Alison Weir ( Matthews) is a British author and

public historian Public history is a broad range of activities undertaken by people with some training in the discipline of history who are generally working outside of specialized academic settings. Public history practice is deeply rooted in the areas of historic ...

. She primarily writes about the history of English royal women and families, in the form of biographies that explore their historical setting. She has also written numerous works of

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

. Her first work, ''Britain's Royal Families'' (published in 1989), was a genealogical overview of the British royal family. She subsequently wrote biographies of

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine ( or ; ; , or ; – 1 April 1204) was Duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As ...

Isabella of France Isabella of France ( – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as the She-Wolf of France (), was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the wife of Edward II of England, King Edward II, and ''de facto'' regent of England from 1327 ...

Katherine Swynford Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster (born Katherine de Roet, – 10 May 1403) was the third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth (but third surviving) son of King Edward III. Daughter of a knight from County of Hainaut, Ha ...

Elizabeth of York Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII of England, Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. She was the daughter of King E ...

, and the

Princes in the Tower The Princes in the Tower refers to the mystery of the fate of the deposed King Edward V of England and his younger brother Prince Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, heirs to the throne of King Edward IV of England. The brothers were the only ...

. Other focuses have included

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

and his family and England's Medieval Queens. Weir has published historical overviews of the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...

and royal weddings, as well as historical fiction novels on English queens, including each wife of Henry VIII.

Early life

Weir was brought up in Westminster, London. She has been married to Rankin Weir since 1972,GRO Register of Marriages: DEC 1972 5d 1846 PANCRAS Rankin Weir=Alison Matthews and now lives in Surrey. She described her mother as "a genuinely good person with heaps of integrity, strength of character, humour and wisdom, and has overcome life’s trials with commendable fortitude."GRO Register of Births: SEP 1951 5c 1617 LAMBETH, mmn=Marston Weir recalls how, at the age of fourteen, she read Lozania Prole's ''Henry's Golden Queen'', a "really trashy" novel about the life of

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...

. She then became interested in the field of history. She was educated at

City of London School for Girls The City of London School for Girls (CLSG) is a private school adjacent to the Barbican Centre, part of the Barbican Estate, in the City of London. It is the partner school of the all-boys City of London School and the City of London Freemen's ...

and North Western Polytechnic, becoming a history teacher. She opted to abandon teaching as a career after a disillusion with "trendy teaching methods", so she worked as a civil servant, and later as a housewife and mother. Between 1991 and 1997, she ran a school for children with learning difficulties.

Career

Non-fiction

In the 1970s, Weir spent four years researching and writing a biography of the six wives of

. Her work was deemed too long by publishers, and was consequently rejected. A revised version would be published in 1991 as her second book, ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII''. In 1981, she wrote a book on

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (; 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was ...

, which was again rejected by publishers, this time because it was too short. Weir finally became a published author in 1989 with ''Britain's Royal Families'', a compilation of genealogical information about the

British Royal Family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

. She had revised the work eight times over a twenty-two-year period, and decided that it might be "of interest to others". After organising it into chronological order,

The Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1887 by John Lane and Elkin Mathews, The Bodley Head existed as an independent entity or as part of multiple consortia until it was acquired by Random ...

agreed to publish it. Weir would not start writing full-time until the late 1990s. While running the school for children with learning difficulties, she published the non-fiction works ''The Princes in the Tower'' (1992), ''Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses'' (1995), and ''Children of England: The Heirs of King Henry VIII'' (1996). Now writing books full-time, she produced ''Elizabeth the Queen'' (1998) (published in America as ''The Life of Elizabeth I''), ''

: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England'' (1999), ''Henry VIII: The King and His Court'' (2001), ''

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

and the Murder of

Lord Darnley Lord Darnley is a noble title associated with a Scottish Lordship of Parliament, first created in 1356 for the family of Stewart of Darnley and tracing a descent to the Dukedom of Richmond in England. The title's name refers to Darnley in Scot ...

'' (2003), and ''

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...

: She-Wolf of France, Queen of England'' (2005). '' Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and his Scandalous Duchess'' followed in 2007, and ''The Lady in The Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn'' in 2009. ''Traitors of the Tower'' came out in 2010. The following year, she completed ''The Ring and the Crown: A History of Royal Weddings'' and ''Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings'', the first full non-fiction biography of

Mary Boleyn Mary Boleyn, also known as Lady Mary, (Antonia Fraser, ''The Wives of Henry VIII'' (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1992), p. 119 – 19 or 30 July 1543) was the sister of List of English royal consorts, English queen consort Anne Boleyn, whose fami ...

