The Best Books About the Tudors

Have you recently discovered the Tudors and want to learn more? Are you an avid Tudor fanatic obsessed with having every Tudor-related book on your shelf? The list below of the Best Books About the Tudors is perfect for both beginners and experts.

Over the years I’ve amassed quite a large list of Tudor books that I’ve read or want to read. Most are non-fiction, because that’s what I tend to read the most, but I’ve also included a few of my favorite fiction books as well. Don’t forget to also check out my Tudor book reviews page. Hope you enjoy my big list of the best books about the Tudors!

TUDOR HISTORY

• Tudor Wales by Nathen Amin
• Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I by Peter Ackroyd
• The Private Lives of the Tudors: Uncovering Secrets of Britain’s Greatest Dynasty by Tracy Borman
• Tudor Monarchs: Lives in Letters by Andrea Clarke
• Tudor Family Story by Leanda de Lisle
• The Tudors by Carol Derbyshire
• The Tudor Chronicles by Susan Doran
• England and Europe 1485-1603 by Susan Doran
• England Under the Tudors by G.R. Elton
• How to be a Tudor: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Tudor Life by Ruth Goodman
• The Making of a Tudor Dynasty by Ralph Griffiths and Roger Thomas
• House of Treason: The Rise and Fall of the Tudor Dynasty by Robert Hutchinson
• In Bed with the Tudors: The Sex Lives of a Dynasty from Elizabeth of York to Elizabeth I by Amy Licence
• A Visitor’s Companion to Tudor England by Suzannah Lipscomb
• Chronicles of the Tudor Kings by David Loades
• The Earlier Tudors 1485-1558 by John Mackie
• The Tudors by G.J. Meyer
• The House of Tudor by Alison Plowden
• The Rise of the Tudors: The Family that Changed English History by Chris Skidmore
• The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women: A Social History by Elizabeth Norton
• Ladies-in-Waiting: Women Who Served at the Tudor Court by Victoria Sylvia Evans
• Great Ladies by Sylvia Barbara Soberton
• A Tudor Christmas by Alison Weir and Siobhan Clarke
• Fifty Shades of Lady Catherine Grey: The sex scandals that shook the Tudor court by T.S. Wiseman
• Life in a Tudor Palace by Christopher Gidlow
• Cooking & Dining in Tudor & Early Stuart England by Peter Brears
• The Royal Palaces of Tudor England by Simon Thurley
• Tudor History by John Guy

HENRY VII (HENRY TUDOR)

• Henry the Seventh by James Gairdner
• The History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh by Francis Bacon
• Henry VII: The First Tudor King by Bryan Bevan
• Henry VII: The Maligned Tudor King by Terry Breverton
• Henry VII by S.B. Chrimes
• Henry VII by Sean Cunningham
• Henry VII by Alexander Grant
• Henry VII by Roger Thrush and Roger Lockyer
• Winter King by Thomas Penn
• Henry VII by Caroline Rogers and Roger Turvey
• Henry VII by Gladys Temperley
• Henry VII by Charles Williams
• The Life and Times of Henry VII by Neville Williams
• Henry VII’s New Men and the Making of Tudor England by Steven Gunn
• The Son of Prophecy: Henry Tudor’s Road to Bosworth by David Rees
• Battle of Bosworth by Michael J. Bennett
• Bosworth 1485: A Battle Rediscovered by Anne Curry and Glenn Foard
• Bosworth 1485 by Michael K. Jones
• Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors by Chris Skidmore
• Lambert Simnel and the Battle of Stoke by Michael J. Bennett
• Perkin: A Story of Deception by Anne Wroe
• Two Early Tudor Lives: The Life and Death of Cardinal Wolsey & The Life of Sir Thomas More by George Cavendish and William Roper
• House of Beaufort: The Bastard Line that Captured the Crown by Nathen Amin
• Margaret Beaufort: Mother of the Tudor Dynasty by Elizabeth Norton
• Red Roses: Blanche of Gaunt to Margaret Beaufort by Amy Licence
• The King’s Mother by Michael K. Jones and Malcolm Underwood
• The Beaufort Bride (fiction) by Judith Arnopp
• Jasper Tudor: Tudor Dynasty by Terry Breverton
• Jasper Tudor: Godfather of the Tudor Dynasty by Debra Bayani
• Jasper the Tudor Kingmaker by Sara Elin Roberts
• Elizabeth of York, the Mother of Henry VIII by Nancy Lenz Harvey
• Elizabeth of York: The Forgotten Tudor Queen by Amy Licence
• Elizabeth of York: Queenship and Power by Arlene Okerlund
• Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World by Alison Weir
• Prince Arthur: The Tudor King Who Never Was by Sean Cunningham
• First of the Tudors (fiction) by Joanna Hickson
• Daring Dynasty by Mark Horowitz
• The Last White Rose: The Secret Wars of the Tudors by Desmond Seward

