THE TIMES BOOK OF THE WEEKNamed one of The Telegraph's 'Best Biographies of the Year 2024'Queen Victoria had forty-two grandchildren but the four Princesses of Hesse were held in her particular favour. After the sudden death of her daughter Alice, Queen Victoria took an obsessive interest in the marriage prospects of the four girls their mother had left behind, hoping this might secure for them a happy future. And each of the young women did indeed marry into a European dynasty: the Romanovs and the Hohenzollerns of Germany. However no one could have foreseen how the maelstrom of the twentieth century would bring tragedy and heartache to each one of them in turn. 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 the sisters 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.'full of passions, royal peculiarities and misspelt letters...compellingly told' Christopher Howse, The Daily Telegraph'Welch does a wonderful job of marshalling the different strands of this story, drawing on the sisters' chatty, gossipy correspondence, some of which has never been published. It grips you until the very last page' The Mail on Sunday 'Frances Welch's elegant and intimate group biography returns us to the start of the 20th century, when Queen Victoria's favourite grand-daughters were scattered between Germany, England and Russia' Frances Wilson, The Daily Telegraph'eye-opening' and 'harrowing' The Daily Mail'Welch brings the four princesses vividly to life' and 'will delight those who enjoy reading about the lives of royals' The Times 'brings them vividly to life...a tonic...a gripping read' Hugo Vickers, The Oldie'Frances Welch has a gift for bringing royal figures to life, making us care about them and showing us how their stories interweave...this is both a deeply affecting story of four sisters and an informative bit of history' Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Spectator'splendid', 'a fascinating family portrait', 'Welch creates a tenderly intimate portrait of the last, doomed Tsarina and her three German-born sisters' Miranda Seymour, Literary Review Read more

'Eleanor is annoyingly clever & maddeningly funny as this book proves. She may have to be destroyed.' -Dawn French Take a tour of the past and uncover stories of the women whose lives and achievements have shaped our modern world. In Life Lessons from Historical Women, Eleanor Morton celebrates the ordinary women whose decisions and accomplishments in their everyday lives resonate with us today.Taking inspiration from the thriving self-help genre, Morton reasons that the greatest lessons can be taken from the female forebears who have come before - women whose actions inspire purpose, creativity and rebellion... without a side of pseudo psychology and judgement...Covering the full gamut of the female experience, and women from all corners of history and the globe, Life Lessons from Historical Women includes chapters on 'How To Thrive' with Judith Kerr, 'Think Like an Entrepreneur' with Mary Seacole, and 'How Not to Give a Fuck' with the famous suffragette martyr Emily Davison.Whether it's what we can learn from the first woman to summit Everest or the trailblazing ladies who confirm that pockets have always been must-have in women's clothing, Eleanor writes with humour and a sincere respect for our history, and imparts valuable lessons for the modern female. Read more

Rome as you’ve never seen it before – brazenly unconventional, badly behaved and ever so feminine. ‘Hugely entertaining and illuminating’ —Elodie Harper, author of The Wolf Den A WATERSTONES BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023 Here’s how the history of the Roman Empire usually goes… We kick off with Romulus murdering his brother, go on to Brutus overthrowing Tarquin, bounce through an appallingly tedious list of battles and generals and consuls, before emerging into the political stab-fest of the late Republic. After ‘Et tu, Brute?’, it runs through all the emperors, occasionally nodding to a wife or mother to show how bad things get when women won’t do as they’re told, until Constantine invents Christianity only for Attila the Hun to come and ruin everything. Let’s tear up this script. The history of Rome and its empire is so much more than these ‘Important Things’. In this alternative history, Emma Southon tells another story about the Romans, one that lives through Vestal Virgins and sex workers, business owners and poets, empresses and saints. Discover how entrepreneurial sex worker Hispala Faecenia uncovered a conspiracy of treason, human sacrifice and Bacchic orgies so wild they would make Donna Tartt blush, becoming one of Rome’s unlikeliest heroes.Book yourself a table at the House of Julia Felix and get to know Pompeii’s savviest businesswoman and restauranteur. Indulge in an array of locally sourced delicacies as you take in the wonderful view of Mount Vesuvius… what could possibly go wrong?Join the inimitable Septimia Zenobia, who – after watching a series of incompetent, psychopathic and incompetently psychopathic emperors almost destroy the Empire – did what any of us would do. She declared herself Empress, took over half the Roman Empire and ran it herself. Read more

