Over the last forty years, the mythology of Princess Diana has turned the woman who was born Diana Spencer into a symbol for almost anything. From a harbinger of Brexit populism, an all-American consumer capitalist, and the savior of the British aristocracy, to a catalyst for #MeToo and--in the words of one superfan--the biggest punk that's come out of England, Diana connects with a wider array of people than any member of the royal family ever has. We feel so familiar with Diana that it seems crushingly formal to use anything but her first name.

In Dianaworld, Edward White guides us through this strange precinct of a global cultural obsession. It's a place of mass delusions, outsized fantasies and quixotic dreams; of druids, psychics, Hollywood stars, obsessive stalkers, radical feminists, and Middle Eastern generals. In a signature, innovative exploded biography, White offers both a portrait of the princess, and group portraits of those who knew her intimately; those who worked with and for her; and the many ordinary people whose connection to Diana reveals her unique and enduring legacy. White draws on a kaleidoscopic array of sources and perspectives never before used in books about Diana or the royal family--from interviews with sex workers and professional lookalikes, to the Mass Observation social research project and the Great Diary Project in Britain, and the peculiar work of outsider artists.

Diana would have approved of her posthumous title, the People's Princess the image of a royal with a pauper's soul was exactly how she marketed herself. In Dianaworld, White explores Diana Spencer--the person and the cultural figure--by re-creating the world Diana lived in and illuminating her lasting impact on the world she left behind.

With equal measures of wit and wisdom, the author of 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret draws a deeply original, hilarious, and telling portrait of the Queen herself.

She was the most famous person on earth; she first appeared on the cover of Time magazine at the age of three. When she died, few people were old enough to recall a time when she was not alive.

Her likeness has been reproduced--in photographs, on stamps, on the notes and coins of thirty different currencies--more than any since Jesus. It is probable that, over the course of her ninety-six years, she was introduced to a greater number of different people than anyone else who has ever lived--likely well over half a million. Yet this most closely observed of all women rarely left any real impression on those she encountered beyond vague notions of her radiance and sense of duty. A high proportion of those she met can remember what they said to her, but not a word of what she said to them.

Up until now, the curious tactic employed by biographers of the Queen has been to ignore what is interesting and to concentrate on what is not. Craig Brown, the author of 150 Glimpses of the Beatles and Hello Goodbye Hello, rejects this formula, bringing his kaleidoscopic approach to the most famous--and most guarded-- woman on earth, examining the Queen through a succession of interlocking prisms. With Q, this fantastically funny, marvelously insightful journalist gives us an unforgettable portrait of the omnipresent, elusive Queen Elizabeth II.

Through the author's extensive connections within the royal household, this dynamic new biography tells the full story of how Catherine, the Princess of Wales, became the woman she is today.

Kate Middleton's life's story seems like a modern-day fairy-tale.

An attractive, clever, and ambitious girl from unexceptional beginnings meets and falls in love with a wealthy prince when they are both college undergraduates. Now, with the British monarchy in transition, Catherine is destined to become the first commoner Queen in British history since Anne Hyde, wife of James II.

Since her wedding on April 29th, 2011--and since becoming the Duchess of Cambridge--Catherine has endeared herself to the people of the Britain and America with her extensive travels, with her infectious smile, sense of style, and down-to-earth nature. With her self-deprecation, willingness to laugh at herself, solid work-ethic--along with William's warmth, and accessibility--this dynamic duo has become the most popular members of the royal family.

As interest in the royals continues to gain legions of new, younger fans, there is increasing interest in the histories and back stories of the principal players in this story. Through the author's connection with sources both on and off the record within the royal household, this dynamic new biography tells the full story of how Catherine became the woman she is today.

It is generally accepted that Queen Victoria reigned but did not rule. This couldn't be more wrong. A passionate and opinionated leader, Victoria was born to govern with no room for doubt about her historic destiny or the might of the empire that was built in her name. When it came to her involvement in state affairs, Victoria herself acknowledged that she had held strong likes and dislikes for the various prime ministers who served throughout her political evolution from headstrong teenager to seasoned leader.