, sister of Anne Boleyn. In 2013 she published ''Elizabeth of York – A Tudor Queen and Her World'', a biography on

, mother of Henry VIII. Weir has written two books on England's Medieval Queens: ''Queens of Conquest'' published in 2017 and ''Queens of the Crusades'', published 5 November 2020 by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

. Many of Weir's works deal with the

Tudor period In England and Wales, the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including the Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with ...

, which she considers "the most dramatic period in our history, with vivid, strong personalities... The Tudor period is the first one for which we have a rich visual record, with the growth of portraiture, and detailed sources on the private lives of kings and queens. This was an age that witnessed a growth in diplomacy and the spread of the printed word."

Fiction

Weir wrote historical novels while a teenager, and her novel in the genre of historical fiction, ''

Innocent Traitor ''Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey'' is a historical novel by Alison Weir, published in 2006. It is the story of Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen of England for nine days in 1553. Previously known for her non-fiction publications, ''Inn ...

'', based on the life of

Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage, and nicknamed as the "Nine Days Queen", was an English noblewoman who was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland on 10 July 1553 and reigned ...

, was published in 2006. When researching

, Weir realised that it would "be very liberating to write a novel in which I could write what I wanted while keeping to the facts". She decided to make Jane Grey her focus because she "didn't have a very long life and there wasn't a great deal of material". She found the transition to fiction easy, explaining, "Every book is a learning curve, and you have to keep an open mind. I am sometimes asked to cut back on the historical facts in my novels, and there have been disagreements over whether they obstruct the narrative, but I do hold out for the history whenever I can." Her second novel is ''The Lady Elizabeth'', which deals with the life of

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

before her ascent to the throne. It was published in 2008 in the United Kingdom and United States. Her next novel, ''The Captive Queen'', was released in the summer of 2010. Its subject, Eleanor of Aquitaine, had been the subject of a non-fiction biography by Weir in 1999. ''Traitors of the Tower'' is a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

written by Weir and published on

World Book Day World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright ...

2010. Working with Quick Reads and Skillswise, Weir has recorded the first chapter as a taster and introduction to get people back into the habit of reading. Weir published ''The Marriage Game'', a historical novel featuring Elizabeth I and

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years. Dudley's youth was ove ...

, in June 2014. In May 2016 her novel ''Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen'' was published, the first of a six-book series on the theme of ''Six Tudor Queens'', each covering one of Henry VIII's six wives. The final novel in the series, ''Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife'' was published in May 2021.

Writing style

Weir's writings have been described as being in the genre of

popular history Popular history, also called pop history, is a broad genre of historiography that takes a popular approach, aims at a wide readership, and usually emphasizes narrative, personality and vivid detail over scholarly analysis. The term is used in con ...

, an area that sometimes attracts criticism from academia; according to one source, popular history "seeks to inform and entertain a large general audience... Dramatic storytelling often prevails over analysis, style over substance, simplicity over complexity, and grand generalization over careful qualification." Weir argues that "history is not the sole preserve of academics, although I have the utmost respect for those historians who undertake new research and contribute something new to our knowledge. History belongs to us all, and it can be accessed by us all. And if writing it in a way that is accessible and entertaining, as well as conscientiously researched, can be described as popular, then, yes, I am a popular historian, and am proud and happy to be one." Kathryn Hughes, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', said of Weir's popular historian label, "To describe her as a popular historian would be to state a literal truth – her chunky explorations of Britain's early modern past sell in the kind of multiples that others can only dream of." Reviews of Weir's works have been mixed. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' said of ''The Lady in the Tower'' that "it is testament to Weir's artfulness and elegance as a writer that The Lady in the Tower remains fresh and suspenseful, even though the reader knows what's coming." On the other hand,

Diarmaid MacCulloch Diarmaid Ninian John MacCulloch (; born 31 October 1951) is an English academic and historian, specialising in ecclesiastical history and the history of Christianity. Since 1995, he has been a fellow of St Cross College, Oxford; he was former ...

