Our Books
Amy and Rebecca have both published books with Pen and Sword Books. Here you can find details of published titles and those coming soon. Click on the titles to order.
Amy
Educating the Tudors - January 2023 - SIGNED copies available, if you’re in the UK and would like to order a signed copy please contact Amy directly or comment.
Education during the Tudor era was a privilege and took many forms including schools, colleges and apprenticeships. Those responsible for delivering education came from a variety of backgrounds from the humble parish priest to the most famed poet-laureates of the day. Curriculums varied according to wealth, gender and geography. The wealthy could afford the very best of tutors and could study as much or as little as they chose whilst the poorer members of society could only grasp at opportunities in the hopes of providing themselves with a better future.
The Tudors were educated during a time when the Renaissance was sweeping across Europe and Henry VIII became known as a Renaissance Prince but what did his education consist of? Who were his tutors? How did his education differ to that of his elder brother, Prince Arthur and how did Henry's education change upon the death of his brother? There is no doubt Henry was provided with an excellent education, particularly in comparison to his sisters, Margaret and Mary. Henry's own education would go on to influence his decisions of tutors for his own children. Who had the privilege of teaching Henry's children and did they dare to use corporal punishment?
Educating the Tudors seeks to answer all of these questions, delving into the education of all classes, the subjects they studied, educational establishment and those who taught them.
Women's Lives in the Tudor Era - February 2024
Women in the Tudor age are often overshadowed by their male counterparts. Even those of royalty were deemed inferior to males. Whilst women may have been classed as the inferior gender, women played a vital role in Tudor society. As daughters, mothers and wives they were expected to be obedient to the man of the household, but how effective would those households be without the influence of women?
Many opportunities including much formal education and professions were closed to women, their early years spent imitating their mothers before learning to run a household in preparation for marriage. Once married their responsibilities would vary greatly according to their social status and rank. Widowhood left some in vulnerable conditions while for others it enabled them to make a life for themselves and become independent in a largely patriarchal society.
Women's Lives in the Tudor Era aims to look at the roles of women across all backgrounds and how expectations of them differed during the various stages of life.
Mary Tudor, Queen of France - Coming soon - February 2025
Mary Tudor, Henry VIII's sister, lived a remarkable life. A princess, duchess and queen, she was known as the English Rose for her beauty. Mary Tudor, Queen of France, aims to explore the life of one of the few who stood up to Henry VIII and lived to tell the tale.
Henry VIII is well known, but his larger-than-life character often overshadows that of his sisters. Mary Tudor was born a princess, married a king and then a duke, and lived an extraordinary life. This book focuses on Mary’s life, her childhood, her relationship with Henry, her marriages and her relationship with her husbands.
Mary grew up in close proximity to Henry, becoming his favourite sister, and later, after her marriage to the French king, she married his best friend, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The events impacting the siblings will be reviewed to examine how they may have changed and shaped their relationship.
Rebecca
Ann Walker - February 2023
Lesbian. Lover. Lunatic.
These are just some of the words usually used to describe Ann Walker, the oft overlooked wife of Anne Lister, better known by some as Gentleman Jack. Ann was one half of England’s first same-sex marriage and yet the rainbow plaque that marks their historic union on the wall of the Holy Trinity Church, York, features Ann’s name in a font only half the size of her wife’s. Her story has been long forgotten.
Born into wealth and privilege Ann was one of the most eligible heiresses in 19th century Yorkshire and the question on everyone’s lips in 1830’s Halifax was why a respectable young heiress, with property, fortune and connection risked everything, even her freedom, to become entangled with the notorious Gentleman Jack?
The answer to this question reveals a woman of immense courage, faith, and determination, but her voice has remained silent….until now. Within the depths of Ann’s diary - discovered by Diane Halford in 2020 - the answers to some of the above questions can be found, as can insight into Ann as an independent woman.
The life of Ann is worthy of its own narrative and it is time for Ann to step out of the shadow of Gentleman Jack and tell her own story.
Anne Neville, Queen and Wife of Richard III - July 2024
Daughter, Wife, Princess, Widow and Queen: Anne Neville had many faces.
Shakespeare presents her to us as a woman consumed with rage, bitterness and grief. He has her cursing the killer of her husband and father, before marrying him and condemning herself to despair. She rages, screams and weeps but ultimately she is shown as nothing more than a passive victim of the men who used and exploited her.
This could not be further from the truth. Born into one of the most powerful dynasties in medieval England, Anne knew her worth, and her power. She was a great survivor escaping the tide of blood that consumed England not just alive but emerging with a crown on her head.
Tragedy would untimely engulf her, the death of her son ended all her hopes for a lasting legacy and her premature death was subject to rumour and speculation. But there is undoubtedly more to Anne than her marriage and her end.
She is fascinating, elusive, a powerbroker and very much her father’s daughter.
This is Anne’s story.
The Lord Protector and His Wives - Coming soon - February 2025
Sometime before 1518 Edward Seymour, the brother of Queen Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, married Catherine Filliol. Catherine gained connections in the highest echelons of Tudor society and Edward the prospect of a large inheritance. It should have been a match made in heaven, but instead, within a decade, they were engulfed in uncertainty and scandal. Catherine was repudiated, and the two sons she had borne her husband eventually disinherited.
The nature of this scandal is unclear but later historians accused Catherine of an affair with her father-in-law. Her exact fate remains uncertain, but by 1535, Edward was free to marry again, and he turned his attention to another heiress, Anne Stanhope, who would, in her own way, prove to be just as scandalous. Katherine Parr would call Anne “that hell”, but she was strong, opinionated and fiercely intelligent. A friend of Anne Askew, a connection that almost cost her her life, Anne lived to see her brother-in-law, her half-brother, and her husband go to the block. Imprisoned in the Tower herself she managed to keep her head and ultimately emerged wealthy and powerful, dying peacefully on the 16th April 1587 at Hanworth Palace. Anne was the ultimate Tudor survivor.