Anne Somerset's Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers charts the feuds and affectionate interactions Victoria had with her ten premiers in often hilarious detail, from her adoration of Benjamin Disraeli, her favorite prime minister who filled her life with poetry, romance, and chivalry, to her detestation for William Gladstone, a man she deemed a dangerous old fanatic. Drawing extensively on unpublished sources such as material from the Royal Archives and never-before-seen prime ministerial papers, Somerset casts a fresh and highly illuminating perspective not just on Victoria, but on the exceptional politicians who served her in a time of massive global change.

New York Times bestselling author Paul French examines a controversial and revealing period in the early life of the legendary Wallis, Duchess of Windsor-her one year in China.

Before she was the Duchess of Windsor, Bessie Wallis Warfield was Mrs. Wallis Spencer, wife of Earl Win Spencer, a US Navy aviator. From humble beginnings in Baltimore, she rose to marry a man who gave up his throne for her. But what made Wallis Spencer, Navy Wife, the woman who could become the Duchess of Windsor? The answers lie in her one-year sojourn in China.

In her memoirs, Wallis described her time in China as her Lotus Year, referring to Homer's Lotus Eaters, a group living in a state of dreamy forgetfulness, never to return home. Though faced with challenges, Wallis came to appreciate traditional Chinese aesthetics. China molded her in terms of her style and provided her with friendships that lasted a lifetime. But that Lotus Year would also later be used to damn her in the eyes of the British Establishment.

The British government's supposed China Dossier of Wallis's rumored amorous and immoral activities in the Far East was a damning concoction, portraying her as sordid, debauched, influenced by foreign agents, and unfit to marry a king. Instead, French, an award-winning China historian, reveals Wallis Warfield Spencer as a woman of tremendous courage who may have acted as a courier for the US government, undertaking dangerous undercover diplomatic missions in a China torn by civil war.

Her Lotus Year is an untold story in the colorful life of a woman too often maligned by history.

Dancing makes you feel heaps better - Diana

In 1981, after the wedding of the century, Anne Allan, a dancer, and ballet mistress with the London City Ballet, was offered an unusual assignment. Her Royal Highness Diana, the Princess of Wales, wanted dance lessons. Would Anne be her teacher?

Anne and her royal pupil were soon meeting at a private studio for the first of hundreds of secret weekly one-hour lessons that were never on the princess's official schedule and never be discovered by the ever-lurking press. Under Anne's direction, Diana mounted her spectacular debut on the stage of Covent Garden, videotaped a solo performance at Her Majesty's Theatre, and made clandestine backstage visits to ballets and West End shows for the Princess to get as close as she could to the lives and work of real dancers.

Over the course of nine years, teacher and pupil became close friends. Diana appreciated having an outsider to whom she could speak candidly about her personal challenges and her place in the royal world. They would talk, laugh, cry, and--always--dance.

Most importantly, Diana learned to express her true self in physical movement. By her last class, the Princess had learned to carry herself with confidence, poise, and grace, both inside and outside the studio. Dance, says Anne, had nourished and renewed her soul.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

I have often been bitterly disappointed with interviews regarding the Princess. There was always so much more to this incredible woman than what was depicted. I hope that anyone reading the book will appreciate this fresh look at the more personal side of Diana, enjoy hearing stories about our friendship and share in our fun times, as well as finding a deeper understanding of just how extraordinary she was. -
Anne Allan

A gripping family saga and a portrait of a world in turmoil

The Princesses of Hesse were Queen Victoria's grandchildren. After the death of their mother, Queen Victoria's favorite daughter Alice, the Queen stepped in, taking an almost manic interest in the motherless girl's marriage prospects. Very little went according to plan. Fortunately, Queen Victoria did not live to see her direst fears for the girls spouses being realized. She died in January 1901, just before her beloved Hesse granddaughters became caught up in the maelstrom of early 20th century Europe.

