Reading Historical Fiction as a youngster led me to study history at university – so the Tudors have been part of my life for about forty years now. After graduating with a Master’s degree, my career choice was easy. Of my thirteen novels, ten are Tudor, covering among others, the lives of Margaret Beaufort, Elizabeth of York, Anne Boleyn, Katheryn Parr, Mary Tudor, and King Henry VIII himself. It isn’t necessarily ‘normal’ to live in such close proximity to the Tudors, but I would be hard pushed to write in a modern setting. Give me an ill-lit chamber, a royal banquet, or even a grisly beheading and I am perfectly at home.
Another lesser-known figure, Elizabeth is the wife of Thomas Cromwell. She has very little mention in the historical record but the author draws on what we do know of her husband, Thomas. Elizabeth Cromwell’s character is convincing and likable. I particularly enjoyed glimpsing another side of Thomas Cromwell, a more human side and I loved the descriptions of their imagined daily life together. The author doesn’t over describe but the sights, sounds, and smells of the city are touched on just enough to provide a sense of place. It was also refreshing to see a woman involved in business in her own right, the cloth trade is described with enough detail to engage the reader but never becomes tedious.
"One of my favourite Tudor set books . . . A wonderfully vivid read." Nicola Cornick
Young widow Elizabeth Williams is determined to make a success of the business she inherited from her merchant father. But an independent woman draws the wrong kind of attention, and Elizabeth soon realises she has enemies - enemies who know the dark truth about her dead husband.
Happiness arrives when Elizabeth meets rapidly rising lawyer, Thomas Cromwell. Their marriage begins in mutual love and respect - but it isn't easy being the wife of an ambitious courtier in Henry VIII's London. The city is…
Reading Historical Fiction as a youngster led me to study history at university – so the Tudors have been part of my life for about forty years now. After graduating with a Master’s degree, my career choice was easy. Of my thirteen novels, ten are Tudor, covering among others, the lives of Margaret Beaufort, Elizabeth of York, Anne Boleyn, Katheryn Parr, Mary Tudor, and King Henry VIII himself. It isn’t necessarily ‘normal’ to live in such close proximity to the Tudors, but I would be hard pushed to write in a modern setting. Give me an ill-lit chamber, a royal banquet, or even a grisly beheading and I am perfectly at home.
I was immediately drawn to the first book in Karen Heenan’s Tudor trilogy because of the perspective from which it was written. Despite studying the period for more than thirty years, I knew next to nothing about the lives of royal minstrels. I enjoyed stories that are set against the familiar backdrop of Henry VIII’s court and especially liked this one as it is both well-researched and written. I thoroughly recommend this series.
She came from nothing. One false note could send her back.
Ten-year-old Bess is only good at one thing—singing, which has no place in her family’s bleak existence. When her father sells her to the king of England, she balances the loss of all she’s known against a world of music and plenty, and builds a new life as a royal minstrel, earning the nickname the king's songbird.
Bess comes of age in the dangerous Tudor court, where the stakes are always high, and where politics, heartbreak, and disease threaten everyone from the king to the lowliest musician.
I was born within sight of Pembroke Castle, the birthplace of Henry Tudor, who later became King Henry VII and began the Tudor Dynasty, so I’ve always had an interest in his story. I found several biographies, but no novels which brought the truth of his story to life. The idea for the Tudor Trilogy occurred to me when I realised Henry Tudor could be born in book one, ‘come of age’ in book two, and rule England as king in book three. Since then, I’ve continued to follow the Tudor ‘thread’ all the way from Owen Tudor’s first meeting with Catherine of Valois to the death of Queen Elizabeth I.
The first book in Judith Arnopp’s Beaufort Chronicles tells the story of Margaret Beaufort’s challenging early life. Often portrayed as cold and stringent, we discover a woman who is warm, and endearing, her reserve a front which masks a deeply emotional person of great sensitivity and intelligence. This book made me think again about Margaret Beaufort. Well researched with beautiful period details, and excellent storytelling.
As King Henry VI slips into insanity and the realm of England teeters on the brink of civil war, a child is married to the mad king’s brother. Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, takes his child bride into Wales where she discovers a land of strife and strangers. At Caldicot Castle and Lamphey Palace Margaret must put aside childhood, acquire the dignity of a Countess and, despite her tender years, produce Richmond with a son and heir.While Edmund battles to restore the king’s peace, Margaret quietly supports his quest; but it is a quest fraught with danger.As the friction between…
During my decades in the corporate world, I traveled extensively and spent months in England, where I became a devoted Anglophile. I am privileged to have met Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, and to have attended a knighting at Westminster. English history fascinates me, but so do gripping spy thrillers occurring in European and Middle Eastern settings. There’s nothing better than finishing a satisfying first book in a series—fiction or not--and deciding to ration the remaining ones so you can savor the experience a little longer!
