Margaret was debutante of the year, the beautiful fairy-tale heiress immortalised in Cole Porter's 'You're The Tops' - who ended up penniless and ostracised by her own family. Legal actions coloured her life- her divorce from the Duke of Argyll was one of the longest, costliest and most notorious in British legal history. Her diaries, and photographs of her with a 'headless' naked man, were used in evidence. This sparkling biography draws on exclusive...

In 1936, King Edward VIII renounced the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American divorcee. From her birth in Pennsylvania to her lonely end in Paris, this book traces the life of the Duchess of Windsor.

From 1381 - when Sir John Cavendish, Lord Chief Justice of England, was killed during the Peasant's Revolt - to 1906, when the Duke of Devonshire's resignation brought down the Tory government: the family's fortunes (and misfortunes) mirrored the life of the nation. For this new history, Roy Hattersley has been given unique access to the archives, based at Chatsworth, the family seat. Hattersley gathers the dynasty in one place: an astonishing accumulation...

In his book, Andrew Morton reveals new information and sources that totally transforms our perception of Wallis Simpson. From the day she was born in a ramshackle cottage in the hills to revealing what really happened the night her husband died, Morton paints a fresh and enticing portrait of the duchess of Windsor.

When Gerald Grosvenor, sixth Duke of Westminster, died in August 2016 he was one of the world's richest men, his fortune estimated at just under 10 billion. Yet he hated his wealth and spent long periods suffering from severe depression, much of it brought on by a feeling that his whole life had been a failure and that his money had destroyed any chance of happiness. At the same time, he could be ruthless in running the business while often feeling...

Wife to Richard, Duke of York, mother to Edward IV and Richard III, and aunt to the famous 'Kingmaker', Richard, Earl of Warwick, Cecily Neville was a key player on the political stage of 15th-century Britain England. Matriarch of the York dynasty, she navigated through a tumultuous period and lived to see the birth of the future Henry VIII. From seeing the house of York defeat their Lancastrian cousins; to witnessing the defeat of her own son, Richard...

This is an account of the legendary medieval rebel who challenged Henry IV. Andrew Boardman tells the story of the real Henry Percy and his overbearing family, and how the survival of a great northern dynasty led to open rebellion and ultimate military failure.

Restoration England witnessed an extraordinary flowering of literature, music, architecture and science. At the centre of the burgeoning cultural life of the age was John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester. A peerlessly witty satirist, Rochester epitomised the manners of the court of Charles II. But he was also a libertine and drunkard, a writer of scandalously offensive poetry who got himself banned from court. Rochester died of syphilis at the age of just...

Penelope Devereux was the brightest star who ever shone in the court of Elizabeth I in 16th-century England. She was the most beautiful woman of her generation and muse to countless poets and musicians, yet her story ended in tragedy: she died in disgrace, a widow, outcast from court, and stripped of all her titles.

Mary McGrigor brings to life the story of Margaret Douglas, a shadowy and mysterious character in Tudor history, but who now takes centre stage in this tale of the bitter struggle for power during the reign of Henry VIII.