HENRY VIII

• The Autobiography of Henry VIII with notes by his Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George
• Great Harry: A Biography of Henry VIII by Carolly Erickson
• Henry, Virtuous Prince by David Starkey
• Young Henry: The Rise of Henry VIII by Robert Hutchinson
• So Great A Prince by Lauren Johnson
• Henry VIII by J.J. Scarisbrick
• Reign of Henry VIII: The Personalities and Politics by David Starkey
• Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him by Tracy Borman Released January 1, 2019
• Henry VIII: The King and His Court by Alison Weir
• Inside the Tudor Court: Henry VIII and his Six Wives through the Eyes of the Spanish Ambassador by Lauren Mackay
• Who’s Who at the Tudor Court by Victoria Sylvia Evans
• 1536: The Year that Changed Henry VIII by Suzannah Lipscomb
• Henry VIII: The Life and Times of England’s Nero by John Matusiak
• The Last Days of Henry VIII: Conspiracies, Treason, and Heresy at the Court of the Dying Tyrant by Robert Hutchinson
• The King is Dead: The Last Will and Testament of Henry VIII by Suzannah Lipscomb
• Blood Will Tell: A Medical Explanation of the Tyranny of Henry VIII by Kyra Cornelius Kramer
• The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
• Thomas Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry VIII’s Most Faithful Servant by Tracy Borman
• Thomas Cromwell: The Rise and Fall of Henry VIII’s Most Notorious Minister by Robert Hutchinson
• Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch Released October 30, 2018
• Charles Brandon: The King’s Man by Sarah Bryson
• Charles Brandon: Henry VIII’s Closest Friend by Steven Gunn
• The Tudor Brandons: Mary and Charles – Henry VIII’s Nearest and Dearest by Sarah-Beth Watkins
• Margaret Tudor: The Life of Henry VIII’s Sister by Melanie Clegg
• Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots: The Life of King Henry VIII’s Sister by Sarah-Beth Watkins
• Among the Wolves at Court: The Untold Story of Thomas and George Boleyn by Lauren Mackay
• George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat by Claire Ridgway
• Jane Boleyn: The Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox
• The Raven’s Widow: A Novel of Jane Boleyn by Adrienne Dillard
• Henry VIII’s Last Love: The Extraordinary Life of Katherine Willoughby, Lady-in-Waiting to the Tudors by David Baldwin
• Wolf Hall (fiction) by Hilary Mantel
• Bring Up the Bodies (fiction) by Hilary Mantel
• Lady Katherine Knollys: The Unacknowledged Daughter of King Henry VIII by Sarah-Beth Watkins
• A Daughter’s Love: Thomas More and His Dearest Meg by John Guy

THE WIVES OF HENRY VIII

Katherine of Aragon

• Catherine of Aragon: An Intimate Life of Henry VIII’s True Wife by Amy Licence
• Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox

Anne Boleyn

• The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives
• Anne Boleyn: Adultery, Heresy, Desire by Amy Licence
• In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn by Natalie Grueninger
• The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England’s Most Notorious Queen by Susan Bordo
• The Anne Boleyn Papers by Elizabeth Norton
• The Anne Boleyn Collection: The Real Truth About the Tudors by Claire Ridgway
• The Lady in the Tower by Alison Weir

Jane Seymour

• The Seymours of Wolf Hall: A Tudor Family Story by David Loades
• Jane the Quene (fiction) by Janet Wertman

Anne of Cleves

• Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII’s Discarded Bride by Elizabeth Norton
• Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King’s Beloved Sisterby Heather Darsie To be released July 1, 2019

Catherine Howard

• Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII by Gareth Russell
• Katherine Howard: A New History by Conor Byrne and Claire Ridgway To be released September 1, 2019

Catherine Parr

• Catherine Parr: Wife, Widow, Mother, Survivor, The Story of the Last Queen of Henry VIII by Elizabeth Norton
• Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr, the Last Wife of Henry VIII by Linda Porter
• The Queen and the Heretic: How Two Women Changed the Religion of England by Derek Wilson

General

• The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser
• Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII by David Starkey
• The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
• In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII by Naralie Grueninger and Sarah Morris
• The Six Wives and Many Mistresses of Henry VIII by Amy Licence

