Tracy Borman

Margaret Beaufort has had a bad press. Variously portrayed as a domineering matriarch, religious zealot and mother-inlaw from hell, she has even been accused of murdering the princes in the Tower. In Uncrowned Queen (Michael O’Mara) Nicola Tallis sets the record straight. This beautifully written biography dispels the many myths surrounding Henry VII’s much-maligned mother, and in their place presents a compelling portrait of a woman of extraordinary courage, vision and passion.

In the world of medieval chivalry, a princess was meant to be a virtuous and chaste young maiden patiently waiting to be rescued by a brave knight. But, as Kelcey Wilson-Lee vividly illustrates in Daughters of Chivalry (Picador), the reality was very different. Eleanora, Joanna, Margaret, Mary and Elizabeth were the daughters of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile. They emerge from this intricately researched book as a force to be reckoned with: women of courage, intellect and spirit – and, above all, startlingly modern.

Do we really need another book about the Tudors? Having devoured Siobhan Clarke and Linda Collins’ The Tudors:

The Crown, The Dynasty, The Golden Age (Andre Deutsch), my answer is a resounding ‘yes’. The authors’ expertise in the period – in particular its architectural and art treasures – shines through, telling the reader everything they need to know about this iconic dynasty.

Tracy Borman is a Tudor historian whose latest book is Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him (Hodder & Stoughton)