Alison Weir: Reviews
Britain`s Royal Families (1989)
"A useful and speedy reference book for royal enthusiasts." (Publishing News)
"This staggeringly useful book…combines solid information with tantalising appetisers. All the monarchs and their offspring are here in one volume. An indispensable reference book if ever I saw one." (The Sunday Times)
"Interesting reading in a fact-filled book. More than 22 years of research went into its making…It is a must for anyone interested in royalty." (Yorkshire Gazette and Herald)
"An exhaustive guide to the heritage of today`s royal family, and an invaluable source book for royalty watchers, students and researchers."(Evening Leader, Wrexham)
"This book is a treat." (The Universe)
The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1991)
"At last we have the truth about Henry VIII`s wives. This book is as reliable and scholarly as it is readable [and] does justice to these very different ladies." (A.L. Rowse, The Evening Standard)
"This compelling biography...A joy to read from cover to cover." (Manchester Evening News)
"Enthralling…rich, vivid and convincing…Gripping." (Chicago Tribune)
"Brilliantly written and meticulously researched." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Impeccable research…Entertaining…The story of England`s second Tudor monarch and his rather sordid married life has been told often. But never has it been told as well. Combines the accessibility of a popular history with the highest standards of a scholarly thesis." (Detroit News)
"Well researched and…beautifully written…This work unquestionably is the finest exercise in collective biography focusing on Henry`s wives." (Library Journal)
"An exquisite treatment, sure to become a classic." (Booklist)
"You will devour it in one sitting." (The Good Book Guide)
"An entertaining account… full of interesting detail…Alison Weir`s treatment of this perennially fascinating subject is a beguiling one." (Anne Somerset, The Literary Review)
"Vividly recreates the Tudor court." (The Bookseller)
"A page-turner guaranteed to keep you up well past bedtime." (The Topeka-Capitol Journal)
The Princes in the Tower (1992)
"Readers of this book will care as much about two small boys foully done to death as the identity of their murderer…A deeply researched reappraisal."
(Ruth Rendell, The Daily Telegraph)
"A surprisingly fresh and tremendously thorough contribution to the debate…Weir`s book is, no doubt, not the last on this subject, but it might be the best…She constructs a devastating case…and brilliantly illuminates the nature of late-mediaeval political power." (The Boston Globe)
"Absorbing reading…Weir has presented a strong case…with great skill and cogency." (Christopher Hibbert, The Sunday Times)
"Violence, scandal, infanticide, drama, plots, counter-plots and treason…You can`t do better than that with this whodunit that`s been with us for five centuries." (The Daily Mail)
"Alison Weir takes on this delicious mystery with a fearsome vengeance. The result is a fascinating and completely credible account…Readers come away with the impression that they`ve heard the whole story at last." (The Milwaukee Journal)
"An exciting read." (The Denver Post)
"An absorbing tale and some highly plausible conclusions." (Birmingham Post)
"Vivid and scholarly…Weir argues her way convincingly through recent scholarship and the ongoing debate…A fascinating whodunit in which truth is more sordid than fiction." (Kirkus Reviews)
"Richard III fans may weep and rage at Weir`s conclusions, but her arguments are compelling." (Mystery Scene)
"Good mysteries never die, they just improve with age…Alison Weir has assembled an impressive case for the prosecution." (The Orlando Sentinel)
"Ms Weir`s impressive researches should settle the matter." (The Atlantic Monthly)
"A substantial historical study that is also an arresting piece of literature." (Rapport - The West Coast Review of Books, Art and Entertainment)
"Absorbing, educational and a great read." (Surrey County Magazine)
"A thrilling book, a story as suspenseful as any present-day constitutional crisis in its unfolding…A splendid mystery tale." (The Washington Times)
"Weir`s intellect is clear, her grasp of the material impressive, and her writing ability profound." (L.A. Life)
Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses/The Wars of the Roses (1994)
