Royalty & Religion Biographies

Hinduism is one of the world's oldest and greatest religious traditions. In captivating prose, Shashi Tharoor untangles its origins, its key philosophical concepts and texts. He explores everyday Hindu beliefs and practices, from worship to pilgrimage to caste, and touchingly reflects on his personal beliefs and relationship with the religion. Not one to shy from controversy, Tharoor is unsparing in...

As white smoke signalled a new pope had been chosen on the evening of May 8, 2025, Robert Prevost went from being a relatively unknown cardinal to one of the most famous people on earth, the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. In electing Leo XIV, the College of Cardinals broke with conventional wisdom that there would never be...

In 1839, a red-haired girl in search of adventure ran away from an English boarding school and attempted to board a ship headed for India. Her name was Eugénie de Montijo, and within fifteen years, she would be Empress of France, and one of the most powerful women in the world. Eugénie's unconventional life began in the dying days of...

Fashioning the Crown is published ahead of the centenary of the Queen's birth, this beautifully illustrated book uncovers the hidden history of the Crown and how it survived a tumultuous era and two world wars. Features over 100 sumptuous images From the birth of the house of Windsor in 1917, its leading women - Queen Mary, the Queen Mother, the...

The Bear Is My Father: Indigenous Wisdom of a Muscogee Creek Caretaker of Sacred Ways is considered a love story between Bear Heart and a community that stretches across the globe. This book celebrates the life, teachings, and legacy of Marcellus Bear Heart Williams, a Multi-Tribe Spiritual Leader and author of the critically-acclaimed The Wind is My Mother. Bear Heart...

A BBC History magazine, Esquire, Historia magazine and Waterstones History Book of the Year 'James comes alive in full flamboyance … Russell expertly weaves the bedchamber gossip into the tapestry of a tumultuous reign' SUNDAY TIMES 'Brings the backbiting and power struggles of the Jacobean court to life with wit and vigour' OBSERVER ‘A warts and all story told with...

A thrilling new account of the tragic life and troubled times of Henry VI. 'The best life of Henry VI now in print' DAN JONES. 'Vivid, absorbing and richly detailed' HELEN CASTOR. 'A well-crafted moving account of a tragic reign' MICHAEL JONES. First-born son of a warrior father who defeated the French at Agincourt, Henry VI of the House Lancaster...

God is Good is the story of the transformational power of faith in our everyday lives. While the world portrays God as wrathful and scolding, our Heavenly Father is the most loving kind of father. He wants for all of His children to live in safety, joy, health, and prosperity, free of worry, sickness, and sorrow. Margaret Liu Collins was...

This is a new account of the late 14th-century mystic and pilgrim, Margery Kempe. Kempe, who had 14 children, travelled all over Europe and recorded a series of unusual events and religious visions in her work, The Book of Margery Kempe, which is often called the first autobiography in the English language. Anthony Bale charts her life and tells her...

Standing alone against people who wanted me dead, people who had controlled me from infancy, I was terrified! My rescuer said, "You and Papa God are a majority. He is bigger than all of them!" Freedom was a battle that I had waged with the Lord since infancy, and I was finally free! Walk with me as I take you...

“A great leap forward in understanding and contextualising Mary’s life, after two millennia of her being dismissed and rewritten by patriarchal power structures.” - James Cameron “Tabor restores her voice, her faith, her motherhood, and, most of all, her humanity, in this groundbreaking portrait that challenges everything we thought we knew about the origins of Christianity.” – Reza Aslan A...

Fashion writer Eloise Moran has studied thousands of pictures of Princess Diana over the past few years. Looking carefully at Diana's clothes, she discovered that behind each outfit lies a carefully crafted strategy. What Lady Di couldn't express verbally, she seemed to express through her clothes. With The Lady Di Look Book, Eloise Moran takes us on a photographic journey...

The first joint biography of William and Catherine to be written in over a decade, by acclaimed royal journalist and broadcaster Russell Myers. From the relentless media scrutiny and controversies of their 2022 Caribbean Tour to the shock cancer diagnoses of both the Princess of Wales and the King, this captivating biography by acclaimed royal journalist Russell Myers intimately traces...

