A captivating collection of daily extracts from women's diaries, looking back over four centuries to discover how women's experience – of men and children, sex and shopping, work and the natural world – has changed down the years. And, of course, how it hasn't. In this expansive anthology – from 1 January through to 31 December – you’ll find Lady Anne Clifford in the seventeenth century and Loran Hurnscot in the twentieth both stoically recording the demands of an unreasonable husband; Joan Wyndham and Anne Frank, at much the same time, but in wildly different settings, describing their first experiences with sex; and Anne Lister (TV’s Gentleman Jack) in eighteenth-century Yorkshire exploring her love affairs with women alongside Alice Walker in twentieth-century California. Organised around the calendar year, with several selections for each day, this book is a fascinating record of how women were thinking, feeling and reacting to historical events. From Virginia Woolf relishing her new haircut and Oprah Winfrey meditating on her career to Emilie Davis chronicling the death of Abraham Lincoln and teenage Ma Yan yearning for education in poverty-stricken China, Secret Voices contains a rich mix of well-known diarists and less familiar ones, and often the voices echoing down the centuries sound eerily familiar today.

An internationally admired figure, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the most high-profile monarch in the world, enjoying enduring and wide-ranging popularity.

Spanning from 1926 to the present day, Elizabeth The Queen and the Crown reveals the story behind Britain's longest-reigning monarch's extraordinary life. Sarah Gristwood follows the twists and turns of Her Majesty’s life and its key turning points – including her teenage years during World War II, meeting and marrying Prince Philip of Greece, later the Duke of Edinburgh, and her accession to the throne in 1952.

Split into chapters covering different periods of her life, from ‘Apprenticeship (1926–1956)’, ‘Being Queen (1956–1986)’ to ‘Change, Celebration and Commemoration (1986–2022)’, the book charts the extraordinary events in the Queen's life alongside the everyday duties of her role as monarch.

Originally published in 2017, this book has been updated for the Platinum Jubilee in 2022, illustrated with historic photography that makes it as beautiful to own as enjoyable to read.

A smaller, cheaper edition of this acclaimed illustrated biography of Beatrix Potter. Respected biographer Sarah Gristwood discovers a life crisscrossed with contradictions and marked by tragedy, yet one that left a remarkable literary - and environmental - legacy. This illustrated biography of the beloved writer has been a strong seller and critical success. It is now available in a smaller, more affordable format. Interest in Beatrix Potter and her characters is undimmed, with the second Peter Rabbit film being released in summer 2021 and an exhibition at the V&A from February 2022, 'Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature'. Few people realise how extraordinary Beatrix Potter's own story is. She was a woman of contradictions. A sheltered Victorian daughter who grew into an astute modern businesswoman. A talented artist who became a scientific expert. A famous author who gave it all up to become a farmer, then a pioneering conservationist. Bestselling biographer Sarah Gristwood follows the twists and turns of Beatrix Potter's life and its key turning points - including her tragically brief first engagement and happy second marriage late in life. She traces the creation of Beatrix's most famous characters - including the naughty Peter Rabbit, confused Jemima Puddleduck and cheeky Squirrel Nutkin - revealing how she drew on her unusual childhood pets and locations in her beloved Lake District. A fitting legacy for a pioneering conservationist who helped save thousands of acres of the Lake District.' - The Mail on Sunday 'Excellent, anecdotal text...' - The Times Literary Supplement 'Beautifully illustrated.' - The Sunday Express

A BBC History Magazine Book of the Year 'One of the most important books to be written about the Tudors in a generation.' Tracy Borman In this groundbreaking history, Sarah Gristwood reveals the way courtly love made and marred the Tudor dynasty. From Henry VIII declaring himself as the 'loyal and most assured servant' of Anne Boleyn to the poems lavished on Elizabeth I by her suitors, the Tudors re-enacted the roles of devoted lovers and capricious mistresses first laid out in the romances of medieval literature, but now with life-and-death consequences for the protagonists. The Tudors in Love dissects the codes of love, desire and power, unveiling obsessions that have shaped the history of this nation. 'A riveting, pacy page-turner... the Tudors as you've never seen them before.' Alison Weir

A celebration of a timeless classic, this companion volume, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the release of the iconic film, is the perfect book for any fan of Audrey Hepburn or the cinema. This gorgeously illustrated tribute to Breakfast at Tiffany's is the only official companion to be published in association with Paramount Pictures and the Audrey Hepburn estate. It celebrates the film's ongoing popularity:complete with candid behind-the-scenes photos, facsimiles of the shooting script, full-color reproductions of the poster art, a special section on the costumes, the score for Moon River, and much more. Many of the illustrations included have never been published before. Breakfast at Tiffany's features a top-notch cast, including George Peppard, Mickey Rooney, and Patricia Neal, yet Holly Golightly was the role that transformed Audrey Hepburn into a movie icon. Dressed by Hubert de Givenchy, directed by the infamous Blake Edwards, and brandishing the trademark cigarette holder, hers was the most memorable role.  Rich in detail and in illustration, this keepsake tribute volume is the perfect celebration of a beloved classic.