Peter Ackroyd has written several wonderful books about London, the Thames, and aspects of English life, but this six-volume series (the last to come in 2023) is the best and most comprehensive I’ve found. It’s a delightful trip through history, not only covering the politics of the times but giving insight into the daily lives of people from one era to the next, how towns became cities, infrastructure and the system of government developed. The page counts are daunting, but don’t be dissuaded—nobody can make history come alive better than Ackroyd.
The first book in Peter Ackroyd's history of England series, which has since been followed up with two more installments, Tudors and Rebellion.
In Foundation, the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death, in 1509, of the first Tudor king, Henry VII. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past--a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a…
Everybody
knows the name of Richard III, the short-lived king of England whose defeat ushered
in the Tudor dynasty. But the story everyone
knows and argues about is his time as king and the fate of the “princes in the
tower.”
Michael Hicks tells the story of
Richard’s life before he became king, his loyal support for his brother Edward
IV, the political scheming that made him the ruler of the north of England, and
his reforming zeal, which might have transformed the country had he lived.
Nothing like Shakespeare’s caricature
(written to please the Tudors!), Richard emerges as a complex and fundamentally
decent man of his time, whose story deserved this telling.
An "excellent new biography" (Keith Thomas, New York Review of Books) of the wily and formidable prince who unexpectedly became monarch-the most infamous king in British history
"An intricately detailed account of Richard's every recorded move on his journey from younger son of the powerful Duke of York to the last of England's mediaeval monarchs."-Mark Jones, Albion Magazine
The reign of Richard III, the last Yorkist king and the final monarch of the Plantagenet dynasty, marked a turning point in British history. But despite his lasting legacy, Richard only ruled as king for the final two years of his life.…
I write historical fiction some of which is set during the Wars of the Roses - a period that has always fascinated me. My two series, Rebels and Brothers & the Craft of Kings span the whole topic. But underlying the fiction there is a wealth of knowledge because I have studied or taught about this period for the best part of fifty years. I have also produced in recent years over forty podcasts on the subject which have been very well received by listeners – including students currently wrestling with the sometimes labyrinthine complexities of the topic.
The Battle of Bosworth was a defining point – arguably, the defining point of the period and there have been many books written about it. This is as good as any and better than most. Skidmore gives a comprehensive context for and account of the battle. The book was published in 2013 so it takes into account much of the recent archaeological work which has been done to locate and describe the battlefield itself. It is a very useful guide indeed because, though Skidmore analyses possibilities where evidence is hard to come by, he does not stray into the realms of fantasy.
Richard III and Henry Tudor's legendary battle: one that changed the course of English history.
On the morning of 22 August 1485, in fields several miles from Bosworth, two armies faced each other, ready for battle. The might of Richard III's army was pitted against the inferior forces of the upstart pretender to the crown, Henry Tudor, a 28-year-old Welshman who had just arrived back on British soil after 14 years in exile. Yet this was to be a fight to the death - only one man could survive; only one could claim the throne.
I am the author of several historical novels covering a wide range of topics, but my main interest remains 12th- to 16th-century Britain. I grew up in Sweden and have been an avid reader of classic literature and historical fiction since I was a child, and am currently studying History at the University of Oxford. When someone asks me what it is that I love about history, I tend to reply that it is all the stories. It sounds obvious, perhaps, but history is made up of countless stories that can be told in countless ways, and there is at least one story for everyone to fall in love with.
If there is a single book that introduced me to historical fiction, this is it. I bought it at random for 50p at a flea market while on vacation in Scotland. And I read it. And I cried—a lot. It is possible that my young age at the time played a part in the enchantment, but the memory sticks with me. The protagonist Mary Howard was unknown to me before I read this novel, and I believe she has been largely forgotten in history, but that was one of my favourite aspects of the reading experience. Both as a reader and a writer, I believe that a main character who was relatively obscure but nevertheless close to pivotal historical events allows fact to be paired with the author’s creative liberties.
