Royal Women

Crown of Venus by Jeffrey Lee is a guide to royal women around the world.

Queen, Empress, Concubine: 50 Women Rulers From Cleopatra to Catherine the Great by Claudia Gold. Includes entries on Hatshepsut, Queen Christina, Maria Theresa, Bathsheba, Lucrezia Borgia, Cixi, Roxelana, and Marie Antoinette.

The Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser discusses the legends and lives of women who have led their nations in war, including Cleopatra and Queen Isabella of Spain.

Ancient Queens: Archaeological Explorations edited by Sarah Milledge Nelson. Essays examining the power of queens in ancient Asia, North and South America, Europe, and Africa.

The Forgotten Queens of Islam by Fatima Mernissi, translated by Mary Jo Lakeland, is a history of Islamic royal women.

Extraordinary Women of the Medieval and Renaissance World: A Biographical Dictionary edited by Carole Levin. Profiles of 70 women, including a number of queens.

Doomed Queens: Royal Women Who Met Bad Ends, From Cleopatra to Princess Di by Kris Waldherr. Brief, illustrated lives of 50 royal women, including well-known figures like Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's starter wife, and forgotten women like Amalasuntha, an Ostrogoth princess who was strangled in her bath.

Royal Portraits in Hollywood: Filming the Lives of Queens by Elizabeth A. Ford and Deborah C. Mitchell. Analyzes 75 years of films about queens and the lives of the actresses who starred in them, showing how filmmaking and society's perceptions of gender have changed. Includes photos.

Women Who Ruled by Guida M. Jackson. Brief biographies of female heads of state throughout history. I have this book and I like it; it's very entertaining to read. Out of print, but available from Alibris.

Woman Ruler: Woman Rule by Elin Sand. Tells the stories of 27 female rulers from around the world, including Nzinga of Angola, Dido of Carthage, and England's Elizabeth I. Illustrated.

Scandalous Women by Elizabeth Kerri Mahon. The lives and loves of history's most notorious women (including Cleopatra).

Children's Books

Ten Queens: Portraits of Women of Power by Milton Meltzer, illustrated by Bethanne Andersen and Bill Basso. From the courage and beauty of Esther to the reforming spirit of Catherine the Great, the stories of ten women who ruled.

More Books About Royal Women

Royal Women in Africa
Royal Women in Egypt
Royal Women in Europe
Books About Byzantine Empresses
Royal Women in Great Britain
Books About Irish Queens
Ottoman Royal Women & Harems
Royal Women in Saudi Arabia
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