Richard III has the most controversial reputation of any English king. If he was the murderer of his two nephews and (as many contemporaries thought) the poisoner of his own wife, he has a place among the foremost villains of history. If however his only real crime was to have been on the losing side, then he is the victim of an extraordinary and enduring smear campaign. Which version is correct? Whether true or false, the legend of Richard III's villainy has embedded itself in the nation's consciousness. In this clear, careful narrative, first published in 1983 (the 500th anniversary of a year in which three kings occupied the throne of England) Giles St. Aubyn relates the violent and blood-stained story, his cool, witty style contrasting with the brutality of the period he describes.

"'Even the lives of scoundrels play some part in portraying an age...'"

Our interest in all things Victorian - in the seamy side of the era especially - is ageless and undimmed. Giles St. Aubyn's "Infamous Victorians," first published in 1971, stands as a brilliant illumination of two dark stories of the time, replete with sinister elements of iniquity and hypocrisy.

In the first fifty years of Victoria's reign two doctors were hanged after being found guilty of murder at the Central Criminal Court. Both men were 32 years old, both poisoners, both murdered for money. Dr William Palmer was a notorious figure, tried for a single murder though he almost certainly killed others. Dr George Lamson was a morphia addict convicted of killing his crippled young brother-in-law at Blenheim House school. Giles St. Aubyn restores them to life on the page, examines their careers and assesses their guilt.

Son of the eccentric Adolphus, seventh and favourite son of George III, Prince George was born in 1819 and was briefly heir presumptive to the throne of England until the birth that same year of his cousin Victoria. Instead he became George, second Duke of Cambridge, and rose to be Commander-in-Chief of the Army aged 37, holding that position for 39 years. Often considered a hidebound reactionary, he nonetheless took a keen interest in reform of the Army, and made considerable efforts to improve the soldier's lot.

In the year that the title of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was bestowed by HRH the Queen upon Prince William and Catherine Middleton on the morning of their wedding, this charming, substantial and formidably researched life of 'The Royal George' has a renewed topicality.

'Excellent and deserves to be widely read ... Fluent, accomplished, pleasantly written, lit by flashes of wit.' The Sunday Times Described by her contemporary Charles Greville as 'the most interesting mind and character in the world', Queen Victoria remains a fascinating, often contradictory figure. Giles St Aubyn's masterly and critically acclaimed biography is above all a study of her personality, focusing on her family life, her relations with Ministers and servants, her tastes, beliefs and character traits, to give a fresh understanding of a remarkable woman and a great monarch. 'Long, thorough and penetrating ... a wise, witty, insightful, detached perspective on the whole period ...as much a triumph of organisation as it is of erudition.' Financial Times 'A meticulously accurate biographer ... those who are already experts on Queen Victoria will still find much in this book to interest them.' The Times 'Passes the three tests all biographies have to meet: it is well-written, scholarly, and it is psychologically penetrating.' Glasgow Herald

'An exceptional study, which fascinates, entertain, and illuminates.' "The New Yorker"

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Through half a century of public service King Edward had the advantage of a private secretary whose tact, judgement, loyalty and affection never failed him. Francis Knollys was one of that small intimate circle from whom he had no secrets, personal or political. Previous biographers of the King have lamented the too perfect discretion that led Knollys to destroy all his papers on his master's death, but in fact his discretion outreached even its own reputation. The Knollys Papers were preserved with the perfect secrecy that their creator practised in the discharge of his office, but were put at the disposal of the author, enabling him to extend and deepen the commonly held portrait of a man whose physical grossness has, as in the case of the Prince Regent, been allowed to obscure both a keen intelligence and a serious even conscientious pursuit of duty. King Edward is here shown to have deserved the deep affection and respect felt for him by his private secretary.

'In Edward VII Giles St Aubyn has splendidly filled the gap between hagiography and muck-raking ... one of the most elegant yet solidly-founded studies so far produced of this splendid monarch.'. "Sunday Telegraph"

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""'This book has delighted me by its good judgement of character and its pungency, as well as by the important new material it includes.' Raymond Mortimer

This book studies a number of Victorians who were deeply troubled by religious doubts, including Tennyson, Carlyle, J A Froude, Francis Newman, George Elliot, Colenso and Jowett. One of the book's principal concerns is to investagate the causes of their misgivings. Many Victorians blamed Darwin for unsettling their faith. In doing so, they ignored the fact that doubts about Christianity preceded the publication of "On the Origin of Species" by some eighteen hundred years. Modern scepticism has its roots in the Renaissance and Reformation and more recently in the eighteenth century Deism. Darwin marked the end of the process rather than its beginning. It is worth pointing out that the issues with which "Souls in Torment" is chiefly concerned are just as relevant today as they were to the Victorians who feature in its pages.