When young Mary Howard receives the news that she will be leaving her home for the grand court of King Henry VIII, to attend his mistress Anne Boleyn, she is ecstatic. Everything Anne touches seems to turn to gold, and Mary is certain Anne will one day become Queen. But Mary has also seen the King s fickle nature and how easily he discards those who were once close to him...
Discovering that she is a pawn in a carefully orchestrated plot devised by her father, the duke of Norfolk, Mary dare…
This story touched my heart. Elizabeth St. John blends personal insight and details from centuries-old journals belonging to her aristocratic family with historical facts to create a fascinating, heart-rending story about what really happened to the Princes in the Tower after Edward IV dies.
Written from the point of view of Lady Elysabeth Scrope, the book reveals why she took her young godson, Edward V (and his brother), to the Tower to prepare for his coronation believing she was doing her duty, then discovers she may have delivered him to an early death. We then see how she tried to save the children from harm, and what may have really happened to them.
It’s a captivating story that kept me reading late into the night. Ultimately, this is a beautifully-written, un-put-down-able, 15th-century royal family saga of complex loyalties.
If you knew the fate of the Princes in the Tower would you tell? Or forever keep the secret?May 1483: The Tower of London. When King Edward IV dies and Lady Elysabeth Scrope delivers her young godson, Edward V, into the Tower of London to prepare for his coronation, she is engulfed in political turmoil. Within months, the prince and his brother have disappeared, Richard III is declared king, and Elysabeth’s sister Margaret Beaufort conspires with her son Henry Tudor to invade England and claim the throne.
Desperate to protect her godson, Elysabeth battles the intrigue, betrayal and power of…
I’ve studied and written about the Tudors for many years including a monthly article in Tudor Life magazine, plus I’ve written several successful books looking at the lives of ordinary people in history and now, my first full scale look at the Tudors. The Tudor period is one of the best known in our history and is dominated by so many well-known and fascinating characters but my interest rests with the ordinary folk and how their lives changed so fundamentally in this time. The dissolution of the monasteries changed everyday life for many and marked the end of the medieval period and the beginning of a more enlightened time.
This entertaining book is aimed at children but could really be enjoyed by everybody as a light-hearted introduction to the Tudors.
I think the whole Horrible Histories series shows that history can be fun and is a great place for children to start to look into the past. I enjoy looking at history from another perspective: how horrible can it be?
Discover all the foul facts about the Terrifying Tudors with history's most horrible headlines. All the foul facts about the Terrifying Tudors are ready to uncover, including:
who invited Queen Lizzie to visit his brand new toilet
and what you get when you sew the front of a chicken to the back of a pig
Fully illustrated throughout and packed with horrible stories - with all the horribly hilarious bits included
with a fresh take on the classic Horrible Histories style, perfect for fans old and new
the perfect series for anyone looking for a fun and informative read
I’m a blogger, vlogger, historian, and author of 14 history books, and have a true passion for Tudor history. Tudor history grabbed me at the age of 11, when I had to do a project on Henry VIII and his six wives, and has never let me go. Anne Boleyn is my historical heroine and area of expertise, but I love anything to do with the Tudors. I’m a complete Tudor nut and if I’m not researching and writing about Tudor history, I’m talking about it or getting lost in a good book about it. I love any book that brings my favourite character to life or transports me back to the 16th century.
As a historian, I’m rather fussy about the historical fiction I read, and often avoid Tudor fiction as I get annoyed with inaccuracies, but I hand-on-heart loved Virgin and the Crab.
It’s such a beautiful story and I found it “unputdownable”, if that’s a word! Parry has blended historical facts with fiction to produce an incredibly believable story featuring Elizabeth Tudor, the future Elizabeth I, and the famous scholar John Dee, who acts as her mentor and friend, helping Elizabeth navigate the dangers of her half-sister’s reign.
It’s a story of true friendship, courage, magic, love and loyalty, and ultimately victory. A compelling read and one that made me want to know far more about the fascinating John Dee.
12 Years, 2 Kings, 3 Queens - The Ultimate Tudor Novel England 1550s. The brilliant young mathematician and astronomer John Dee has one overwhelming obsession: liberty. Abandoned and in danger, Elizabeth Tudor has one simple aim: survival. This is their story.Against the background of the English Reformation, and threatened by a vengeful and unforgiving queen, the mysterious brotherhood of the Rose Lodge attempts to guide the nation towards enlightenment and stability. Here, the special alchemy of the Virgin and the Crab works its magic, growing from childhood friendship, through adolescent flirtation to mutual respect and admiration as together they prepare…
