Alison Weir Books

Description /Buy link takes you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Alison Weir is a British historian and author that writes both fiction and nonfiction. She spends a lot of time writing about the female members of the English royal family and their roles in specific historical settings.

Get notified when Alison Weir releases a new book at BookNotification.com.

Book Notification

Order of Six Tudor Queens Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Six Tudor Queens (Short Story) 2016 Description / Buy
2 Arthur: Prince of the Roses (Short Story) 2016 Description / Buy
3 Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen 2016 Description / Buy
4 The Blackened Heart (Short Story) 2017 Description / Buy
5 Anne Boleyn, A King's Obsession 2017 Description / Buy
6 The Tower is Full of Ghosts Today (Short Story) 2017 Description / Buy
7 The Chateau of Briis: A Lesson in Love (Short Story) 2018 Description / Buy
8 Jane Seymour, The Haunted Queen 2018 Description / Buy
9 The Grandmother's Tale (Short Story) 2018 Description / Buy
10 The Unhappiest Lady in Christendom (Short Story) 2018 Description / Buy
11 Anna of Kleve, The Princess in the Portrait 2019 Description / Buy
12 The King's Painter (Short Story) 2019 Description / Buy
13 The Curse of the Hungerfords (Short Story) 2019 Description / Buy
14 Katheryn Howard, The Scandalous Queen / The Tainted Queen 2020 Description / Buy
15 The Princess of Scotland (Short Story) 2020 Description / Buy
16 The Wicked Wife (Short Story) 2021 Description / Buy
17 Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife 2021 Description / Buy
18 The Queen's Child (Short Story) 2021 Description / Buy
19 In This New Sepulchre (Short Story) 2021 Description / Buy

Order of Elizabeth I Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 The Lady Elizabeth 2008 Description / Buy
2 The Marriage Game 2014 Description / Buy

Order of England's Medieval Queens Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Queens of the Conquest 2017 Description / Buy
2 Queens of the Crusades 2021 Description / Buy
3 Queens of the Age of Chivalry 2022 Description / Buy

Order of Tudor Rose Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Firstborn (Short Story) 2022 Description / Buy
2 Elizabeth of York: The Last White Rose 2022 Description / Buy
3 The Golden Prince (Short Story) 2023 Description / Buy
4 Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown 2023 Description / Buy
5 The King's Pleasure 2023 Description / Buy
6 The Passionate Tudor 2024 Description / Buy
7 Mary I: Queen of Sorrows 2024 Description / Buy
8 The True and Terrible Tale of Perotine Massey (Short Story) 2024 Description / Buy

Order of Alison Weir Standalone Novels

# Read Title Published Details
1 Innocent Traitor 2006 Description / Buy
2 Captive Queen 2010 Description / Buy
3 A Dangerous Inheritance 2012 Description / Buy
4 The Cardinal 2025 Description / Buy

Order of Alison Weir Short Stories/Novellas

# Read Title Published Details
1 Traitors of the Tower (Short Story) 2010 Description / Buy

Order of Alison Weir Non-Fiction Books

# Read Title Published Details
1 Britain's Royal Families 1989 Description / Buy
2 The Six Wives of Henry VIII 1991 Description / Buy
3 The Princes in the Tower 1992 Description / Buy
4 The Wars of the Roses 1995 Description / Buy
5 The Children of England / The Children of Henry VIII 1996 Description / Buy
6 The Life of Elizabeth I 1998 Description / Buy
7 Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life 1999 Description / Buy
8 Henry VIII: The King and His Court 2001 Description / Buy
9 Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley 2003 Description / Buy
10 Queen Isabella 2005 Description / Buy
11 Isabella: She-Wolf of France, Queen of England 2005 Description / Buy
12 Katherine Swynford / Mistress of the Monarchy 2009 Description / Buy
13 The Lady in the Tower 2009 Description / Buy
14 The Ring and the Crown ( With: Kate Williams, Sarah Gristwood, Tracy Borman) 2011 Description / Buy
15 Mary Boleyn 2011 Description / Buy
16 Elizabeth of York 2013 Description / Buy
17 Richard III and the Princes in the Tower 2014 Description / Buy
18 The Lost Tudor Princess 2016 Description / Buy
19 A Tudor Christmas 2018 Description / Buy
Print: Print PDF

Born in 1951 in London, Alison spent her childhood in Westminster. After attending the City of London School for Girls, she trained as a teacher at the North-Western Polytechnic of London. Weir taught history for a while before taking issue with the teaching methods taking root in the education system.

The author left to become a civil servant. After a while, her role as a wife (to Rankin Weir) and mother became a priority. Her interest in history was ignited when she read ‘Henry’s Golden Queen.’ At 14, Weir was probably too young to read the lurid adult novel.

Nonetheless, the novel entranced her. She started reading history books to determine whether or not the novel’s events were based on reality. Weir spent the next few months using contemporary resources (partly) to write an Anne Boleyn biography, not to mention a reference work on the Tudor dynasty.

The 3-volume project was just the starting point. If the author had her way, she would have become a published author in the 1970s. But even though she spent four years researching and writing about Henry VIII’s six wives, publishers rejected her manuscript because it was too long.

Fortunately, Weir was unwilling to abandon ‘The Six Wives of Henry VIII.’ It came out in 1991 after undergoing revisions. Interestingly enough, it was the second manuscript she published.

The first was ‘Britain’s Royal Families,’ which came out in 1989. Years earlier, she wrote a book about Jane Seymour. But once again, publishers rejected the manuscript because of the length (Too Short).

It took Weir 21 years and eight revisions to get ‘British Royal Families’ right. The Bodley Head liked Weir’s work and agreed to publish it. This paved the way for the author’s career, turning Alison Weir into an author of historical nonfiction.

When Random House took over The Bodley Head, Weir jumped to Jonathan Cape. Her books have been published in the UK, US, Spain, Turkey, France, Russia, and more.

In the early 2000s, she finally turned her attention to fiction. After writing nonfiction for so many years, Weir decided that she liked the idea of writing in a field that did not expect her to adhere to the rules. She was still determined to stick to the facts. But the notion of concocting brand-new stories from her head as opposed to repeating historical facts excited her. The transition wasn’t easy.

She clashed with her publishers on some occasions because they wanted her to cut specific historical facts that obstructed the narrative instead of enhancing it. But after a bit of practice, Weir got the hang of things.

The Tudor period fascinates her because it is highly dramatic. So much happens, and the events during this period are driven by individuals with strong personalities.

Weir has a rich collection of sources to draw from for her Tudor-related books, including documents that provide a detailed look at the private lives of Europe’s Kings and Queens.

Best Alison Weir Books

Some academics have criticized the author for writing popular history. But Weir takes pride in the fact that she presents history in a manner that is not only entertaining but easier to digest for the layperson. She rejects scholars who act like history belongs to them alone. Weir’s best books include:

The Six Wives of Henry VIII: This book explores the life of Henry VIII. The monarch was obsessed with siring a son, and he was not afraid to break social conventions and religious traditions to get his way.

Weir explores the women that Henry pulled into his circle in his attempt to create an heir, women he manipulated and pitted against one another.

The Life of Elizabeth I: Queen Elizabeth I was an enigma. She valued her privacy above all else, keeping her own counsel and choosing to keep her closest advisers at arm’s length. As a result, people have numerous misconceptions about the woman.

Weir uses this book to dispel some of those misconceptions. She gives readers a glimpse of the real person behind the myth.

When Does The Next Alison Weir book come out?

The next book by Alison Weir is The Cardinal and will be released on May, 27th 2025.

BookSeries.orgBook Notification

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

BookSeries.org