The youngest sister, Alix, married Tsar Nicholas II of Russia; she was assassinated, along with the rest of her family, in a cellar in Ekaterinburg.
The second, Ella, married the Russian Grand Duke Serge. After he was assassinated, she became a nun, only to be assassinated by the Bolsheviks twenty-four hours after Alix in 1918.
The third, Irene, married the Kaiser's brother, Prince Henry, and was entangled in the 1918 German uprisings.
The eldest sister, Princess Victoria, married Prince Louis Battenberg, and became the mother of Lord Louis Mountbatten and grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Their lives were all dramatic, but this book - the first full-length biography of the Princesses of Hesse - also shows how they interacted as sisters, forever jostling for status and relaying the politics and intrigues that surrounded them.

Drawing on hundreds of previously unseen letters from the sisters as well as from their grandmother Queen Victoria, The Princesses of Hesse takes us on a sweeping journey across the tumultuous landscape of the turn of the century - from the dramas of the Russian Court to the Russian Revolution, and through both World Wars in which they often found themselves on opposing sides.

Both intimate and epic in scope, Frances Welch's biography sheds new light on the four sisters' lives, illuminating a remarkable period of history in the process.

During an age of heightened religious conflict, Catherine de' Medici lived her life at the center of sixteenth-century European and French politics. Daughter of Lorenzo II, the Medici ruler of Florence--and then wedded to a French prince by papal decree at the age of fourteen--Catherine first became queen consort of France and then mother to three French kings (Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III) who reigned in an era of almost continuous civil and religious strife.

A lavish promoter of the arts, Catherine patronized poets, painters, and sculptors; lavished ruinous sums on the building and embellishment of monuments and palaces; and masterminded spectacular entertainments and tournaments that prefigure the splendor and ritual of the court of Versailles.

Catherine maintained eighty ladies-in-waiting at court; it was rumored she used these women as bait to seduce courtiers for her political ends. Her admiration for the seer Nostradamus fueled claims of her love for the occult and the dark arts. Posterity has condemned her as the epitome of the scheming royal matriarch, her reputation tainted forever by her role in instigating the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of Protestants in 1572.

Catherine de' Medici: The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen is Mary Hollingsworth's evocative, authoritative biography of the most extraordiary woman of the sixteenth-century.

[Robertson] thoughtfully and readably capture[s] the essence of this great man and his great life. It's a must read for any aspiring Stoic.--Ryan Holiday, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Daily Stoic

This novel biography brings Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE) to life for a new generation of readers by exploring the emperor's fascinating psychological journey. Donald J. Robertson examines Marcus's relationships with key figures in his life, such as his mother, Domitia Lucilla, and the emperor Hadrian, as well as his Stoic tutors. He draws extensively on Marcus's own Meditations and correspondence, and he examines the emperor's actions as detailed in the Augustan History and other ancient texts.

Marcus Aurelius struggled to reconcile his philosophy and moral values with the political pressures he faced as emperor at the height of Roman power. Robertson examines Marcus's attitude toward slavery and the moral dilemma posed by capturing enemies in warfare; his attitude toward women; the role of Stoicism in shaping his response to the threat of civil war; the treatment of Christians under his rule; and the naming of his notorious son Commodus as his successor.

Throughout, the Meditations is used to shed light on the mind of the emperor--his character, values, and motives--as Robertson skillfully weaves together Marcus's inner journey as a philosopher with the outer events of his life as a Roman emperor.

When Diana: Her True Story was first published in 1992, it forever changed the way the public viewed the British monarchy. Greeted initially with disbelief and ridicule, the #1 New York Times bestselling biography has become a unique literary classic, not just because of its explosive contents but also because of Diana's intimate involvement in the publication. Never before had a senior royal spoken in such a raw, unfiltered way about her unhappy marriage, her relationship with the Queen, her extraordinary life inside the House of Windsor, her hopes, her fears, and her dreams. Now, twenty-five years on, biographer Andrew Morton has revisited the secret tapes he and the late princess made to reveal startling new insights into her life and mind. In this fully revised edition of his groundbreaking biography, Morton considers Diana's legacy and her relevance to the modern royal family.