JANE GREY / EDWARD VI

• The Sisters Who Would Be Queen by Leanda de Lisle
• Edward VI: The Lost King of England by Chris Skidmore
• Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey by Nicola Tallis

MARY I

• The King’s Pearl: Henry VIII and His Daughter Mary by Melita Thomas
• La Reine Blanche: Mary Tudor, Life in Letters by Sarah Bryson
• The Myth of Bloody Mary: A Biography of Mary I of England by Linda Porter

ELIZABETH I

• The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir
• Elizabeth I: The Novel by Margaret George
• Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey
• Elizabeth I: A Study in Insecurity by Helen Castor
• The England of Elizabeth by A.L. Rowse
• The Temptation of Elizabeth I: Elizabeth I, Thomas Seymour, and the Making of the Virgin Queen by Elizabeth Norton
• How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England: A Guide for Knaves, Fools, Harlots, Cuckolds, Drunkards, Liars, Thieves, and Braggarts by Ruth Goodman
• Elizabeth’s Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen by Tracy Borman
• The Elizabethans by A.N. Wilson
• Queen Elizabeth in the Garden by Trea Martyn
• Death and the Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I and the Dark Scandal That Rocked the Throne by Chris Skidmore
• After Elizabeth: The Rise of James of Scotland and the Struggle for the Throne of England by Leanda de Lisle
• Elizabeth’s Rival by Nicola Tallis
• Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years by John Guy

THE WARS OF THE ROSES

• The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones
• The Wars of the Roses by Anthony Goodman
• The Wars of the Roses by John Gillingham
• The Wars of the Roses by Trevor Royle
• The Wars of the Roses by A.J. Pollard
• The Wars of the Roses: The Key Players in the Struggle for Supremacy by Matthew Lewis
• The Wars of the Roses by Michael Hicks
• The Wars of the Roses/Lancaster and York by Alison Weir
• The Wars of the Roses by John Ashdown-Hill
• The Women of the Cousins’ War: The Duchess, the Queen, and the King’s Mother by Phillipa Gregory
• Root of the Tudor Rose by Mari Griffith
• The Wars of the Roses: From Richard II to the Fall of Richard III At Bosworth Field by Elizabeth Hallam
• Wales and the Wars of the Roses by Howell Thomas Evans
• Blood and Roses: One Family’s Struggle and Triumph During the Tumultuous Wars of the Roses by Helen Castor
• Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses by Sarah Gristwood
• The Women of the Wars of the Roses by Alicia Carter
• Yorkist Age: Daily Life During the Wars of the Roses by Paul Murray Kendall
• The Medieval Soldier in the Wars of the Roses by Andrew Boardman

PRE-TUDOR

• Foundation by Peter Ackroyd
• A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britainby Marc Morris
• The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshall, the Power Behind Five English Thrones by Thomas Asbridge
• The Summer Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine (fiction) by Elizabeth Chadwick
• Eleanor or Aquitaine by Alison Weir
• King John: Treachery and Tyranny in Medieval England by Marc Morris
• Plantagenet Queens & Consorts: In the Shadow of Eleanor by Steven Corvi To be released April 1, 2019
• The Plantagenets by Dan Jones
• Edward III: The Perfect King by Ian Mortimer
• The Black Prince: England’s Greatest Medieval Warrior by Michael Jones
• Medieval Intrigue: Decoding Royal Conspiracies by Ian Mortimer
• The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453 by Desmond Seward
• John of Gaunt by Sydney Armitage-Smith
• John of Gaunt: The Exercise of Princely Power in Fourteenth-Century Europe by Anthony Goodman
• The Fears of Henry IV: The Life of England’s Self-Made King by Ian Mortimer
• Henry V: The Warrior King of 1415 by Ian Mortimer
• Henry V: The Scourge of God by Desmond Seward
• An English Chronicle, 1377-1461 by C. William Marx
• Blood Roses: The Houses of Lancaster and York before the Wars of the Roses by Kathryn Warner To be released June 1, 2019

HENRY VI

• Henry the Sixth by John Blacman
• The Reign of Henry VI by Ralph A. Griffiths
• Henry VI by David Grummitt
• Henry VI by Bertram Wolffe
• The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI by Lauren Johnson To be released May 1, 2019
• Henry VI & Margaret of Anjou: A Marriage of Unequals by Amy Licence
• Margaret of Anjou: Queenship & Power in Late Medieval England by Helen Maurer
• Fatal Colours: Towton 1461 by George Goodwin & David Starkey

