Biography: royalty

  • The Queen

    £12.99

    Did you know that the Queen likes to wake up to the sound of bagpipes? That her favourite flower is the primrose? Or that she has established a whole new dog breed, the dorgi, a cross between a corgi and a dachshund? This book is a charming and witty paean to our longest-serving monarch; a collection of all the things that make Queen Elizabeth II a national treasure, from the profound impact she has had on 21st century politics, to her unshakeable sense of duty to her fabulous collection of headscarves.

  • Lilibet

    £9.99

    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, imagines the Queen on the eve of her platinum jubilee. We watch as she discovers, at the tender age of ten, that she is heir to the throne. We witness her meet the dashing Prince Phillip of Greece, who she loved steadfastly from the age of fifteen, and see their friendship blossom into passionate love. Above all, we learn of her astonishing sense of vocation and public duty, which grew during the dark years of WWII and her father’s subsequent years of ill health.

  • Traitor King

    £10.99

    Here Andrea Lownie looks at the years following the abdication of Edward VIII when the former king was kept in exile, feuding with his family over status for his wife, Wallis Simpson, and denied any real job. Drawing on extensive research into hitherto unused archives and Freedom of Information requests, it makes the case that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were not the naïve dupes of the Germans but actively intrigued against Britain in both war and peace.

  • Nicholas and Alexandra

    £16.99

    A biography of the last days and last rulers of the Russian Empire – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his wife, Alexandra.

  • Peter the Great

    £16.99

    A Pulitzer Prize-winning study of the Peter the Great, the ruler who brought Russia from darkness into light.

  • In the Shadow of the Gods

    £35.00

    For millennia much of the world was ruled by emperors: a handful of individuals claimed no limit to the lands they could rule over and no limit to their authority. They operated beyond normal human constraint and indeed often claimed a superhuman or divine authority. As an expert on empires and on Russian history, Lieven is brilliantly qualified to write a book that brings to life a system of rule that dominated most of human history, as well as some of history’s grandest and most dismaying figures.

  • King of the World

    £16.99

    Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre, dominated his age. In the second half of the seventeenth century, he extended France’s frontiers into the Netherlands and Germany, and established colonies in America, Africa, and India. Louisiana, which once occupied a third of the territory of the present-day United States, is named after him. Louis was also one of the greatest patrons of European history – Molière, Racine, Lully, Le Brun, le Nôtre all worked for him. The stupendous palace he built at Versailles, and its satellites at Marly and Trianon, became the envy of monarchs all over Europe, frequently imitated but never surpassed. He loved conversation, especially with women: the power of women in Louis’s life and reign is a particular theme of this book. This is a comprehensive and up-to-date biography of this hypnotic, flawed figure.

  • Embroidering Her Truth

    £20.00

    I felt that Mary was there, pulling at my sleeve, willing me to appreciate the artistry, wanting me to understand the dazzle of the material world that shaped her. At her execution Mary, Queen of Scots wore red. Widely known as the colour of strength and passion, it was in fact worn by Mary as the Catholic symbol of martyrdom. In sixteenth-century Europe women’s voices were suppressed and silenced. Even for a queen like Mary, her prime duty was to bear sons. In an age when textiles expressed power, Mary exploited them to emphasise her female agency. In this eloquent cultural biography, Clare Hunter exquisitely blends history, politics, and memoir to tell the story of a queen in her own voice.

  • The Dark Queens

    £25.00

    A double biography of two forgotten Early Medieval queens: Brunhild and Fredegund.

  • The Queen

    £24.95

    This official souvenir publication celebrates the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest serving monarch. In this special selection of photographs, captured by professional and amateur photographers alike, discover Her Majesty’s early life before she acceded to the throne in 1952, the official role of the monarch, her travel at home and abroad and her support for the Commonwealth, her fondness for animals and family life, and how she gives thanks to people who have given service to the monarch and their communities, from Garden Parties to the Order of the Garter.

  • Elizabeth & Margaret

    £9.99

    A captivating and unique biography of Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Margaret, told by the internationally renowned royal biographer Andrew Morton.

  • The Queen

    £12.99

    The magisterial life of the woman whose family’s personal intrigues, romances and political rivalries have shaped much of post-war British history.

Nomad Books