An icon in life and a legend in death, Diana continues to fascinate. Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words is the closest we will ever come to her autobiography.

Dancing makes you feel heaps better - Diana

In 1981, after the wedding of the century, Anne Allan, a dancer, and ballet mistress with the London City Ballet, was offered an unusual assignment. Her Royal Highness Diana, the Princess of Wales, wanted dance lessons. Would Anne be her teacher?

Anne and her royal pupil were soon meeting at a private studio for the first of hundreds of secret weekly one-hour lessons that were never on the princess's official schedule and never be discovered by the ever-lurking press. Under Anne's direction, Diana mounted her spectacular debut on the stage of Covent Garden, videotaped a solo performance at Her Majesty's Theatre, and made clandestine backstage visits to ballets and West End shows for the Princess to get as close as she could to the lives and work of real dancers.

Over the course of nine years, teacher and pupil became close friends. Diana appreciated having an outsider to whom she could speak candidly about her personal challenges and her place in the royal world. They would talk, laugh, cry, and--always--dance.

Most importantly, Diana learned to express her true self in physical movement. By her last class, the Princess had learned to carry herself with confidence, poise, and grace, both inside and outside the studio. Dance, says Anne, had nourished and renewed her soul.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

I have often been bitterly disappointed with interviews regarding the Princess. There was always so much more to this incredible woman than what was depicted. I hope that anyone reading the book will appreciate this fresh look at the more personal side of Diana, enjoy hearing stories about our friendship and share in our fun times, as well as finding a deeper understanding of just how extraordinary she was. -
Anne Allan

No British monarch has had a tougher act to follow.

Now, after seventy years of waiting and preparation, King Charles III is not just the head of the most famous family in the world. He is the custodian of a thousand-year-old institution which must redefine its place in the digital age while others insist on rewriting the past. With unrivaled access to the king, the royal family, and the court, leading royal authority Robert Hardman brings us the inside story on the most pivotal and challenging year for the monarchy in living memory.

From the death of Elizabeth II through to the ancient spectacle of the Coronation, from the rise of a new Prince and Princess of Wales to the latest truth bombs from the Sussexes, this is the story of the making of a monarch.

An enthralling and vivid portrait of Queen Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II, that reveals her forgotten place in history.

A long-overlooked figure in history, Catherine has a crucial place in the history of the British Empire: she may have failed to produce an heir to the throne, but her marriage to Charles in 1662 marked a key turning point in Britain's imperial ascendancy, for part of her dowry was Bombay, Britain's first territory of the Indian subcontinent. Catherine also was highly influential in the worlds of fashion, Baroque art and music, and food and culture. She popularized tea drinking, bringing England's national drink into fashion for the first time. Her life was at the nexus of Old and New Worlds, war and exploration, frivolity, and scientific inquiry.

Noteworthy in its scope and approach to sources, The Lost Queen combines personal and political accounts, offering a lively portrait of Catherine's life, and the wider politics and explorations of her time.

ONE OF ESQUIRE'S BEST BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL TIME - ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Salon, Vogue, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Providence Journal

Robert K. Massie returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure German princess who became Catherine the Great. Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself into empress of Russia by sheer determination. For thirty-four years, the government, foreign policy, cultural development, and welfare of the Russian people were in her hands. She dealt with domestic rebellion, foreign wars, and the tidal wave of political change and violence churned up by the French Revolution. Catherine's family, friends, ministers, generals, lovers, and enemies--all are here, vividly brought to life. History offers few stories richer than that of Catherine the Great. In this book, an eternally fascinating woman is returned to life.