"Weir does a masterful job of leading the layman through the entwined family trees of England and the many usurpers to the throne." (Chicago Tribune)
"Popular history in the best sense…Illuminating asides make Miss Weir`s history a joy to read. So do her little gems of scholarship." (The Economist)
"A spellbinding chronicle…Weir`s dark, glorious pageant restores the personal dimension to an oft-told tale." (Publishers Weekly)
"A gripping account." (The Independent on Sunday)
"This is very readable, populism of the best kind." (The Times)
"Alison Weir gives this remarkable period of history a human touch…the reader gains a fascinating insight." (Lancashire Evening post, Pick of the Week; Metro)
"She brings alive a period that most people know only through the propagandist writings of William Shakespeare, and her grasp not only of the politics of fifteenth-century England but of the lives of the protagonists makes this book a valuable addition to the growing volume of work on one of the most fascinating periods of English history." (Yorkshire Evening Press)
"A perfectly focused and beautifully unfolded account." (Booklist, starred review)
"Stimulating, well-written, entertaining." (Library Journal)
"Powerful and elegant…A complicated story brilliantly told." (Kirkus Reviews)
"This is epic." (Teaching History)
"Alison Weir has taken some splendid leading characters, a large cast, the shifting alliances and fortunes of the Wars of the Roses, and turned them into an exhilarating book." (The Literary Review)
"Surrey abounds with excellent writers, but amongst the best, for those with a thirst for history, has to be Alison Weir. Here we have an in-depth account which reveals details like no history teacher ever taught…a fascinating insight into the past. I can highly recommend it." (Surrey County Council Magazine)
Children of England/The Children of Henry VIII (1996)
"This, her fourth book on the Tudors, affirms her pre-eminence in this field." (Amanda Foreman, The Independent)
"This irresistibly engaging book - described without exaggeration in the blurb as `popular history at its best`….Readers will enjoy and profit from an abundance - but never an excess - of fascinating detail." (The Tablet)
"The brilliance of this author is her scrupulous research…she keeps us focused on those real-life children and shows what made them such frightened and frightening figures." (BBC Homes and Antiques)
"Written with painstaking research, it is highly readable and entertaining, with shocking insights into the royals of four centuries ago…Vivid, fascinating, necessary for every bookshelf." (The Richmond and Twickenham Informer, Book of the Month)
"Scrupulously researched…engrossing narrative history, alive with character and incident and scenes showing that the reality of the past usually holds more interest than historical fiction." (The Boston Globe)
"Weir imparts movement and coherence while recreating the suspense her characters endured and the suffering they inflicted." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Alison Weir does full justice to the subject." (Newsday)
"With impressive narrative skill, Alison Weir pilots her readers through the ceaseless tide of intrigue which surged around the four heirs of Henry VIII. Her mastery of detail brings their tempestuous lives into sharp focus…This is full-blooded history." (The Independent)
"A readable and resourceful chronicle…colourful but scrupulous." (New Statesman and Society)
"A welcome variation on an old theme. This is popular history at its best. There is an underpinning of scholarship, however; Weir writes accessibly and brings her characters to life." (The Daily Telegraph)
"A thoroughly enjoyable and well-written composite biography…a goodf insight into Tudor court life." (Contemporary Review)
"These brutal episodes make for a good story, which the author tells with gusto…a shrewd analysis of human nature in a cruel age." (St Louis Post)
"This is a thoroughly readable book appealing to the historian, and a great introduction to a fascinating period of our history." (Yorkshire Evening Press)
"Worthy, well-written and incredibly well-researched." (South Wales evening Post)
Elizabeth the Queen/The Life of Elizabeth I (1998)
"An excellent account of the greatest of England`s remarkably great queens." (Kathryn Hughes, The Daily Telegraph)
"Weir is excellent on the complex relationship between Elizabeth and her court of suitors…an elegant, shrewd and wonderfully vivacious book." (Miranda Seymour, The Sunday Times)