, in a review of ''Henry VIII: King and Court'', called it "a great pudding of a book, which will do no harm to those who choose to read it. Detail is here in plenty, but Tudor England is more than royal wardrobe lists, palaces and sexual intrigue." ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', reviewing the novel, ''The Captive Queen'', said that she had "skillfully imagined royal lives" in previous works, "but her style here is marred by less than subtle characterizations and some seriously cheesy writing", while ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' said of the same book, "12th-century France could be the dark side of the moon for all we learn about it by the end of this book."

Personal life

Weir lives in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

with her husband, son and daughter. She has called "Mrs Ellen", a fictional character from her novel about Jane Grey, most like her own personality, commenting that, "As I was writing the book, my maternal side was projected into this character." Weir is a supporter of the renovation of

Northampton Castle Northampton Castle in Northampton, was one of the most prominent Norman castles in England. The castle site was outside the western city gate, and defended on three sides by deep trenches. A branch of the River Nene provided a natural barrier ...

, explaining that the estate is a "historic site of prime importance; it would be tragic if it were to be lost forever. I applaud the work of the Friends of Northampton Castle in lobbying for its excavation and for the regeneration of the area that would surely follow."

Works

Non fiction

* ''Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy'' (1989) * '' The Six Wives of Henry VIII'' (1991) * ''The Princes in the Tower'' (1992), republished in 2014 as ''Richard III and the Princes in the Tower'' * ''Lancaster and York – The Wars of the Roses'' (1995), published in the US as ''The Wars of the Roses'' * ''Children of England: The Heirs of King Henry VIII'' (1996), published in the US as ''The Children of Henry VIII'' * ''Elizabeth the Queen'' (1998), published in the US as ''The Life of Elizabeth I'' * ''Eleanor of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England'' (1999), published in the US as ''Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life'' * ''Henry VIII: King and Court'' (2001), published in the US as ''Henry VIII: The King and His Court'' * ''Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley'' (2003) * ''Isabella: She-Wolf of France, Queen of England'' (2005), published in the US as ''Queen Isabella'' * '' Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and his Scandalous Duchess'' (2007), published in the US as ''Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster'' * ''The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn'' (2009) * ''Traitors of the Tower'' (2010) * ''The Ring and the Crown: A History of Royal Weddings'' (2011), co-authored with Kate Williams, Sarah Gristwood and Tracy Borman * ''Mary Boleyn: The Great and Infamous Whore'' (2011), published in the US as ''Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings'' * ''Elizabeth of York: The First Tudor Queen'' (2013), published in the US as ''Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World'' * ''The Lost Tudor Princess: A Life of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox'' (2015) * ''Queens of the Conquest'' (2017) * ''A Tudor Christmas'' (2018) * ''Queens of the Crusades'' (2020) * ''Queens of the Age of Chivalry'' (2022)

Fiction

* ''

'' (2006) * ''The Lady Elizabeth'' (2008) * ''The Captive Queen'' (2010) * ''Dangerous Inheritance'' (2012), published in the US as ''Dangerous Inheritance: A Novel of Tudor Rivals and the Secret of the Tower'' * ''The Marriage Game: A Novel of Elizabeth I'' (2014) * ''Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen'' (2016) * ''Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession'' (2017) * ''Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen'' (2018) * ''Anna of Kleve: Queen of Secrets'' (2019) * ''Katheryn Howard: The Tainted Queen'' (2020) * ''Katherine Parr: The Sixth Wife'' (2021) * ''In the Shadow of Queens: Tales from the Tudor Court'' (2021) * ''Elizabeth of York: The Last White Rose'' (May 2022) * ''Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown'' (May 2023), to be published in the US as ''The King's Pleasure: A Novel of Henry VIII'' * ''Mary I; Queen of Sorrows'' (May 2024), to be published in the US as ''The Passionate Tudor; A Novel of Queen Mary I'' (May 2024)

Notes

External links

Alison Weir: official site

Penguin Random House: Alison Weir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, Alison 1951 births 20th-century English historians 21st-century English historians 21st-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English women writers Living people People educated at the City of London School for Girls People from Westminster Alumni of the University of North London Historians of England Historians of monarchy and royalty English historical novelists British women historical novelists English biographers English women novelists British women historians English women non-fiction writers British women biographers Royal biographers Tudor historians Writers from the City of Westminster