Considering Edward VIII's travels and interests as Prince of Wales as well as his relationship with Wallis Simpson and the course of events leading up to his abdication and subsequent exile, Once a King offers a previously unexplored lens through which we encounter first-hand the hitherto concealed subtlety and raw emotion of two of the twentieth century's most iconic Royal figures: the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

A monumental exploration. . . . It is the most important treatment of its subject since Wilhelm Ensslin's 1947 biography, and since Mr. Wiemer's book (here in John Noël Dillon's fluid English translation) surpasses its predecessor in breadth and sophistication, the author can claim the laurel of having written the best profile of Theoderic we have.--Kyle Harper, Wall Street Journal

In the year 493, the leader of a vast confederation of Gothic warriors, their wives, and children personally cut down Odoacer, the man famous for deposing the last Roman emperor in 476. That leader became Theoderic the Great (454-526). This engaging history of his life and reign immerses readers in the world of the warrior-king who ushered in decades of peace and stability in Italy as king of Goths and Romans. Theoderic transformed his roving warrior nation from the periphery of the Roman world into a standing army that protected his taxpaying Roman subjects with the support of the Roman elite. With a ruling strategy of integration through separation, Theoderic not only stabilized Italy but also extended his kingdom to the western Balkans, southern France, and the Iberian Peninsula.

Using sources as diverse as letters, poetry, coins, and mosaics, Hans-Ulrich Wiemer brings readers into the world of Theoderic's court, from Gothic warriors and their families to the notables, artisans, and shopkeepers of Rome and Ravenna to the peasants and enslaved people who tilled the soil on grand rural estates. This book offers a fascinating history of the leader who brought peace to Italy after the disintegration of the Roman Empire.

[Robertson] thoughtfully and readably capture[s] the essence of this great man and his great life. It's a must read for any aspiring Stoic.--Ryan Holiday, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Daily Stoic

This novel biography brings Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE) to life for a new generation of readers by exploring the emperor's fascinating psychological journey. Donald J. Robertson examines Marcus's relationships with key figures in his life, such as his mother, Domitia Lucilla, and the emperor Hadrian, as well as his Stoic tutors. He draws extensively on Marcus's own Meditations and correspondence, and he examines the emperor's actions as detailed in the Augustan History and other ancient texts.

Marcus Aurelius struggled to reconcile his philosophy and moral values with the political pressures he faced as emperor at the height of Roman power. Robertson examines Marcus's attitude toward slavery and the moral dilemma posed by capturing enemies in warfare; his attitude toward women; the role of Stoicism in shaping his response to the threat of civil war; the treatment of Christians under his rule; and the naming of his notorious son Commodus as his successor.

Throughout, the Meditations is used to shed light on the mind of the emperor--his character, values, and motives--as Robertson skillfully weaves together Marcus's inner journey as a philosopher with the outer events of his life as a Roman emperor.

Drawing upon newly released archives, bestselling biographer Andrew Lownie tells the story of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's glittering lives after Edward abdicated the throne-a world that was riddled with treachery and betrayal.

A Town & Country Must Read Book

11 December 1936. The King of England, Edward VIII, has given up his crown, foregoing his duty for the love of Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée. Their courtship has been dogged by controversy and scandal, but with Edward's abdication, they can live happily ever after.

But do they? Beginning this astonishing dual biography at the moment that most biographers turn away, bestselling historian Andrew Lownie reveals the dramatic lives of the Windsors post-abdication. This is a story of a royal shut out by his family and forced into exile; of the Nazi attempts to recruit the duke to their cause; and of why the duke, as Governor of the Bahamas, tried to shut down the investigation into the murder of a close friend. It is a story of a couple obsessed with their status, financially exploiting their position, all the while manipulating the media to portray themselves as victims.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were, in their day, the most glamorous exiles in the world, flitting from sumptuously appointed mansions in the south of France to luxurious residences in Palm Beach. But they were spoiled, selfish people, obsessed with their image, and revelling in adulterous affairs. Drawing upon previously unexplored archives, Lownie shows in dramatic fashion how their glittering world was riddled with treachery and betrayal-and why the royal family never forgave the duke for choosing love over duty.