'A gripping story of a cold-blooded murder... This is true crime at its best' Wendy Moore'Drama so addictive it should be illegal' Sam ChristerA true Victorian murder mystery...Great Yarmouth, September 1900: A young woman is found dead on the beach, a bootlace tied tightly around her neck. Despite her death attracting national attention in the press, nobody claims her. Detective Inspector Robert Lingwood of the Great Yarmouth police force declares he will not rest until the mystery of the young woman's death is solved. But it's only once the case has been referred to Scotland Yard that the layers of mystery start to peel away... 'Mrs Hood' was in fact Mary Jane Bennett, and this is her story. Following clues and tracking red herrings leads the police to close in on their one and only suspect. With arson, fraud, an affair and a sensation-hungry press, the murder gripped the nation in one of the most eagerly anticipated trials of the early twentieth century. Author Kim Donovan finally tells her great-great-aunt's story and the truth of evil duplicity in Victorian England.'As atmospheric and absorbing as any murder mystery... A combination of your favourite whodunnit and your favourite true crime podcast. A real triumph!' Books by Your Bedside blog*A fascinating historical true crime case perfect for fans of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and The Five* Read more

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025A Financial Times, New York Times and Times/Sunday Times Book of the Year'As powerfully intimate as it is politically incendiary' VOGUE'Private Revolutions could be a Netflix series, for family, violence and romance abound' IRISH TIMES'A portrait of China through four women who refused to accept the life laid out for them. Incredible' SUNDAY TIMES'A revelatory, moving and tender tale of hopes, fears and change' PETER FRANKOPAN Yuan Yang, the first Chinese-born British MP, tells the stories of four Chinese women striving for a better future in an unequal society. From June, who dreams of going to university rather than raising pigs, to Sam, forced into hiding as her activist peers are lifted from the streets, this is a singularly immersive portrait of a rapidly changing nation - and of the courage of those caught in the swell. Read more

‘A thrilling narrative that creates an extraordinary picture of female resistance’ The Lady‘Fascinating’ Kavita Puri, BBC History Magazine‘A fierce, intense picture of this aspect of the war . . . it will stay with me’ Elizabeth Buchan, author of Two Women in Rome On the evening of 31 March 1916, a 23-year-old woman was led from her prison cell in occupied Brussels. She wore a long blue coat and walked ‘like a soldier’. The chaplain asked if she would like a blindfold before her execution. ‘I am not afraid of looking into the rifles,’ she replied. ‘I have been expecting this for a long time.’   This is not a traditional history of the First World War. It is the untold story of the women of the resistance in Belgium and occupied France during that conflict.     Rick Stroud describes how the actions of eight exceptionally brave women affected the course of the war. Before the Germans invaded, they were ordinary people: some, like Gabrielle Petit, were working-class; some, like Edith Cavell, were from the bourgeoisie; and some. like the Princess de Croÿ, were from the upper echelons of society. The youngest was only twenty-one. The women took enormous risks and produced extraordinary results: they established underground networks, transmitted coded information, carried out sabotage attacks and helped to repatriate Allied soldiers. What they did was dangerous and exhausting and the penalties were severe: three faced the firing squad.  Recounting their heroism and their inevitable tragedies, I Am Not Afraid of Looking into the Rifles is an enthralling story, beautifully told. In revealing the inspiring work of these remarkable women, Rick Stroud will introduce you to an entirely new version of the ‘war to end all wars’. Read more

