Regina cover art

Regina

A New History of Women and Power

Preview
Free with 30-day trial
Prime logo New to Audible Prime Member exclusive:
2 credits with free trial
1 credit a month to use on any title to download and keep
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks
Download titles to your library and listen offline
₹199.00 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Regina

Written by: Kate Williams
Narrated by: Esther Wane, Kate Williams
Free with 30-day trial

₹199.00 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for ₹842.13

Buy Now for ₹842.13

From Cleopatra to Grace Kelly, an epic new history of royal women that shatters the myths we have built around them.

'Erudite, clever, brilliant' KATE MOSSE
'A royal smash. Kate Williams is at the top of her game' KATE LISTER
'A fascinating and excellent chronicle of female rulers' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE
'Williams enlarges our past, transforming our understanding of power' DAN SNOW

Stories about royal women form some of our most foundational myths about femininity, and yet their legacies have been almost entirely constructed by the words and images created by men.

In Regina, acclaimed historian Kate Williams leads us deep into a world of queens, empresses, princesses, mistresses and courtiers, uncovering how their ambitions were shaped, celebrated and often thwarted, exposing a tangled web of women and power that spans thousands of years.

Ranging from the ancient civilisations of Egypt and Mesopotamia to the opulent courts of the pre-modern world and the last days of colonialism, Williams delves into the lives of these remarkable women, revealing both their trials and triumphs as they navigate political intrigue, family rivalries and personal sacrifices.

From Hatshepsut and Boudica, through Tudor queens Catherine of Aragon and Lady Jane Grey, to Queen Victoria's contemporaries Yaa Asantewaa of Ghana and Queen Lili'uokalani of Hawaii, and right up to Princess Diana, this is a thrilling, globe-spanning story of queens and royal woman, of female power through the ages that unlocks how we understand women, politics and power today.©2026 Kate Williams (P)2026 Orion Publishing Group Limited
Ancient Egypt Europe Great Britain Middle East Modern Politics & Activism Royalty Women
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic Reviews

Regina is the crowning achievement of a lifetime of telling women's stories . . . Kate Williams is a woman of great power herself
Terrific . . . absolutely compelling
Lyrical, rich . . . Williams enlarges our past, transforming our understanding of power. Williams has shown me that our appreciation of the past is incomplete. She writes so eloquently about female power, not to detract from traditional notions of kingship but adding vastly to them to provide a richer, more comprehensive history. Kate Williams is a queen of narrative history
A fascinating and excellent chronicle of female rulers - some wildly famous, some much neglected - that is effectively a world history told through regal biographies and a guide how to be a queen, wonderfully told by a consummate historian who combines authoritative scholarship with compelling storytelling
This is so much more than a history of female rulers: it shines a dazzling, often unflattering light on how women in power have been viewed by the societies in which they lived. Brilliantly-written, thought-provoking and utterly compelling throughout, it provokes admiration and anger in equal measure. A stunning achievement
These really are Great Lives. Brilliant, fascinating portraits, told with scholarship and wry humour. I've learned the origin of 'Pharoah' and why no one knows Boudica's real name. This is my historical happy place
Erudite, clever, brilliant, this is a beguiling analysis of the world through the lives of 3000 years of female rulers. Essential reading for all who care about how history is made, and whose story gets to be told. Regina is a triumph
Their stories have been told through the centuries - but all too often filtered through the words of men. In Regina, Kate Williams restores what was lost in a landmark history of royal women, power and the enduring myths we were never meant to question
Brilliant. Yet again, Williams brings history to life in the most sizzling, scintillating way, combining meticulous research with dynamo storytelling. This book is a triumph!
A royal smash. Kate Williams is at the top of her game. She tells the story of queenship with the glitz of a royal ball and the precision of the executioner's axe. If you think you know the history of queens, think again. Kate Williams really is the queen of royal history.
One of Britain's most cherished public historians and leading expert of European Elite women strikes again. From the she-king Hatshepsut, the guillotined Marie-Antoinette to the beloved Princess Diana, Williams's magnificent new book Regina takes us on an exhilarating expedition across 3000 years of women's history. Williams's exquisite signature plume confronts inherited and pervasive misogyny across continents while celebrating female monarchs and power broker's ruling methods and unique achievements. Regina is a compelling invitation to embed Women's history more strongly into World and Colonial Histories
No reviews yet