From Edith Pargeter, who also wrote as Ellis Peter, BROTHERS OF GWYNNED is an epic quartet of novels telling the dramatic tale of Llewelyn, the first true Prince of Wales. 'A richly textured tapestry of medieval Wales' Sunday TelegraphLlewelyn has a burning vision: one Wales, united against the threat of the English. But, before he can realise his dream, Llewelyn must tackle enemies closer to home.Llewelyn's three brothers all stand in the way of h...

A classic of postwar literature, a small masterpiece of humour, humanity and heroism from one of the best Czech writersFor twenty-two-year-old Milos, bumbling apprentice at a sleepy Czech railway station, life is full of worries: his burdensome virginity, his love for the pretty conductor Masha, the scandalous goings-on in the station master's office. Beside them, the part he will come to play against the occupying Germans seems a simple affair, in Bohumil Hrabal's...

From Edith Pargeter, who also wrote as Ellis Peters, A BLOODY FIELD BY SHREWSBURY is a vivid medieval tale of Henry IV's kingdom in crisis. 'Chivalry, treachery, conflict of loyalties... The clash of wills is as stirring as the clash of steel' ObserverEngland, 1399. A treacherous plot has been hatched to depose King Richard and install Henry Bolingbroke on the English throne.With the aid of his powerful friend Hotspur, Henry is victorious. But, cro...

A Spirited Retelling of King Richard the Lionheart and the Third Crusade"Margaret Campbell Barnes has been one of the most reliable of England's historical novelists." —Chicago TribuneIn this compelling novel of love, loyalty, and lost chances, Margaret Campbell Barnes gives readers a new perspective on Richard the Lionheart's triumphs and tragedies. Drawing on folklore, Barnes explores what might have happened if King Richard's foster brother were...

During her short time as a ward in Queen Marguerite's Lancastrian court, fifteen-year-old Isobel has had many suitors ask for her hand, but the spirited beauty is blind to all but Yorkist Sir John Neville. It is nothing short of a miracle when the Queen allows Isobel's marriage to the enemy, albeit at a hefty price.All around Isobel and John rages a lawless war. It is only their passion that can see them through the bloody siege of London by the Duke of York, the violent madness of...

The Edgar®-nominated author of the medieval mysteries featuring Justin de Quincy places the Queen’s Man far from home—and in the presence of a most cunning foe...Justin de Quincy has been lured to Paris by his nemesis, Prince John, on a mission of mercy. The prince is suspected in a plot to kill his brother, King Richard. Despite John’s hunger for the crown, he’s unwilling to put himself at risk for regicide—and he wants Justin’s help in discrediting the document t...

The author of The September Queen explores Tudor England with the tale of Bess of Hardwick—the formidable four-time widowed Tudor dynast who became one of the most powerful women in the history of England.On her twelfth birthday, Bess of Hardwick receives the news that she is to be a waiting gentlewoman in the household of Lady Zouche. Armed with nothing but her razor-sharp wit and fetching looks, Bess is terrified of leaving home. But as her family has ne...

In this groundbreaking novel, award-winning author Sandra Worth vibrantly brings to life the people's Queen, "Elizabeth the Good."Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth of York trusts that her beloved father's dying wish has left England in the hands of a just and deserving ruler. But upon the rise of Richard of Gloucester, Elizabeth's family experiences one devastation after another: her late father is exposed as a bigamist, she and her siblings are branded bastards, and he...

"Within the hollow crown that rounds the mortal temples of a king…" —Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Richard IIUnlike his father, the Black Prince, or his namesake, King Richard the Lionheart, Richard II never really wanted to be king. But the mantle of royalty is thrust upon his shoulders at age 11, at a time when England is racked by unrest and class warefare. A leader as unexpected as he is inexperienced, young Richard must find a way to triumph over a...

The story of Elizabeth I, as it's never been told before-through the eyes of two ladies-in-waiting closest to her...In a court filled with repressed sexual longing, scandal, and intrigue, Lady Katherine Grey is Elizabeth's most faithful servant. When the young queen is smitten by the dashing Robert Dudley, Katherine must choose between duty and desire-as her secret passion for a handsome earl threatens to turn Elizabeth against her. Once the queen becomes a bitter ...

The third novel in Sharon Kay Penman's much-loved medieval mystery series featuring Justin de Quincy.July 1193: Richard Lionheart, eldest and most favored son of Dowager Queen Eleanor of Aquitane, languishes in an Austrian dungeon, held for ransom by the Holy Roman Emperor. Lusting after the crown in England, his brother John plots with his country's bitterest foe, King Philippe of France, to see to it Richard never leaves Austria alive. But the Queen has already b...

"Penman's characters are so shrewdly imagined, so full of resonant human feeling that they seem to breathe on the page." —San Francisco Chronicle"Never forget, Llewelyn, that the world's greatest fool is a Welshman who trusts an English king."His father's words haunt Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales, who has been ruling uneasily over his fractious countrymen. Above all else, Llewelyn fears that his life and his own dream—of an independent, united Wale...