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025: 'A masterfully written biography... inspiring and powerful' Agent Zo tells the incredible true story of Elżbieta Zawacka, the WW2 resistance fighter known as 'Zo'. The only woman to reach London from Warsaw during the Second World War as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command, Zo undertook two missions in the capital before secret Special Operations Executive training in the British countryside. As the only female member of the Polish elite Special Forces - the SOE-affiliated 'Silent Unseen' - Zo became the only woman to parachute from Britain to Nazi German-occupied Poland. There, whilst being hunted by the Gestapo (who arrested her entire family), she played a key role in the Warsaw Uprising and ultimately in the liberation of Poland. After the war, Zo was demobbed as one of the most highly decorated women in Polish history. Yet the Soviet-backed post-war Communist regime not only imprisoned her but ensured that her remarkable story remained hidden for over forty years.Now, through new archival research and exclusive interviews with people who knew and fought alongside Zo, Clare Mulley brings this forgotten hero back to life, transforming the way we see female agency in the Second World War. Read more

'A METICULOUS HISTORY THAT READS LIKE A THRILLER' BEN MACINTYRE, TEN BEST BOOKS TO READ ABOUT WORLD WAR II An astounding story of heroism, spycraft, resistance and personal triumph over shocking adversity. 'A rousing tale of derring-do' THE TIMES * 'Riveting' MICK HERRON * 'Superb' IRISH TIMES THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERIn September 1941, a young American woman strides up the steps of a hotel in Lyon, Vichy France. Her papers say she is a journalist. Her wooden leg is disguised by a determined gait and a distracting beauty. She is there to spark the resistance.By 1942 Virginia Hall was the Gestapo's most urgent target, having infiltrated Vichy command, trained civilians in guerrilla warfare and sprung soldiers from Nazi prison camps. The first woman to go undercover for British SOE, her intelligence changed the course of the war - but her fight was still not over. This is a spy history like no other, telling the story of the hunting accident that disabled her, the discrimination she fought and the secret life that helped her triumph over shocking adversity.'A cracking story about an extraordinarily brave woman' TELEGRAPH'Gripping ... superb ... a rounded portrait of a complicated, resourceful, determined and above all brave woman' IRISH TIMESWINNER of the PLUTARCH AWARD FOR BEST BIOGRAPHY Read more

'An important and timely book' – Philippa Gregory'Poignant, unique and thought-provoking' – All About History'This introduces new readers, in the most accessible and colourful way, to a group of royal women who certainly deserve more public notice than they have hitherto received' – Professor Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the PresentJoan of Navarre was the richest woman in the land, at a time when war-torn England was penniless.Eleanor Cobham was the wife of a weak king's uncle – and her husband was about to fall from grace.Jacquetta Woodville was a personal enemy of Warwick the Kingmaker, who was about to take his revenge.Elizabeth Woodville was the widowed mother of a child king, fighting Richard III for her children's lives.Often seen as the more easily manipulated pieces on the political chessboard, women – especially those with power or influence – were often subjected to rumour, scandal and intrigue directed by the men who sought to control them. In Royal Witches, Gemma Hollman explores the lives of these four unique women, looking at how rumours of witchcraft brought them to their knees in an era when superstition and suspicion was rife. Read more