'Ingenious… a glorious portrait of the great 15th-century prince of learning' Daily Telegraph 'A deeply fascinating, sui generis book by a brilliant scholar-writer, which uses the life story of a Renaissance prodigy to summon an angel-host of ideas, people and stories, all circling the question of language's ability to transcend the mortal realm' Robert Macfarlane, bestselling author of Underland Does...

Alice by Hugo Vickers offers a fascinating exploration of an enigmatic royal figure. 'In 1953, at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Alice was dressed from head to foot in a long grey dress and a grey cloak, and a nun's veil. Amidst all the jewels, and velvet and coronets, and the fine uniforms, she exuded an unworldly simplicity....

Queen Elizabeth II occupies a unique place in the hearts of her people. She was elegant, self-contained, and enigmatic. After a supremely happy childhood, gravitas descended with the death of her beloved grandfather and after the Abdication she accepted her destiny. When she was 21 in 1947, she made a promise to serve and kept it for a remarkable 75...

Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann chronicle their travels together at a time when each had reached an important turning point in her life. What emerged was a quest for Ann and Sue to redefine themselves and also rediscover one other. Against the backdrop of the sacred sites of Greece, Turkey and France, Sue grapples with the problem of...

‘Ingenious… a glorious portrait of the great 15th-century prince of learning’ Daily Telegraph ‘A deeply fascinating, sui generis book by a brilliant scholar-writer, which uses the life story of a Renaissance prodigy to summon an angel-host of ideas, people and stories, all circling the question of language's ability to transcend the mortal realm’ Robert Macfarlane, bestselling author of Underland Does...

The Wisest Fool by Steven Veerapen explores the life of James VI and I, the first monarch to reign over Scotland, England, and Ireland. Historically, James has endured a mixed reputation. He is often remembered as the homosexual king, the inveterate witch-roaster, the smelly sovereign who never washed, the colourless figure behind the authorised Bible bearing his name, or the...

Lady Fiona Carnarvon became the chatelaine of Highclere Castle—the setting of the hit series Downton Abbey—eight years ago. In that time, she's become fascinated by the rich history of Highclere, and by the extraordinary people who lived there over the centuries. One person particularly captured Fiona's imagination—Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Almina was the illegitimate daughter of banking...

Fully updated with new material on Prince Andrew, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle, the paperback edition of the acclaimed polemic. The royal family is the original Coronation Street—a long-running soap opera with the occasional real coronation thrown in. Its members have become celebrities, like upmarket versions of film stars and footballers. But they have also become a byword for arrogance,...

The life and work of the legendary "Pope of Voodoo," Marie Laveau—a free woman of colour who practically ruled New Orleans in the mid-1800s. Marie Laveau may be the most influential American practitioner of the magical arts; certainly, she is among the most famous. She is the subject of songs, films, and legends and the star of New Orleans ghost...

The longest-reigning monarch in European history! If the news about Harry, William, Kate, Meghan, and the rest of the British royals has you wondering about how this latest generation of princes, princesses, dukes, and duchesses got their start, you’re not alone. Queen Elizabeth II For Dummies takes you on a fascinating journey through the life of Great Britain’s longest-serving monarch....

THE RENOWNED TEACHER AND AUTHOR'S SPIRITUAL MEMOIR, AS TOLD THROUGH HIS LIFELONG ENCOUNTERS WITH ANIMALS AND NATURE This book of sutras—wisdoms—provides spiritual and practical teachings on the importance of humanity's relationship with animals and nature and how compassion benefits us and our planet. For Stephen Levine, "animal-people" were his greatest teachers. So, at age seventy, he began collecting animal spirit...

Zwingli by F. Bruce Gordon is a major new biography of Huldrych Zwingli—the warrior preacher who shaped the early Reformation. Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) was the most significant early reformer after Martin Luther. As the architect of the Reformation in Switzerland, he created the Reformed tradition later inherited by John Calvin. His movement ultimately became a global religion. A visionary of...

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a masterful new biography of Theodor Herzl by an eminent historian of Zionism "An excellent, concise biography of Theodor Herzl, architect of modern Zionism... An exceptionally good, highly readable volume." —Publishers Weekly, starred review "An engrossing account of a leader who, by converting despair into strength, gave an exiled people both political purpose and...

