Regina

"Stories of female royals who were ignored, slandered, and even executed. Williams examines the role of sexism in a thorough look at 3,000 years of female rulers whose power, she writes, is often ‘erased, compromised and twisted by words and images.’ Deep research uncovers disturbing portrayals of female rulers."

“Removing them from misogynistic stereotypes, Williams brings the subjects of her book back to reality, examining what made them not only powerful women but human ones. Throughout, she provides sharp analysis of trends over time, seeing how narratives about queens and the way they are treated repeat across centuries.”

“Regina is the crowning achievement of a lifetime of telling women's stories. Kate Williams is a woman of great power herself.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”