"Her story is of absorbing interest…[An] informative and entertaining biography." (Peter Ackroyd, The Times)
"A well-written, sensible book…Weir retells it with a certain panache." (Diarmid MacCulloch, The Independent)
"Possibly the closest we shall come to discovering what Elizabeth was really like." (Bolton Evening News)
"This is popular history at its best, richly informative, well-paced narrative, coupled with an eye for the telling detail." (The Yorkshire Post)
"Weir`s riveting narrative is assisted by the language of the era and the Elizabethan love of intrigue." (The Independent on Sunday)
"This absorbing biography brings to life a woman more interesting than all the lords in her kingdom put together." (The Guardian)
"Alison Weir comes closer than any historian before to telling us what Elizabeth was like as a person." (Belfast Newsletter)
"This biography is by an accomplished expert on the period…it is full, fair and judicious, and particularly good on Elizabeth`s private life. I enjoyed it, and I think many other readers will too." (Paul Johnson, The Literary Review)
"This volume represents the culmination of years of research by Weir. Here she brings her characteristic exhaustive attention to detail, an experienced sense of narrative pace and style, and a passion for her subject…A riveting portrait of the Queen." (Kirkus Reviews)
"An almost affectionate portrait…Weir brings considerable zest to her portrait of the Virgin Queen." (Publishers Weekly)
"Alison Weir`s gripping biography…reads with pace." (The Tablet)
"As exciting as any fictional thriller you may read this year." (Royal Leamington Spa Observer)
"The intimate world of the Elizabethan court and of its matriarch is recreated in rich detail, and the spirit of the age evoked with a novelist`s flair." (The Good Book Guide)
"An extraordinary piece of historical scholarship." (The Cleveland Plain Dealer)
"A richly detailed account…brings Elizabeth`s personality to life." (Indianapolis Star)
"A brilliantly researched work of scholarship." (Berkeley Express)
Eleanor of Aquitaine, By the Wrath of God, Queen of England/Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life (1999)
"An alluringly candid portrait…a truly epic landscape of twelfth-century Europe in all its blood and glory." (The Boston Globe)
"Triumphantly done." (The Sunday Times)
"Weir approaches Eleanor`s story with an objective eye and a mass of source material. The result is as vivid as it is informative." (The Times)
"Evocative…A rich tapestry of a bygone age." (Newsday)
"Lively biography." (The Sunday Times)
"As delicately textured as a twelfth-century tapestry, Weir`s book is exhilarating in its colour, ambition and human warmth. The author exhibits a breathtaking grasp of the physical and cultural context of Queen Eleanor`s life." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
"Alison Weir meets a subject well-worthy of her mettle…her exciting story merits our attention." (BBC History Magazine)
"An extraordinary book about an extraordinary woman." (Derby Evening Telegraph)
"A scholarly as well as fascinating study." (John Jolliffe, The Spectator)
"Impressive…Weir manages to breathe life into her subject." (Petronella Wyatt, The Spectator)
"A fully realised portrait of 'the grandmother of Europe'". (The A List)
"Weir gives us a balanced account, with myths, suppositions and misunderstandings well-ventilated." (The Literary Review)
"Alison Weir clears the cobwebs with a fresh biography of a remarkable woman." (Irish News)
"Alison Weir`s exciting and astringent account debunks many of the legends surrounding Eleanor. Acute psychological insight combined with rigorous research has produced a rounded and satisfying picture of an extraordinary woman." (The Tablet)
"Woven with great skill and cunning detective work into a vivid and haunting portrait." (Ms London)
"When you finish the book you feel you have been put painlessly (but not necessarily without tears) in possession of the facts about this extraordinary, indefatigable woman." (The Spectator)
"Alison Weir`s achievement is to flesh out this remarkable woman from the dry pages of the chronicles and bring to life these turbulent times." (The Mail on Sunday)
"A rich, deep and accessible understanding of the topic." (Booklist)