'Fascinating and illuminating, this book tempers the justifiable rage with sharp and funny pinpricks to the pompous.' VAL MCDERMID, author of Past Lying'As well as highly entertaining read, How To Kill A Witch is a tour de force of research, understanding and compassion.' PROFESSOR SUE BLACK, author of All That Remains.'Serious and angry, but so completely accessible, How To Kill A Witch is a work of real historical investigation and a fierce warning for our times.' MALCOLM GASKILL, author of The Ruin Of All Witches'At a time when women's rights are once again being threatened across the globe, this book could not be a more timely read if it tried.' SHIRLEY MANSON, Garbage 'Two of Scotland's most vivid storytellers.' THE TIMESAs a woman, if you lived in Scotland in the 1500s, there was a very good chance that you, or someone you knew, would be tried as a witch. Witch hunts ripped through the country for over 150 years, with at least 4,000 accused, and with many women's fates sealed by a grizzly execution of strangulation, followed by burning.Inspired to correct this historic injustice, campaigners and writers Claire Mitchell, KC, and Zoe Venditozzi, have delved deeply into just why the trials exploded in Scotland to such a degree. In order to understand why it happened, they have broken down the entire horrifying process, step-by-step, from identification of individuals, to their accusation, 'pricking', torture, confessions, execution and beyond. With characteristically sharp wit and a sense of outrage, they attempt to inhabit the minds of the persecutors, often men, revealing the inner workings of exactly why the Patriarchy went to such extraordinary lengths to silence women, and how this legally sanctioned victimisation proliferated in Scotland and around the world. With testimony from a small army of experts, pen portraits of the women accused, trial transcripts, witness accounts and the documents that set the legal grounds for the hunts, How to Kill A Witch builds to form a rich patchwork of tragic stories, helping us comprehend the underlying reasons for this terrible injustice, and raises the serious question - could it ever happen again? Read more

An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir; 17 million copies sold worldwideNow in paperback featuring a new introduction by Michelle Obama, a letter from the author to her younger self, and a book club guide with 20 discussion questions and a 5-question Q&A, the intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States.In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her -- from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world's most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it -- in her own words and on her own terms.Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations -- and whose story inspires us to do the same.MICHELLE OBAMA'S NEXT BOOK, THE LIGHT WE CARRY, IS OUT NOW!*One of Goodreads Most Popular Books of the Past Decade*Sunday Times bestseller, November 2018 Read more

The thrilling story of the healers, artists and prodigies once persecuted as witches – from the three-time T.S. Eliot Prize-shortlisted poetPOETRY BOOK SOCIETY CHOICEIn her thrilling fourth collection, Midden Witch, Fiona Benson enters the world of familiars, fables and hedge-magic and focuses on the persistent superstition – the fear and false knowledge – that was witchcraft.Telling tales of imagined transformations and spell-casting, these poems present a litany of artists, dreamers and outcasts and a study of their ostracisation. The poet looks at how gifted, sometimes troubled, individuals – generally healers, artists, prodigies and almost always women – became scapegoats, victims of societal paranoia and persecution, and were hounded for centuries, often to a gratuitously violent public execution.In Midden Witch, these women speak back to us with dark humour, insight and real herbal knowledge. Reckoning with middle age, marginalisation, perimenopause and a steady, unstoppable vanishing, this troubled codex of remedies, spells and stories speaks to human fear in the face of the unknown, and a drive to protect our loved ones that transcends all rational thought. At play in the language of archival accounts of witchcraft, this is a dark, eclectic spell-book that witnesses the end-days of magic.‘Benson is one of the finest English poets writing today’ Blake Morrison‘No one writes the way Fiona Benson does. No one is as raging, as fearless’ Daisy JohnsonA new collection of Benson’s wise and vivid work is a real occasion... exciting...fully inhabited and multi-faceted’ Guardian Read more

A TLS, TIMES, PROSPECTAND WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEARA groundbreaking examination of how the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn sent shockwaves across a continent and changed England forever.'In many places, where once we had speculation, we now have certainty. This book is at once an education and a joy to read' LITERARY REVIEW'Combines meticulously researched history and contemporary voices with narrative flair' SUNDAY TIMES'Anne Boleyn comes alive in this impressive study . . . Moves and informs' THE TIMES'The most cogent narrative reading of the evidence to date' SPECTATORThe story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn is one of the most remarkable in history: a long courtship followed by a shotgun wedding and then a coronation, ending just short of three years later when a husband's passion turned to such hatred that he simply wanted his wife gone. In Hunting the Falcon, John Guy and Julia Fox examine the most recent archival discoveries and peel back layers of historical myth to present Anne and Henry in startlingly new ways. They show how Anne and Henry's relationship was tied almost completely to the major events of international politics at one of the great turning points of European history, and dispel any assumptions that a sixteenth-century woman, even a queen, could exert little influence on the politics and beliefs of a patriarchal society. Anne was in fact a shrewd and ruthless politician in her own right, a woman who steered Henry and his policies - and whom Henry seriously contemplated making joint sovereign. Hunting the Falcon sets the facts and some completely new finds into a wide frame, unearthing the truth about these two extraordinary lives and their tumultuous times. It pays particular attention to the seven 'missing' years that Anne spent in France, and explores how she organised her side of the royal court in novel ways that ultimately sowed the seeds of her own downfall. In this feat of historical research and analysis, Guy and Fox offer a sumptuous retelling of one of the most consequential marriages in history and an exhilarating portrait of love, lust, politics and power.'Better than Wolf Hall because it's all true' ANDREW ROBERTS'A sumptuous drama of lust, intrigue and betrayal, underpinned by the harsh reality of politics' AMANDA FOREMAN Read more

