"Exhilarating... A precise yet imaginative reading of the past... Readers will love this book, finding it wholly absorbing and rewarding." -- Hilary Mantel, Booker Prize winning author of Wolf Hall

Prize-winning historian Helen Castor delivers a compelling, eye-opening examination of women and power in England, witnessed through the lives of six women who exercised power against all odds -- and one who never got the chance.

With the death of Edward VI in 1553, England, for the first time, would have a reigning queen. The question was: Who?

Four women stood upon the crest of history: Katherine of Aragon's daughter, Mary; Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth; Mary, Queen of Scots; and Lady Jane Grey. But over the centuries, other exceptional women had struggled to push the boundaries of their authority and influence -- and been vilified as "she-wolves" for their ambitions. Revealed in vivid detail, the stories of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, Margaret of Anjou, and the Empress Matilda expose the paradox that England's next female leaders would confront as the Tudor throne lay before them -- man ruled woman, but these women sought to rule a nation.

"Full of beautiful, imperiled ladies; fearless knights; and remarkable, often unbelievable turns of fortune." -- Cleveland Plain Dealer

"[Helen Castor is] an accomplished and elegant historian." -- Miranda Seymour, New York Times Book Review

"Gripping... A superb history." -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, Daily Telegraph, London

"Fascinating." -- Kirkus Reviews

"[The] turns of fortune will fasten royalty readers to Castor's lively narrative." -- Booklist

"Castor's... tight storytelling makes this unusually fine royal history enjoyable reading." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

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• Biographies & Memoirs

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