PLUTARCH AWARD FOR THE BEST BIOGRAPHY OF 2024 SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUFF COOPER PRIZE ‘SUBLIME’ – A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 ‘STUNNINGLY GOOD’ – THE TIMES BEST HISTORY BOOKS 2024 ‘COMPULSIVE’ – A PROSPECT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 ‘BRILLIANT’ – A SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 ‘A delicious, grippingly paced tale of rogues, riotous sex,...

The Pulitzer prizewinning biography of Peter the Great, the ruler who brought Russia from darkness into light. Against the monumental canvas of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe and Russia, Robert K. Massie unfolds the extraordinary story of Peter the Great. A volatile feudal tsar with a taste for barbaric torture; a progressive and enlightened reformer of government and science; Peter the...

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, an illuminating biography of the great Amsterdam rabbi and celebrated populariser of Judaism in the seventeenth century. Menasseh ben Israel (1604–1657) was among the most accomplished and cosmopolitan rabbis of his time, and a pivotal intellectual figure in early modern Jewish history. He was one of the three rabbis of the “Portuguese Nation” in...

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, the first major biography in English in over thirty years of the seminal modern Jewish thinker Martin Buber "A scrupulously researched, perceptive biography."—Robert Alter, New York Times Book Review An authority on the twentieth‑century philosopher Martin Buber (1878–1965), Paul Mendes-Flohr offers the first major biography in English in thirty years of this seminal modern...

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a new exploration of Karl Marx's life through his intellectual contributions to modern thought "A perceptive and fair-minded corrective to superficial treatments of the man." —Jonathan Rose, Wall Street Journal Karl Marx (1818–1883)—philosopher, historian, sociologist, economist, current affairs journalist, and editor—was one of the most influential and revolutionary thinkers of modern history, but he...

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series: a fast‑moving, musically astute portrait of Irving Berlin, arguably the greatest composer of American popular music. "An extensively researched, entertaining, and nuanced account that contextualizes Berlin’s story and achievements within the scope of Jewish immigrant New York and modern American popular culture."—Library Journal Irving Berlin (1888–1989) has been called—by George Gershwin, among others—the greatest...

In this entertaining and insightful biography, award-winning writer Andrew Morton, author of Diana, Her True Story and Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, takes you behind the scenes to uncover the woman and her world. For years, she prayed for her mother to give birth to a son. She longed to be spared her destiny as...

A captivating exploration of the role in which Queen Victoria exerted most international power and influence: her role as matchmaking grandmother. In the late nineteenth century, Queen Victoria had over thirty surviving grandchildren. To maintain power in Europe, she hoped to manoeuvre them into dynastic marriages with royalty across the world. Yet her grandchildren often had plans of their own,...

This is the story of Jose Luis Flores' transformation from the world of drugs and gangs to being a devoted follower of Christ. In his early life, Jose was introduced to the world of heroin addiction by a friend from New York at the tender age of twelve. It's from there that his transformation began as he embarked on his...

Millicent Fawcett, the leader of the British suffragist movement, described Josephine Butler as 'the most distinguished English woman of the nineteenth century'. Among the first feminist activists, Butler raised public awareness of the plight of destitute women, worked to address human trafficking, and led a vigorous campaign to secure equal rights for women before the law. In her pursuit of...

TELEGRAPH 50 BEST BOOKS OF 2022 THE UNTOLD STORY OF PRINCESS DIANA'S STEPMOTHER 'A sparkling biography of a fascinating woman' - Lynn Barber, Telegraph * 'Gaudoin's book is revealing and hugely entertaining. Highly recommended.' - Daily Mail 'Gaudoin tells these delicious stories with brio' - Sunday Times Debutante of the year. Able politician. Femme fatale. Just some of the many...

'This is the kind of book that makes you different when you're done.' - Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Somebody's Daughter 'From the womb, we must repeat with regularity that to love ourselves is to survive. I believe that is what my father wanted for me and knew I would so desperately need: a tool for...

The Wisest Fool by Steven Veerapen delves into the life of James VI and I, the first monarch to reign over Scotland, England, and Ireland, who has long endured a mixed reputation. To many, he is simply the homosexual King, the inveterate witch-roaster, the smelly sovereign who never washed, the colourless man behind the authorised Bible bearing his name, or...

