It's Week 3 of Nonfiction November! This week, hosted by Rennie at What's Nonfiction, is Be/Ask/Become the Expert. This year, I'm asking for your royal recommendations! I love reading about royalty in fiction, but I want to branch out and learn more about real-life royalty. I've read pretty widely about the Tudor dynasty (Henry VIII's wives, Queen Elizabeth, and, tangentially, Mary Boleyn) and earlier this year I read two great nonfiction books about modern British royalty, from interesting perspectives:
A book I read last year, Princesses Behaving Badly, also inspired my desire to learn more about royalty:
So today, I'm asking for your favorite biographies about royalty - I'm not particular about the country or era, just something that's super interesting and informative! Thanks in advance!
I would highly recommend The Woman Who Would Be King by Kara Cooney, about Hatshepsut who actually ruled as a female pharaoh and When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt also by Kara Cooney 😊
ReplyDeleteOoh, thank you, Stephanie!
DeleteBooks about royalty always intrigue me! I haven't read one in quite some time, though. Princesses Behaving Badly sounds perfect!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun read!
DeleteBorn to Rule is the story of 5 of Queen Victoria’s granddaughters who also became queens. Victoria and Abdul is also an interesting book about her friendship with an Indian servant.
ReplyDeleteBorn to Rule sounds amazing, thanks for the rec, Heather!
DeleteThis is a great topic! My favorite royals biography is Robert Massie's Catherine the Great. Such a fascinating life and more interesting than any of the myths around her. His Nicholas and Alexandra is also great, it's older but a classic. Secret Lives of the Tsars: Three Centuries of Autocracy, Debauchery, Betrayal, Murder, and Madness from Romanov Russia by Michael Farquhar was really fun and entertaining too -- I really only know the Russian royalty, I've barely read any beyond that, sorry! Although I've heard how good Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret is, kind of a more nontraditional biography as I understood it.
ReplyDeletePrincesses Behaving Badly looks good too!
Russian royalty is fascinating, and something I don't know enough about! Thanks for the recs, Rennie!
DeletePrincesses Behaving Badly sounds really fun!! I can't help you but I hope you get some great suggestions! (I am sure you will!)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI haven’t read any royalty books in a while, but I recommend Sex With The King and Sex With The Queen. (Haha, that sentence sounds really awkward.) Both books are about arranged marriages and royal affairs.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
These sound great, thanks, Aj!
DeleteI hope you get lots of great recommendations. I can't think of a single one! Darn.
ReplyDeleteThat's ok, thanks, Deb!
DeleteThere sure are a lot of royal books out there.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely!
DeleteIt’s not a topic I have read anything of, though I am interested in Princesses Behaving Badly, thanks for the rec.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, hope you enjoy it!
DeleteI recently bought Lady in Waiting, I’m looking forward to it! I haven’t read it but my mum loves reading books by Lady Antonia Fraser, I know my mum was constantly reading her Mary, Queen of Scots book but I believe she’s done books on other historical royals.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look into that, Heather, thanks!
DeleteI'm a Tudorphile, too (as you well know). Are you at all interested in exploring Russian Royalty? If so, start with Nicholas & Alexandra by Robert K. Massie. It will get you hooked on Romanov drama...
ReplyDeleteI think the Russians are just as interesting as the Tudors! Rennie above also mentioned this book, so I will definitely have to check it out!
DeleteMake sure you share with us your recommendations! I am definitely interested in hearing what everyone says. I listened to Elizabeth the Queen by Sally Bedell Smith and thought it was a great companion to The Crown. Are you a fan of Downton? I read Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey by the Countess of Carnarvon and really enjoyed it. I also like a lot of Alison Weir's non-fiction books like The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Let us know what you come up with!
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge Downton fan, so I will have to check that book out! I should have a post up next week compiling the recommendations! Thanks, Christina!
DeleteI can't help with recommendations, but I am definitely intrigued about the lives of royalty, especially the Tudors. Princesses Behaving Badly seems like a fun read.
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely a light nonfiction read!
DeleteI'm keen to read Catherine the Great by Robert K Massie after binge watching the Great earlier this year.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched that yet, should add it to my list!
DeleteBehaving Badly looks fun! I bet these books are fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any books to recommend but I know Hopewell's Public Library of Life just recommended some about Queen Elizabeth II. Let me see if I can remember when she posted it...
ReplyDeleteHere it is! https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2020/09/22/top-ten-tuesday-books-on-my-fall-2020/
Princesses Behaving Badly sounds intriguing!
Ooh, thanks for passing this along, Jen!
DeleteI read Princesses Behaving Badly a few years ago and loved it. I have Cleopatra on my list by Stacey Schiff.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Heather!
DeleteI wish I had some great rec’s but I haven’t read that much NF about royalty. The only one that comes to mind The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tanya!
DeleteWhat a good topic to choose - plenty of scope when you think about all the countries that could be included as well as the eras.
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion would be from China - Empress Dowager Cixi written by Jung Chang (author of Wild Swans). This Empress was a very influential figure in Chinese history, introducing changes that transformed a medieval empire into the modern age.
Thank you!
DeleteOhhh this is such a good topic. I've read quite a lot of Tuor history too, including the Mary Boleyn one. I know you wanted to branch out a bit, but I like reading about Lady Jane Grey. She's always been my favourite royal.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, there's a book about Queen Victoria compiled from the accounts of her servants - Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household - and that was really good too!
Oh, that sounds so interesting, Hanna! Thank you!
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