Regina

A New History of Royal Women and Power

Kate Williams

From the New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Queen Victoria—an epic new history of royal women, from Cleopatra to Grace Kelly, that shatters the myths we have built around them.

In this enthralling historical journey, celebrated historian Kate Williams leads us into the world of queens, empresses, princesses, mistresses and ladies-in-waiting. Stories about royal women form some of our most foundational myths about femininity, and yet their legacies have been almost entirely constructed by the words and images of men.

From the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia to the opulent courts of medieval Europe, this book delves deep into the lives of these remarkable women, lifting the veil on both their trials and triumphs as they navigate political intrigue, family rivalries and personal sacrifices. From Hatshepsut and Cleopatra, through Tudor queens Catherine of Aragon and Lady Jane Grey, via Queen Victoria's contemporaries Yaa Asentewaa of Ghana and Queen Lili’uokulani of Hawaii, and right up to Princess Diana, this is an unmissable history that unlocks why we think about women, politics and power in the ways that we do.

Kate Williams is the author of the New York Times bestseller Becoming Queen Victoria, which was the inspiration for the Academy Award-winning film The Young Victoria, starring Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She is also the author of Ambition & Desire, a biography of Josephine Bonaparte. Kate works as CNN's British royalty and historical expert. She lives in England.

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Endorsements & Reviews

“Regina is the crowning achievement of a lifetime of telling women's stories. Kate Williams is a woman of great power herself.” Lucy Worsley, BAFTA award winning presenter and author of Queens and Kings: An Unusually Personal History

“Erudite, clever, brilliant, this is a beguiling analysis of the world through the lives of 3000 years of female rulers. Essential reading for all who care about how history is made, and whose story gets to be told, Regina is a triumph.” Kate Mosse, author of The Map of Bones

“Lyrical, rich…Williams enlarges our past, transforming our understanding of power. Williams has shown me that our appreciation of the past is incomplete. She writes so eloquently about female power, not to detract from traditional notions of kingship but adding vastly to them to provide a richer, more comprehensive history. Kate Williams is a queen of narrative history.” Dan Snow

“In a rich and incisive reimagining of the past, Kate Williams cuts through familiar clichés to offer us a dazzling, globe-spanning procession of queens to show how deeply our histories of female power have been shaped by bias. Regina is as engaging and unsettling—and as indomitable—as the remarkable women it brings back to life.” Nandini Das, author of This Little World: A New History of Tudor and Stuart England

“Terrific…absolutely compelling. A compelling book with fascinating characters, some old friends and some exciting new discoveries, including a brilliant portrait of Cleopatra.” Lady Antonia Fraser

“A fascinating and excellent chronicle of female rulers—some wildly famous, some much neglected—that is effectively a world history told through regal biographies and a guide to how to be a queen. Wonderfully told by a consummate historian who combines authoritative scholarship with compelling storytelling.” Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The World: A Family History of Humanity

“One of Britain’s most cherished public historians and leading expert of European Elite women strikes again. From the she-king Hatshepsut, the guillotined Marie-Antoinette to the beloved Princess Diana, Williams’s magnificent new book takes us on an exhilarating expedition across 3000 years of women’s history. Williams’s exquisite signature plume confronts inherited and pervasive misogyny across continents while celebrating female monarchs and power broker's ruling methods and unique achievements. Regina is a compelling invitation to embed Women’s History more strongly into World and Colonial Histories.” Olivette Otele, author of African Europeans: An Untold History

“An energetic, in-depth and thought-provoking account of female rulers across space and time. In a style at once entertaining, empathetic and scholarly, Williams untangles the lives of some of history’s most extraordinary women from those of the men around them who often tried to control their actions and their legacies. In doing so, she restores the humanity to a host of warrior-queens, queens regnant and female kings. I devoured it.” Luke Pepera, author of Motherland: A Journey Through African History, Culture and Identity

“Seductress, maniac, tyrant: just some of the labels attached to queens across the centuries. In Regina, Professor Kate Williams cuts through centuries of spin to reveal the often-surprising realities of female rule. The result is a vivid, humane and deeply compelling history. A must-read.” Anthony Delaney, author of Queer Georgians

“A landmark history of royal women, power and the enduring myths we were never meant to question.” Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The Facemaker