From the eponymous subject of the beloved classic Tuesdays with Morrie comes an insightful, poignant masterpiece on staying vibrant and connected for life. Beautiful ... Those lucky enough to read this book will be inspired. Deepak Chopra Who am I really? What have I done? What is important and meaningful to me? What difference does it make that I have...

This riotous and engaging biography has it all GUARDIAN As much fun to read as a good political thriller WALL STREET JOURNAL The book that inspired the major documentary Edward vs George: The Windsors at War At the outbreak of war, the British monarchy was in turmoil. Edward VIII had abdicated, leaving his brother Bertie to take on a role...

'Beaufort chronicles his unusual and rarified world with flashes of Wodehousian genius'. --- Jools Holland 'So funny ... bristling with glamorous but eccentric characters'. --- Jilly Cooper 'Very funny and touching, gentle, wise and unpretentious. This is a book I absolutely loved.' --- Anne Glenconner '...entertaining and at times poignant'. --- The Sunday Telegraph 'An endearing, well-paced read'. --- Country...

Now the TV series The Serpent Queen, starring Samantha Morton The bestselling revisionist biography of one of the great women of the 16th century. Orphaned in infancy, Catherine de Medici was the sole legitimate heiress to the Medici family fortune. Married at fourteen to the future Henri II of France, she was constantly humiliated by his influential mistress, Diane de...

The compelling quest to solve a great mystery of the twentieth century: the ultimate fate of Russia's last tsar and his family. In July 1991, nine skeletons were exhumed from a shallow grave near Ekaterinburg, Siberia, a few miles from the infamous cellar where the last tsar and his family had been murdered seventy-three years before. Were these the bones...

From the 1950s until his death in 1994, Menachem Mendel Schneerson—revered by his followers worldwide simply as the Rebbe—built the Lubavitcher movement from a relatively small sect within Hasidic Judaism into the powerful force in Jewish life that it is today. Swept away by his expectation that the Messiah was coming, he came to believe that he could deny death...

'A scary portrait of put-upon servants and potty aristos ... this is arguably the most riotously funny volume published this year' Max Hastings, Sunday Times 'One of the funniest, most eccentric books of the year' Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday When James Pope-Hennessy began his work on Queen Mary's official biography, it opened the door to meetings with royalty, court...

The life and many afterlives of one of the most enduring mystical testaments ever written, The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila is among the most remarkable accounts ever written of the human encounter with the divine. The Life is not really an autobiography at all, but rather a confession written for inquisitors by a nun whose raptures and mystical...

In 2020, the Queen finally appeared to be at ease in the modern world, helped by the new generation of Windsors. But then Harry and Meghan announced that they were leaving "The Firm," and Prince Andrew was relieved of his duties following revelations of his involvement with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, inflamed by a car-crash TV interview. Suddenly, the Faustian...

In 2020, the Queen finally appeared to be at ease in the modern world, helped by the new generation of Windsors. However, things took a turn when Harry and Meghan announced their departure from 'The Firm'. Additionally, Prince Andrew was relieved of his duties following revelations of his involvement with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, inflamed by a disastrous TV interview....

How does the machinery of government respond when a King steps out of line? The relationship between Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson created a constitutional crisis that has fascinated the public for decades. Unwilling to accept the idea of the twice-married American as future Queen of England, the government was determined to pressure the King into giving up Mrs Simpson...

A triumph – a Game of Thrones in the Dark Ages - TOM HOLLAND. The magisterial biography of Oswald Whiteblade, exiled prince of Northumbria, who returned in blood and glory to reclaim his birthright. A charismatic leader, a warrior whose prowess in battle earned him the epithet Whiteblade, an exiled prince who returned to claim his birthright, the inspiration for...

This is the intimate and revealing autobiography of Margaret Rhodes, the first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Margaret was born into the Scottish aristocracy, her home frequently visited by royalty. She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousin, Princess Elizabeth, to Prince Philip, and three years later, the King and Queen attended her own wedding. In 1990, she...

Why does God heal some and not others? When caring for a seriously ill parent, spouse, or child, when is it appropriate to pray for healing and when is it time to simply accept things as they are? These questions circled in Jean Sullivan's mind when faced with two separate health crises in her family. Jean was a mother of...

