Books

Queens At War

QUEENS AT WAR: THE FOURTH BOOK IN ALISOBN WEIR'S ENGLAND'S MEDIEVAL QUEENS QUARTET

The fifteenth century was a turbulent age and each of the five queens who appear in this book were caught up in wars that changed the courses of their lives: the Hundred Years War between England and France, and the Wars of the Roses, between the royal Houses of Lancaster and York. Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI all married to seal a peace with France. Edward IV married - scandalously - for love, Richard III to gain gtreat estates. Of their respective wives, Joan of Navarre was imprisoned as a witch; Katherine of Valois, who brought her husband the French crown, later married her wardrobe master and became the ancestress of the Tudors; Margaret of Anjou fought a civil war on her weak husband's behalf; Elizabeth Wydeville lived to see her sons, the Princes in the Tower, disappear from history; and Anne Neville died after lising her only child, forsaken by her husband. Theirs are stirring stories of triumph and tragedy, love and loss, murder and malice.  





“Alison Weir brings her series on England’s medieval queens to a triumphant conclusion by showcasing the lives of five very different women who wore the consort’s crown. Love, lust, betrayal, treason, witchcraft, war, loss, despair … it’s all here, brought enthrallingly to life by Weir’s meticulous research and her eye for detail.” (Catherine Hanley)

"You’ve written more than royal biography — Queens at War feels like living history. It’s the culmination of your remarkable work in reclaiming women’s voices from the margins and placing them at the center of power, danger, and consequence. Your portrayal of Joan of Navarre, Katherine of Valois, Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Wydeville, and Anne Neville reminds me of The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel and She-Wolves by Helen Castor — books that blend narrative drive with historical precision. But Queens at War stands apart for how it captures not only the politics of crowns but the psychology of survival.
The Wars of the Roses become not just dynastic struggles, but deeply human stories — of loyalty, ambition, and endurance in a world designed to break women who dared to wield influence.This book resonates because it reminds us that history’s battles were not only fought on fields — but in marriage beds, council chambers, and hearts that refused to surrender." (Susan Menard, co-founder, Epic Outreach Promotion)

"I've just finished reading it and it's every bit as gripping as I was expecting - if not more! [It's] a gripping new account of England's medieval queens that brings a dazzling cast of characters vividly to life. These are women who broke the mould, wielding power not just as the wives of kings but in their own right, and in doing so changing the course of English history forever. This is history and storytelling at their absolute best.' (Tracy Borman)






Bound proof copy.