenever possible, the historical persons speak for themselves out of memoirs and letters.

The British Royal Family is held in awe across Britain, and they have captured the interest of people around the globe. Queen Elizabeth II is respected for her stately demeanor, Prince William and his new wife, Kate Middleton, are deemed trendsetters and attract attention from media starved for gossip, and nobody has held as unique a place in pop culture as the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

James I of England and VI of Scotland was the first king to rule both countries. He was faced with division between his realms and caught between the religious wars of the Reformation. Spending most of his reign at odds with the religious and parliamentary powers around him, James did little to unite his people. Unable to take a firm stand on critical issues, he spent his life avoiding them.

Mary, Queen of Scots continues to intrigue both historians and the general public - but the story of her mother, Marie de Guise, is much less well known. A political power in her own right, she was born into the powerful and ambitious Lorraine family, spending her formative years at the dazzling, licentious court of François I. Although briefly courted by Henry VIII, she instead married his nephew, James V of Scotland, in 1538.

A New York Times Notable Book Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) is the most important woman in Chinese history. She ruled China for decades and brought a medieval empire into the modern age. At the age of sixteen, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, Cixi was chosen as one of the...

1715, Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil, après plus de 60 années de pouvoir absolu meurt après le Dauphin, son fils, puis le nouveau Dauphin, son petit-fils. C’est donc l’un de ses arrières-petits-fils qui lui succédera. Mais il n’a que 5 ans et ne peut donc régner. Après une courte bataille pour le pouvoir, Philippe, duc d’Orléans, frère cadet du feu roi, devient Régent.

Only Eileen Parker could write a book like Step Aside for Royalty with its intimate portrait of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in the early years of their enduring partnership. That's why Eileen and her husband, Mike. appeared as characters throughout the first thirteen episodes of the Netflix blockbuster, 'The Crown'. Eileen and Mike were inside Buckingham Palace for all the grand state occasions as well as the private moments of crisis and joy.

In 2017, the 29th Sultan of Brunei, Hassanl Bolkiah, celebrated his Golden Jubilee, marking his 50th year in power. Bolkiah negotiated Brunei's independence from the British Empire in 1978, a freedom which they achieved in 1984. The first sultan to also serve as Prime Minister, Bolkiah has ruled over this prosperous nation ever since. He is officially the world's wealthiest monarch thanks to his country's oil and gas reserves. Whether you know him for his extravagant lifestyle or his political work establishing Shari'ah Law, the Sultan of Brunei is a powerful leader.

Dara Shukoh - the emperor Shah Jahan's favourite son, and heir-apparent to the Mughal throne prior to being defeated by Aurangzib - has sometimes been portrayed as an effete prince, incompetent in military and administrative matters. But his tolerance towards other faiths, and the myths and anecdotes surrounding him, continue to fuel the popular imagination. Even today, over 350 years after his death, the debate rages on: if this 'good' Mughal had ascended the throne instead of his pugnacious younger brother, how would that have changed the course of Indian history?

The 12th Duke of Beaufort, known to his friends as 'Bunter', inherited his Dukedom and Badminton House in 2017, at the age of sixty-five. But he is also a singer and songwriter with the rock group The Listening Device. Now he combines his responsibilities as Duke with his life as a rock performer. In this lively and anecdote-filled memoir, Harry Beaufort takes us behind the scenes of his varied life: from playing poker with politicians, to partying on Ibiza with film stars to people watching with The Queen from a balcony at Windsor Castle.