A Financial Times Best Summer Book 2023A Waterstones Best True Crime BookNagyrev, Hungary, 1929. Over 160 mysterious deaths. A group of local wives conspiring together, and one woman at the centre of it all…In 1929, a dark secret at the heart of a Hungarian farming village was finally exposed. For more than 15 years, Nagyrev had harboured a group of serial killers, one of the largest murder rings ever recorded. They came to be known as The Angel Makers.Led by a sharp-minded midwife known as Auntie Suzy, the local wives brazenly rid themselves of unwanted relatives, spooning doses of arsenic into soup and wine, stirring it into coffee and brandy. Murder was just another chore.Over 160 mysterious deaths later, the unlikely gang of murderesses came to justice in a sensational trial reported the world over. With absorbing detail, Patti McCracken pieces together the lives of Auntie Suzy, her wide network of killers, the unsuspecting victims and the villagers who witnessed it all.The Angel Makers is the utterly gripping account of an almost unbelievable – yet entirely true – moment in crime history. Read more

“Does for the Civil War period what Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States did for the study of American history in general.” —Library Journal   Historian David Williams has written the first account of the American Civil War as viewed though the eyes of ordinary people—foot soldiers, slaves, women, prisoners of war, draft resisters, Native Americans, and others. Richly illustrated with little-known anecdotes and firsthand testimony, this path-breaking narrative moves beyond presidents and generals to tell a new and powerful story about America’s most destructive conflict.  A People’s History of the Civil War is a “readable social history” that “sheds fascinating light” on this crucial period. In so doing, it recovers the long-overlooked perspectives and forgotten voices of one of the defining chapters of American history (Publishers Weekly).   “Meticulously researched and persuasively argued.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Read more

“As funny as it is informative, this book will have you laughing out loud while you contemplate the revolutionary power of words.” —Camille Perri, author of The Assistants and When Katie Met CassidyA brash, enlightening, and wildly entertaining feminist look at gendered language and the way it shapes us.The word bitch conjures many images, but it is most often meant to describe an unpleasant woman. Even before its usage to mean “a female canine,” bitch didn’t refer to women at all—it originated as a gender-neutral word for “genitalia.” A perfectly innocuous word devolving into an insult directed at females is the case for tons more terms, including hussy, which simply meant “housewife”; and slut, which meant “an untidy person” and was also used to describe men. These are just a few of history’s many English slurs hurled at women.Amanda Montell, reporter and feminist linguist, deconstructs language—from insults, cursing, gossip, and catcalling to grammar and pronunciation patterns—to reveal the ways it has been used for centuries to keep women and other marginalized genders from power. Ever wonder why so many people are annoyed when women speak with vocal fry or use like as filler? Or why certain gender-neutral terms stick and others don’t? Or where stereotypes of how women and men speak come from in the first place?Montell effortlessly moves between history, science, and popular culture to explore these questions—and how we can use the answers to affect real social change. Her irresistible humor shines through, making linguistics not only approachable but downright hilarious and profound. Wordslut gets to the heart of our language, marvels at its elasticity, and sheds much-needed light on the biases that shadow women in our culture and our consciousness. Read more