Four monarchs (crowned and uncrowned); one abdication; one royal investiture; a jewel box of jubilees and many, many royal marriages... British Vogue has borne witness to a century of royal history. Its first star photographer, Cecil Beaton, was entranced by the House of Windsor, and the admiration was mutual. A younger star photographer, Antony Armstrong Jones, left Vogue to marry...

In December 1936, Britain faced a constitutional crisis that was the gravest threat to the institution of the monarchy since the execution of Charles I. The ruling monarch, Edward VIII, wished to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson and crown her as his Queen. His actions scandalised the Establishment, who were desperate to avoid an international embarrassment at a time...

In 2004, bad boy Billy Fingers Cohen, a homeless small-time drug dealer and addict in a state of drug-induced euphoria, ran into a busy intersection and was killed instantly by a speeding automobile. He left behind a grieving sister. For weeks she struggled with grief and tried to make sense of Billy's seemingly wasted life and tragic death. A few...

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, has quietly become one of the most important members of the Royal Family, after King Charles and Queen Camilla. This new, exclusive and unique biography will reveal how Sophie is saving the royal family. To mark her 60th birthday year, bestselling royal and celebrity biographer Sean Smith will share the story of how Sophie Rhys-Jones, a...

Sassy and adventurous, Jackie Gillies devours life with style and a smile - and lives it to the shiny brim. Well known to Australian audiences from The Real Housewives of Melbourne and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Jackie has another surprising side: she also works as a psychic medium, booked out months in advance. Jackie was aware...

The lives of the Scottish queens, both those who ruled in their own right and those who were consorts, have largely been neglected in conventional history books. One of the earliest known Scottish queens was none other than the notorious Lady Macbeth. Was she really the wicked woman depicted in Shakespeare's famous play? Was St Margaret a demure and obedient...

A gripping biography that brings together the most recent research to shed provocative new light on the life of Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick was, by his own admission, a controversial figure. Convicted in a trial by his elders in Britain and hounded by rumours that he settled in Ireland for financial gain, the man who was to become Ireland's patron...

'Fresh, gripping and vivid' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'A portrait that chills you to the bone' Leanda de Lisle, The Times A dedicated brother and loyal stalwart to the Yorkist dynasty for most of his early life, Richard's personality was forged in the tribulation of exile and the brutality of combat. An ambitious nobleman and successful general with a loyal following,...

The official biography of Queen Mary, grandmother of the current Queen, originally commissioned in 1959 - with a new foreword by Hugo Vickers. When Queen Mary died in 1953, James Pope-Hennessy was commissioned to write an official biography of her - unusual for a Queen Consort. Queen Mary's life, contrary to popular belief, was essentially dramatic, and she played a...

This souvenir publication celebrates the remarkable 99-year life of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, Britain's longest-serving consort. Drawing on private archives as well as official records, Prince Philip 1921-2021 explores the major events in Prince Philip's life, from his birth in Corfu, his education and naval and wartime service, to his marriage to Her Majesty The...

For more than six decades, Queen Victoria ruled a great Empire at the height of its power. Beside her for more than twenty of those years was the love of her life, her trusted husband and father of their nine children, Prince Albert. But while Victoria is seen as the embodiment of her time, it was Prince Albert, A. N....

Power and Glory begins with the fallout from the revelation of the Duke of Windsor's wartime treachery, and ends with the Coronation of Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. In between, it depicts a monarchy—and a country—struggling to cope with the aftermath of World War Two, in an era where old certainties have been replaced by the rise of a...

...a superb guide into one of the most pivotal personalities of the 21st century - Publishers Weekly An exhaustive look at the newest pope ... a highly worthwhile resource for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. - Kirkus A wise and perceptive portrait of the late Pope Francis, now in a revised and greatly expanded new edition. Pope Francis enchanted and bewildered...

'ASTONISHING' THE DAILY MAIL 'STRIKING' THE SUNDAY TIMES 'RADICAL' TATLER Described by The Telegraph as 'Edward's truth', Once a King is the never-before-seen and unfiltered story of King Edward VIII, the original royal renegade, who abdicated his throne and left the royal family to pursue his own destiny. Fifteen years after having abdicated the throne to marry the woman he...

