An in-depth look at the British monarchy that’s “a superb synthesis of historical analysis, politics, and top-notch royal gossip” (Kirkus Reviews). Since William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, crossed the English Channel in 1066 to defeat King Harold II and unite England’s various kingdoms, forty-one kings and queens have sat on Britain’s throne. “Shining examples of royal power and majesty alongside a rogue’s gallery of weak, lazy, or evil monarchs,” as Tracy Borman describes them in her sparkling chronicle, Crown & Sceptre. Ironically, during very few of these 955 years has the throne’s occupant been unambiguously English—whether Norman French, the Welsh-born Tudors, the Scottish Stuarts, and the Hanoverians and their German successors to the present day. Acknowledging the intrinsic fascination with British royalty, Borman lifts the veil to reveal the remarkable characters and personalities who have ruled and, since the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, more ceremonially reigned. It is a crucial distinction explaining the staying power of the monarchy as the royal family has evolved and adapted to the needs and opinions of its people, avoiding the storms of rebellion that brought many of Europe’s royals to an abrupt end. Richard II; Henry VIII; Elizabeth I; George III; Victoria; Elizabeth II: their names evoke eras and the dramatic events Borman recounts. She is equally attuned to the fabric of monarchy: royal palaces; the way monarchs have been portrayed in art, on coins, in the media; the ceremony and pageantry surrounding the crown. Elizabeth II is already one of the longest reigning monarchs in history. Crown & Sceptre is a fitting tribute to her remarkable longevity and that of the magnificent institution she represents. “Crown & Sceptre brings us in short, vivid chapters from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth herself, much of it constituting a dark record of bumping off adversaries, rivals and spouses, confiscating vast estates and military invasions…. [A] lucid, character-rich book.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Borman’s deep understanding of English royalty shines.” —Chris Schluep, Amazon Editors’ Picks, The Best History Books of February 2022

Join us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the filming locations for the award-winning Netflix series The Crown. The series recreates the romance and intrigue at the heart of our very own royal family and within these pages we seek out the settings so integral to the story, linking each 'fictional' site to its real-life counterpart. Covering the first four series, starting with Princess Elizabeth's marriage to Prince Philip in 1947 and concluding in 1990 – in particular with the relationship of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer following their 1981 wedding – this is the perfect opportunity for every fan of The Crown to follow in the footsteps of royalty. Stunning Ely Cathedral provides the backdrop to the iconic Westminster Abbey where Princess Elizabeth's wedding took place, while Belvoir Castle, Hatfield House and Burghley House are just three of the fine locations that 'double' as Windsor Castle. Historic Winchester Cathedral transforms into St Paul's Cathedral in the run-up to the wedding of Charles and Diana, its versatility also seeing it representing both Romsey Abbey and Westminster Abbey. Sweeping across Britain from London and the home counties to the Welsh treasure that is Caernarfon Castle, heading north to Manchester and Liverpool and onwards to the majestic Scottish Highlands, The Crown's Royal Britain takes you on a royal tour of Britain and the venues that were an inspiration for this special drama. Many of the featured sites are open to the public so as well as learning about how these places played their part you can visit and enjoy the real spectacle in person.

An exploration of the British monarchy from the retreat of the Romans up until the modern day. This compendium volume of two earlier books is fully revised and updated.

This text captures the magnificence of a collection of symbolic objects steeped in English history like no other: the crown jewels.

Synopsis coming soon.......

From the internationally acclaimed and bestselling historians William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, the first comprehensive and authoritative history of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, arguably the most celebrated jewel in the world. On March 29, 1849, the ten-year-old leader of the Sikh kingdom of the Punjab was ushered into the magnificent Mirrored Hall at the center of the British fort in Lahore, India. There, in a formal Act of Submission, the frightened but dignified child handed over to the British East India Company swathes of the richest land in India and the single most valuable object in the subcontinent: the celebrated Koh-i-Noor diamond, otherwise known as the Mountain of Light. To celebrate the acquisition, the British East India Company commissioned a history of the diamond woven together from the gossip of the Delhi Bazaars. From that moment forward, the Koh-i-Noor became the most famous and mythological diamond in history, with thousands of people coming to see it at the 1851 Great Exhibition and still more thousands repeating the largely fictitious account of its passage through history. Using original eyewitness accounts and chronicles never before translated into English, Dalrymple and Anand trace the true history of the diamond and disperse the myths and fantastic tales that have long surrounded this awe-inspiring jewel. The resulting history of south and central Asia tells a true tale of greed, conquest, murder, torture, colonialism, and appropriation that shaped a continent and the Koh-i-Noor itself.