'Entrancing, compelling, and beautifully written...a fabulous novel, bursting with integrity and authenticity, vividly eboking the court of Elizabeth I...I feel I know the characters and was mesmerised by their story. This is the historical novel as literary fiction - and damned good literary fiction at that.' Alison Weir Jeanne, a young French exile orphaned by the wars of religion on the continent, is brought to London as a young girl disguised as a boy. Growing up, the disguise has not been shed and she finds a living as a clerk, ending up in the household of Robert Cecil. As she witnesses the intrigues and plots swirling round the court of Elizabeth I in the last days of Gloriana's reign, she finds herself sucked into the orbit of the dashing and ambitious young favourite, the Earl of Essex. As the queen draws near to the end of her life, with no heir to follow, the stakes are high. As Essex hurtles towards self-destruction, Jeanne finds her loyalties, her disguise and her emotions under threat - in a political climate where the least mistake can attract dire penalties. This is a beautifully layered and textured book, rich with the details of life and politics of Elizabeth I's court. Jeanne's struggle for survival and love is interwoven with her passionate pull towards nature, a lovely and seductive backdrop to the novel.

A BBC History magazine Book of the Year and an amazon.com Best Book of the Month As religion divided sixteenth-century Europe, an extraordinary group of women rose to power. They governed nations while kings fought in foreign lands. They ruled on behalf of nephews, brothers and sons. They negotiated peace between their warring nations. For decades, they ran Europe. Small wonder that it was in this century that the queen became the most powerful piece on the chessboard. From mother to daughter and mentor to protegee, Sarah Gristwood follows the passage of power from Isabella of Castile and Anne de Beaujeu through Anne Boleyn - the woman who tipped England into religious reform - and on to Elizabeth I and Jeanne d'Albret, heroine of the Protestant Reformation. Unravelling a gripping historical narrative, Gristwood reveals the stories of the queens who had, until now, been overshadowed by kings.

The true story of the White Queen and more, this is a thrilling history of the extraordinary noblewomen who lived through the Wars of the Roses. The events of the Wars of the Roses are usually described in terms of the men involved: Richard Duke of York, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII. But these years were also packed with women's drama and - in the tales of conflicted maternity and monstrous births - alive with female energy. In this completely original book, Sarah Gristwood sheds light on a neglected dimension of English history: the impact of Tudor women on the Wars of the Roses. She examines, among others, Cecily Neville, who was deprived of being queen when her husband died at the Battle of Wakefield; Elizabeth Woodville, the commoner who married Edward IV in secret; Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, whose love and ambition for her son knew no bounds. Until now, the lives of these women have remained little known to the general public. Sarah Gristwood tells their stories in detail for the first time. Captivating and original, this is historical writing of the most important kind.

An internationally admired figure, Queen Elizabeth II is the most high-profile monarch in the world, and her enduring popularity is tantamount to her wide-ranging supporters. Spanning from 1927 to present day, Elizabeth reveals the details of Britain's longest-reigning monarch's extraordinary life. Sarah Gristwood follows the twists and turns of Elizabeth Windsor's life and its key turning points—including her teenage years during the war, meeting and marrying the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip Mountbatten, and her ascension to the throne in 1952.

The essays in this volume analyze strategies adopted by contemporary novelists, playwrights, screenwriters, and biographers interested in bringing the stories of early modern women to modern audiences. It also pays attention to the historical women creators themselves, who, be they saints or midwives, visual artists or poets and playwrights, stand out for their roles as active practitioners of their own arts and for their accomplishments as creators. Whether they delivered infants or governed as monarchs, or produced embroideries, letters, paintings or poems, their visions, the authors argue, have endured across the centuries. As the title of the volume suggests, the essays gathered here participate in a wider conversation about the relation between biography, historical fiction, and the growing field of biofiction (that is, contemporary fictionalizations of historical figures), and explore the complicated interconnections between celebrating early modern women and perpetuating popular stereotypes about them.