"This is readable history at its best and a fascinating insight into the mediaeval mind." (South Wales Evening Post)
"The book reads like a mediaeval legend…clear-sighted and interesting." (Dundee Courier and Advertiser)
"Weir`s rendering of events is valuable as a revision of earlier biographies…detailed and convincing…impressive in its breadth and clarity…[A] cogent and fascinating book." (Joanna Laynesmith, The Times Higher Education Supplement)
"Weir weaves a fascinating tale without embroidering…Anyone intending to read any kind of saga or romance would find this impressively organised history far more rewarding than fiction." (The Evening Standard, Paperback of the Week)
"Alison Weir has written a vivid biography which is also an impressive piece of detective work…a credible and balanced account of the life of an extraordinary woman." (The Sunday Telegraph)
"A book with the pace, verve and readability which has become [Weir`s] hallmark." (The Good Book Guide)
Henry VIII: King and Court/ Henry VIII: The King and His Court (2001)
"A compelling, readable account…a meticulous compilation of source materials that will serve as essential reading for students of the Tudor period for a long time to come…Good history books ought to change the way we look at ourselves and our nation`s past. [Weir`s] Henry VIII is one such book." (Lisa Jardine, The Literary Review)
"Alison Weir brings to her fascinatingly detailed study the kind of historical acumen and accessible prose style that distinguished her Elizabeth the Queen…The delight here is in the detail…We certainly understand [Henry] more by the end of this mammoth study." (Publishing News)
"A very fine book…a splendid volume on a detestable subject." (Frank McLynn, The Independent on Sunday)
"A glittering evocation of the Tudor court…Weir`s finest achievement is her quiet, convincing overturning of this cliché Henry VIII…He was one of us. It is that poignant truth that Weir brings colourfully to life." (The Daily Telegraph)
"A marked success." (The Sunday Times)
"The great virtue of Alison Weir`s fascinating book lies not so much in the history as in the small details of life at court." (The Express on Sunday)
"Enthralling." (Waterstones Books Quarterly)
"Brilliant…This is a book that doesn`t just tell you what happened, it tells you what it was like while it was happening." (Writing Magazine)
"This biography is superb in painting a picture of all facets of Henry`s reign." (Cumberland News)
"Alison Weir`s sparkling biography….builds up a splendid picture… Absolutely brilliant." (Focus)
"A wonderful insight into the life and loves of a fascinating king. Outstanding reading for historian and non-historian alike." (Yorkshire Evening Press)
"Weir has succeeded in making this most cartoonish of English kings into a living, breathing entity." (The Bookseller)
"This well-written and illuminating book abounds (in details)…it makes absorbing reading. All this Alison Weir recounts with authority and befitting verve." (Christopher Hibbert, The Mail on Sunday)
"A masterly piece of historical biography." (The Bookseller)
"This is not only a superb biography, but an amazing insight into the court…Alison Weir has brought the Tudor era to life." (The Bookseller)
Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley (2003)
"With a story like this one, who needs James Gandolfini?" (The Wall Street Journal)
"Weir provides a most plausible answer to the conundrum of the killing." (The Daily Mail, Critic`s Choice)
"Alison Weir is the female Ackroyd…she manages to equal, if not better, his knack of making history sexy…[She] is to be commended for bringing genuinely new facts to the surface." (Manchester Evening News)
"The case she makes in Mary`s defence is likely to carry readers along with her." (The Spectator)
"…her thorough and compelling biography…" (The Glasgow Herald)
"A thoughtful, informed and eminently readable history." (Alan Stewart, BBC History Magazine)
"An engrossing historical whodunit combined with a richly textured portrait of an age…the story is riveting." (Scotland on Sunday)
"Alison Weir not only provides a solution to the riddle, but in the process paints a vivid picture of one of Britain`s most remarkable historical heroines." (F Magazine)
"Weir has strengthened the case for exonerating the Queen…Valuable, conscientious and thoughtful." (Miranda Seymour, The Sunday Times)
"Her book is as dramatic as witnessing at first hand the most riveting court case." (Booklist)
