Keen to mine all the experts on here: Which are the best books on English/British royal history?

[ChubbyCheeksCharlie]

There are so many royal history experts on these threads, I'd like to mine their book reading experience (on a new thread rather than derailing current ones).
If you are a royal history buff (or boffin🤓) please list your top three books here!
They can be from any time in history from Alfred onwards. I studies Henry VIII, Mary, the Edward and Elizabeth I for A level so less keen on reading all about them again, but if it's a brilliant book then I could be persuaded...

<Has quick scan of the shelves...> Off the top of my head

Viking Britain by Thomas Williams
The Anglo Saxons by Marc Morris
Prince Albert by AN Wilson
River Kings by Cat Jarman
Simon Heffer and Judith Flanders on the Victorians and Edwardians

Sorry, that's five.

Damn, just noticed you said ROYAL history

Eleanor of Aquitaine and Eleanor of Castile both by Sara Cockerill

Penguin does a series called Penguin Monarchs, Athelstan to Elizabeth II.

Robert Lacey for Elizabeth II

George V and Bertie (Edward VII) both by Jane Ridley

I second MrsDanvers in recommending AN Wilson.

Otherwise, James Pope Hennesey's book on Queen Mary is great. It really takes you into the atmosphere of C19 royalty. Lots of random references to minor German royalty but I think that helps draw a picture of the time and they're all very well referenced. David Starkey has written a great biography of the wives of Henry VIII and of the young Elizabeth I before accession.

@ChubbyCheeksCharlie Thank you for this thread, I was just thinking I would like to read some good Royal biographies and history books.

Alexander Larman has written a few books about the monarchy, The Crown In Crisis (about the abdication) and The Windsors at War (the RF in WW2). Having read one about the abdication it's my considered opinion that this country owed W Simpson a vote of thanks and a generous pension for taking Edward VIII off our hands.

(And OT but I see he's also written one about the John Wilmot Earl of Rochester. That'll be a rip roaring read)

Thank you! Général history recommendations also welcomed, so don't apologise for that 😊

The Sonne in Splendour by Sharon Penman. Mainly about Richard III - don't let the number of pages put you off. It's unputdownable!

Also We Speak No Treason by Rosemary Hawley Jarman, also about Richard III. The cod medieval English in Penman irritated me a lot and I found it too like a 50s Hollywood film version of history to be authentic. But, it's a novel, not a history.

Courtier by Valentine Low

It’s a fiction based on fact but I love Katherine by Anya Seyton -all about Katherine Swynford and her relationship with Prince John, Duke of Lancaster better known as John of Gaunt.
Without them and their children we wouldn’t have had the line we have today -or the war of the roses, so it’s a good starting point for the wars of the Roses.

I too recommend the James Pope Hennessy book of Queen Mary.

I also recommend books by Christina Croft who is an utter expert on Queen Victoria and her offspring -rather like the Wars of the roses which is very convoluted with so many people often having the same name -Queen Victorias blood spread far and wide through Europe and there are fascinating stories with tragic endings to discover.

Queen Alexandra by Georgina Battiscombe - I would read this and then read the Pope Hennessy book on Queen Mary as they were mother & daughter in law.

l still can’t read the final scene.
I know it’s fiction based on fact but I utterly fell in love with Richard reading this book.

Gloucester does a great fall history festival each year. For the past three years, I've bought a virtual pass, which extends

a month beyond the festival. I have bought many books discussed in the festival. You should check it out:

https://www.gloucesterhistoryfestival.co.uk/autumn-2026/

I know you said you've read about Elizabeth I. However I can recommend The Queens And The Hive - Edith Sitwell. You wouldn't want to base a history thesis on it , but well written.

I second the Glouchester virtual pass, I had them the last two years and it's really worth it.
If you like these kind of talks, I can also recommend the National Archive's online program. They are free and currently run a series on the Norman Conquest.

I like Dan Jones The Plantagenets, it's already a bit old, from 2013, but gives a good view into the dynasty.

It's basically Tudors but Tracy Borman and Nicola Tallis are good.

Alison Weir did a decent job with her book about Katherine Swynford.

Anthony Delaney - Queer Georgians

do you have a good overview already of the monarchs and the key events? I like the big picture to make the detail accessible.

My Heart is My Own by John Guy about Mary Queen of Scots

I have just finished Hunting the Falcon by Julia Fox and John Guy, about the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn - which was about international diplomacy and religion as it was court politics. As you studied Henry VIII at A level, (as did I) you'll have some familiarity with the complexity and rapidly changing nature of Tudor diplomacy in this book, it's not one for someone coming to the subject as a beginner.

Unruly by David Mitchell is hilarious, and goes through the Kings and Queens of England

I was going to suggest that.

I hardly did any history at school because we moved abroad part way through my 1st year at secondary school and when we came back it was time to choose O levels (ancient history right there!).

DH is very keen on history and he thought Unruly was a good overview of monarchs and I enjoyed it too. The only thing is that it stops at Elizabeth I. DM may be planning a follow up I suppose.

Otherwise my history knowledge comes
from novels and things like 1066 and All That.
I learnt quite a lot about the Restoration and the reign of Charles II from Forever Amber. The author's (Kathleen Winsor) DH had written a thesis on the Restoration which she used, but she also did a lot of research itself, so the historical detail is accurate.
And it's a rattling good story if you like that sort of thing 😀

Otherwise my history knowledge comes
from novels and things like 1066 and All That.

I LOVE that book. I still have the copy I bought when I was 14 (Westminster Abbey bookshop, if memory serves). Years later I got a hardback copy from a charity shop.

Nice to come across a fellow devotee, MrsDanversGlidesAgain
I don't know if you've come across "And Now All This" the follow-up which deals with other subjects.
My favourite section of that is on Greek mythology which I know a lot more about than I do history so didn't have to keep looking things up to get the jokes.
Also Craig Brown has done "1966 and All That" which is very good too.

I haven't, but will now look for it.

Mentioning Craig Brown reminds me that he wrote A Voyage Around the Queen, a decent light royal biography

https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/28/a-voyage-around-the-queen-by-craig-brown-review-the-head-that-wears-the-crown

MrsDanversGlidesAgain

Yes! I've got that and keep dipping in and out of it rather than reading straight through.
Also the one about Princess Margaret "Ma'am Darling".