Winston Churchill is one of the best-known and most revered figures of our time, the man who led Britain through its 'darkest hour'. The last year alone has seen two feature films of his life. Many books have been published about his life and work, but very few have looked at his life through the prism of the house he occupied for over 40 years. Chartwell is as fundamental to understanding Churchill as Hill Top is to Beatrix Potter. This Elizabethan manor - cared for by the National Trust today - was his inspiration, his refuge and his obsession. He had to rebuild the property almost from scratch after he bought it in 1922, spending money he could ill afford. Later he built a wall around the garden and several buildings by hand. `A day away from Chartwell is a day wasted,' he once said. The book's introduction features a special section telling Churchill's life through ten special and unusual objects at Chartwell. Featuring many rarely seen photographs, one previously unpublished, this beautifully illustrated book has an incisive text by respected biographer Sarah Gristwood. She traces every phase of his life - rebellious child, brave adventurer, political outcast, inspirational leader - always circling back to Chartwell, just as the great man himself did.

A BBC History Magazine Book of the Year 'One of the most important books to be written about the Tudors in a generation.' Tracy Borman In this groundbreaking history, Sarah Gristwood reveals the way courtly love made and marred the Tudor dynasty. From Henry VIII declaring himself as the 'loyal and most assured servant' of Anne Boleyn to the poems lavished on Elizabeth I by her suitors, the Tudors re-enacted the roles of devoted lovers and capricious mistresses first laid out in the romances of medieval literature, but now with life-and-death consequences for the protagonists. The Tudors in Love dissects the codes of love, desire and power, unveiling obsessions that have shaped the history of this nation. 'A riveting, pacy page-turner... the Tudors as you've never seen them before.' Alison Weir

Taking as its background one of the most famous periods of British history, Sarah Gristwood's historical biography focuses on a hitherto forgotten figure: Arbella Stuart, the niece of Mary Queen of Scots and first cousin to James VI of Scotland. Orphaned as a baby, brought up by her powerful and ambitious grandmother, the four-times married Bess of Hardwick, introduced at court as a young girl where she was acknowledged as her heir by Elizabeth I, Arbella's right to the English throne was equalled only by James. Kept under close supervision by her grandmother, first at Chatsworth and later at Hardwick Hall, but still surrounded by plots, most of them Roman Catholic in origin, she became an important pawn in the struggle for succession, particularly during the long, tense period when Elizabeth I lay dying. But the best was yet to come. At 35 and upon James's succession, Arbella was invited back to court, and fell in love with her cousin, William Seymour, a man 12 years her junior. Notwithstanding the fact that their union was forbidden, and that relationships that did not carry with them the Royal seal of approval were considered treasonous, they married secretly - and were immediat

This book contains everything you need to know about modern history of dress design, from the corset-free styles of 1920s flappers to the conceptual constructions of modern artists. Since Coco Chanel invented the little black dress in 1926 it has become a staple for a woman's wardrobe. Even considering the many decades it's been since women discovered trousers and separates, women dream of wearing glorious, glamorous gowns, whether it's on the Hollywood red carpet, or perhaps on her wedding day... No item of clothing has endured for longer than the dress. Yet the last century alone has seen the most radical changes of style - hemlines swinging from ankle to thigh; outlines alternating between the body-hugging and the bell - and our fascination with `the frock' has not gone away. From Gres' draping to Dior's New Look, from Mary Quant's mini to Hussein Chalayan's mechanical marvels and Kate Middleton's wedding dress, this book looks at the dress in a century of fashion. Thematic chapters set out the inspirations and implications for each new change in style alongside stunning photography. A celebration of the dress in all its forms, Fabulous Frocks is sure to fire any fashionista's imagination. `A glorious celebration of a hundred years of the dress' - Daily Mail The chapters include: Changes 1908-1958 Changes 1958 onwards Must Have Classical Fantasy Seduction Feminine Art

The Wars of the Roses, which tore apart the ruling Plantagenet family in fifteenth-century England, was truly a domestic drama, as fraught and intimate as any family feud before or since. But as acclaimed historian Sarah Gristwood reveals, while the events of this turbulent time are usually described in terms of the men who fought and died seeking the throne, a handful of powerful women would prove just as decisive as their kinfolks' clashing armies. A richly drawn, absorbing epic, "Blood Sisters" reveals how women helped to end the Wars of the Roses, paving the way for the Tudor age--and the creation of modern England.