'An ambitious, nuanced and confident debut: Patel writes with passion, curiosity and purpose.' Maxine Beneba Clarke, bestselling and award-winning author of The Hate Race, Foreign Soil, The Patchwork Bike and Carrying The World A fresh and exciting feminist memoir about what it means to never feel at home where you live. 'I was born in a hospital in Suva, Fiji....

Nicholas & Alexandra is the internationally famous biography from Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Massie. Massie shows conclusively how the personal curse of the young heir's haemophilia, and the decisive influence it brought Rasputin, became fatally linked with the collapse of Imperial Russia. As an engrossing account of one of the century's most dramatic episodes—and an intimate portrait of two people caught...

Muhammad: What can we really know about him? We know a great deal about Muhammad—or so it seems. Islamic tradition contains an astonishing wealth of information about the founding figure of the Islamic faith, and most historians take for granted that this material is generally reliable. In his latest book, historian and Islamic scholar Robert Spencer shows that there is...

The story of Messalina – third wife of Emperor Claudius and one of the most notorious women to have inhabited the Roman world. The lubricious image of the Empress Messalina as a ruthless, predatory, and sexually insatiable schemer, derived from the work of male historians such as Tacitus and Suetonius, has taken deep root in the Western imagination. Here, the...

Meghan and Harry: The Real Story: Persecutors or Victims presents the reader with a strikingly forthright analysis of what happens when a vulnerable male, raised in the traditions of the Old World and protected by a lifetime of privilege, falls head over heels in love with a steely and ambitious doyenne of the New. She is careless of tradition, ignorant...

Ground-breaking ... One of the greatest international bestsellers of the post-war period Andrew Roberts, Daily Telegraph Reads like an engrossing novel Sunday Times An infant queen. A teenage widow. Beautiful, flamboyant Mary Queen of Scots had a formidable intellect but her political sense — formed at the absolute court of France — plunged her country into a maelstrom of intrigue,...

The moments in life of "knowing". On Bognor Beach, with Grandpa England, she had "known" that he, and Papa, and she, would carry something on, something given, something bigger than themselves. Lilibet: a carefree child, a lover of horses and dogs, devoted to her family. And the girl who would be Queen. A.N. Wilson, one of England's most beloved writers,...

Historians and broadcasters Peter Snow and Ann Macmillan tell the real stories of the most powerful men and women in British history. From Alfred the Great to Charles III, Kings & Queens explores the lives, loves, triumphs and disasters of a monarchy that is the envy of the world. From Charles I's romantic escapades and William III's asthma attack at...

King of the Empty Plain is familiar to every Tibetan yet nearly unknown in the rest of the world. Tangtong Gyalpo's incredible lifespan, profound teachings, unprecedented engineering feats, eccentric deeds, and creation of Tibetan opera have earned this fascinating figure a unique status in Tibetan culture. Believed to be the great Indian master Padmasambhava appearing again in the world to...

For more than 200 years, the younger members of the British royal family—including future monarchs—have lived at Kensington Palace, alongside royal aunts and uncles, distant cousins, and assorted aristocratic eccentrics. Kensington Palace has been the scene of countless bizarre events. Here, for example, the young Queen Victoria was held a virtual prisoner for eighteen years. It was from Kensington Palace...

An omnibus edition containing Joyful Voices and Voices of Love. An omnibus of two of Doris Stokes' extremely successful books, Joyful Voices and Voices of Love, bestsellers in the early 1980s. Doris Stokes was a celebrated medium who confounded sceptics with the uncanny accuracy of her readings. In Australia, she filled the Sydney Opera House and was mobbed in the...

We all know the story of Joan of Arc. A peasant girl who hears voices from God. A warrior leading an army to victory, in an age that believes women cannot fight. The Maid of Orleans, and the saviour of France. Burned at the stake as a heretic at the age of just nineteen. Five hundred years later, a saint....

On its first publication in the nineties, Dennis Friedman's Inheritance caused a furore as he traced the many problems of the Royal family as it was then back to Queen Victoria's nursery. The book unveils a host of psychodramas played out against a privileged background of English palaces and Scottish castles. As the royal line is followed down the generations,...