"Weir brings alive an age of intrigue, excitement and murder…Her thoroughly researched, gripping and vivid narrative breathes new life into this historical whodunit…A wonderful portrait of a murder mystery." (Lancashire Evening Post)
"This detailed book never loses sight of the very human story of passion and betrayal…This is a riveting read." (Worcester Evening News)
"This highly readable and handsome tome will delight." (Caledonia Magazine)
"…this great volume." (The Lady)
"Her cautious conclusions provide a valuable check to wilder speculations." (The Observer)
"Weir shatters some long-held misconceptions." (Chicago Tribune)
Isabella, She-Wolf of France, Queen of England/Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery and Murder in Medieval England (2005)
"Alison is a great writer. I think her book on Isabella is brilliant, scholarly and will be the most definitive study ever published. She has done an outstanding job….a truly outstanding contribution to the study of mediaeval history." (P.C. Doherty, author of Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II)
"Meticulously researched and engagingly written, a highly readable tour de force that brings Queen Isabella vividly to life…an utterly compelling, gripping and believable portrait of a formidable mediaeval queen." (Lisa Jardine, The Washington Post)
"Engrossing, because Isabella`s career was unquenchably dramatic…enthralling" (The Independent)
"This meticulous, no-nonsense biography presents a fascinating story complete with puzzles." (The Independent on Sunday)
"Weir has done a masterly job of extracting an indomitable woman from a hostile legend." (The Boston Globe)
"This enthralling biography doesn`t just correct the calumny of centuries, it provides a beautifully nuanced portrait of a fascinating lady and gives a vivid sense of the riotously realpolitik of mediaeval times." (The Scotsman)
"Wonderfully researched…" (Nottingham Evening Post)
"Weir is a practised biographer of queens…for sheer pace of telling, her book is successful." (The Times Literary Supplement)
"Alison Weir`s dynamic account redresses the balance…a seamless tale full of detail…a fascinating read." (BBC History Magazine)
"Isabella pierces the veil of history with scholarly precision. A wealth of careful and astute research reveals a formidable yet tragic figure…A serious rendering of a sensational life." (The Irish Times)
"Sure to reign as the definitive word on Isabella for years to come." (Kirkus Reviews)
"This is history which reads like a novel." (Christopher Hudson, The Daily Mail, Critic`s Choice)
"A much more balanced view of Isabella`s life…Alison Weir succeeds in bringing to life a murky period of history that has been shrouded in myth and legend." (The Literary Review)
"A fascinating rewriting of a controversial life that should supersede all previous accounts…Any reader of English history will want this book." (Publishers Weekly)
"Informative and entertaining, this vivid biography brings to life an historical figure long condemned to notoriety." (Waterstones Books Quarterly)
Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey (2006)
"Her brave move is a success…Compellingly told from various points of view, this story is bolstered by fabulously gruesome historical details." (The Sunday Times)
"The story is so compelling and horrible that even a reader well-acquainted with it will be gripped. It reads as easily as a thriller…This is a novel that will give great pleasure." (Allan Massie, The Scotsman)
"She has stepped effortlessly over the boundary…Weir`s knowledge of the background is immaculate, and she revels in the freedom of fiction without sacrificing historical fact…If you don`t cry at the end, you have a heart of stone." (The Times)
"Weir invests [the story] with fascinating detail…Weir manages her heroine`s voice brilliantly, respecting the past`s distance while conjuring a dignified and fiercely modern spirit." (The Daily Mail)
"Excellently documented by Weir, as we would expect, and she gives us a meaty flavour of…one of the bloodiest and most dangerous periods in history…This is 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 on Sunday)
"What an excellent debut it is…Weir is an exceptional storyteller, and relates events in a way that cannot fail to keep readers of historical fiction enthralled." (Waterstones Books Quarterly)