The Sunday Times bestseller now updated with a new forewordAmong millions of Holocaust victims sent to Auschwitz II-Birkenau in 1944, Priska, Rachel, and Anka each passed through its infamous gates with a secret. Strangers to each other, they were newly pregnant, and facing an uncertain fate without their husbands. Alone, scared, and with so many loved ones already lost to the Nazis, these young women were privately determined to hold on to all they had left: their lives, and those of their unborn babies.That the gas chambers ran out of Zyklon-B just after the babies were born, before they and their mothers could be exterminated, is just one of several miracles that allowed them all to survive and rebuild their lives after World War II. Born Survivors follows the mothers' incredible journey - first to Auschwitz, where they each came under the murderous scrutiny of Dr. Josef Mengele; then to a German slave labour camp where, half-starved and almost worked to death, they struggled to conceal their condition; and finally, as the Allies closed in, their hellish 17-day train journey with thousands of other prisoners to the Mauthausen death camp in Austria. Hundreds died along the way but the courage and kindness of strangers, including guards and civilians, helped save these women and their children.Sixty-five years later, the three 'miracle babies' met for the first time at Mauthausen for the anniversary of the liberation that ultimately saved them. United by their remarkable experiences of survival against all odds, they now consider each other "siblings of the heart." In Born Survivors, Wendy Holden brings all three stories together for the first time to mark their seventieth birthdays and the seventieth anniversary of the ending of the war.A heart-stopping account of how three mothers and their newborns fought to survive the Holocaust, Born Survivors is also a life-affirming celebration of our capacity to care and to love amid inconceivable cruelty. Read more

'Inspiring. After reading this book, I'm ready to run through a brick wall for these girls.' - Karen Bardsley, ex-LionessHERALDED ABROAD, MOCKED AT HOME, BANNED BY THE FA... ALL FOR THE LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL GAME.A captivating and moving account of the first England women's football team that took part in the 1971 World Cup - detailing the injustice faced by those who took part and its effect on the women's game as a whole. Told by the team themselves and written by the celebrity daughter of the main striker.'Don't laugh, one day there may be a female Arsenal', one headline read amidst the ridicule following the First Women's World Cup in 1971.The spotlight was on the original lionesses, a diverse group of schoolgirls, bank clerks, and telephonists, primarily hailing from Chiltern Valley football club, run by a 60-year-old, multilingual bus driver called Harry. These amateur girls emerged as England's first women's football team at the 1971 World Cup in Mexico, only to face scorn once returned home. They were mocked by the press and their achievements were undermined. Players were banned for three months to two years if they tried to play with another team. The heroes had been punished.50 years later, the time has come to tell their truth.Narrated by the daughter of one of the team members, Janice Barton, with unprecedented access to the secrets and insights of the first ever woman's team, this is a multi-generational story celebrating the power of a group of women who refused to accept the status quo - revealing how the events of 1971 shaped mother and daughter's lives both personally and professionally. Read more

Ranging from the age of slavery to contemporary injustices, this groundbreaking history of race, gender and class inequality by the radical political activist Angela Davis offers an alternative view of female struggles for liberation.Tracing the intertwined histories of the abolitionist and women's suffrage movements, Davis examines the racism and class prejudice inherent in so much of white feminism, and in doing so brings to light new pioneering heroines, from field slaves to mill workers, who fought back and refused to accept the lives into which they were born.'The power of her historical insights and the sweetness of her dream cannot be denied' The New York Times Read more

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERLONGLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE'Revelatory' GUARDIAN'A firecracker somehow captured between two covers' LUCY WORSLEYAn instant bestseller and one of the most celebrated history books of the year, Femina reveals the power and influence of medieval women who have been written out of our history. From royalty and religion to fame and fury, see the medieval world - and the women erased from it - with fresh eyes.'Absolutely brilliant and highly recommended' CAITLIN MORAN'Femina is a ground-breaking history of the Middle Ages' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIOREThe instant Sunday Times bestseller, May 2023 Read more