YORK & WARWICK THE KINGMAKER

• Warwick the Kingmaker by Michael Hicks
• Warwick the Kingmaker by Paul Murray Kendall
• Warwick the Kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame During the Wars of the Roses by A.J. Pollard
• Richard, Duke of York: King by Right by Matthew Lewis
• Son of York (fiction) by Amy Licence
• The Kingmaker’s Sisters: Six Powerful Women in the Wars of the Roses by David Baldwin

EDWARD IV

• Edward IV by Charles Derek Ross
• The Life and Reign of Edward the Fourth by Cora Scofield
• Edward IV, Glorious Son of York by Jeffrey James
• The Private Life of Edward IV by John Ashdown-Hill
• Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville: A True Romance by Amy Licence
• Elizabeth Woodville: Mother of the Princes in the Tower by David Baldwin
• The Woodvilles: The Wars of the Roses Most Infamous Family (fiction) by Susan Higginbotham
• False, Fleeting, Perjur’d Clarence: George, duke of Clarence by Micheal Hicks
• The Third Plantagenet: Duke of Clarence by John Ashdown-Hill
• Cecily Neville: Mother of Kings by Amy Licence
• The Secret Queen: Eleanor Talbot, the Woman Who Put Richard III on the Throne by John Ashdown-Hill
• Edward IV and the Wars of the Rosesby David Santiuste

RICHARD III

• Richard III by David Baldwin
• Richard III: A Ruler and His Reputation by David Horspool
• Richard the Third by Paul Murray Kendall
• Richard III: Loyalty Binds Me by Matthew Lewis
• Richard III by Charles Derek Ross
• Richard III: England’s Black Legend by Desmond Seward
• Richard III: England’s Most Controversial King by Chris Skidmore
• Richard III: Brother, Protector, King by Chris Skidmore
• Richard III: His Life and Character Reviewed in the Light of Recent Research by Clements R. Markham
• The History of King Richard III by Sir George Buck
• Richard III: The Maligned King by Annette Carson
• Richard III: A Royal Enigma by Sean Cunningham
• Mythology of Richard III by John Ashdown-Hill
• The Last Days of Richard III by John Ashdown-Hill
• The Encomium of Richard III by Sir William Cornwallis
• The Family of Richard III by Michael Hicks
• The History of King Richard III by Sir Thomas More
• A Man Who Would Be King: The Duke of Buckingham and Richard III by J.P. Reedman

THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER

• Royal Blood: Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes by Bertram Fields
• The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir
• Richard III and the Princes in the Tower by A.J. Pollard
• The Survival of the Princes in the Tower: Murder, Mystery, and Myth by Matthew Lewis
• The Lost Prince: The Survival of Richard of York by David Baldwin
• The Mythology of the Princes in the Tower by John Ashdown-Hill

QUEENS OF ENGLAND

• Queenship in England: 1303-1485 Gender and Power in the Late Middle Ages by Conor Byrne
• She Wolves by Helen Castor
• Game of Queens by Sarah Gristwood
• England’s Queens: From Boudica to Elizabeth of York by Elizabeth Norton

GENERAL BRITISH MEDIEVAL HISTORY

• The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England by Antonia Fraser
• A Brief History of the English Reformation by Derek Wilson
• The Medieval Soldier’s World: 15th Century Campaign Life Recreated in Color Photographs by Gary Embleton
• Life in a Medieval Castle by Joseph Gies and Francis Gies
• Medieval Lives by Terry Jones
• The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer
• Medieval Medicine: Its Mysteries and Science by Toni Mount
• Inglorious Royal Marriages by Leslie Carroll
• The New Chronicles of England and France by Robert Fabyan
• The Great Chronicle of London by Robert Fabyan
• Three Fifteenth-Century Chronicles: With Historical Memoranda by John Stowe by James Gairdner
• Kings and Nobles in the later Middle Ages by James Sherborne and Ralph Griffiths
• The English Experience in France by David Grummitt
• Holinshed’s Chronicles: The Historie of England, Bookes I-IV by Raphael Holinshed
• Tower by Nigel Jones
• England in the Later Middle Ages by M.H. Keen
• English Coronation Records by L.G. Wickham Legg
• Ye Olde Good Inn Guide by James Moore
• Here Be Dragons: A Novel (fiction) by Sharon Kay Penman
• To Hold the Crown (fiction) by Jean Plaidy
• The Hollow Crown: A History of Britain in the Late Middle Ages by Miri Rubin
• A History of the English Monarchy: From Boadicea to Elizabeth I by Gareth Russell
• Monarchy: From Middle Ages to Modernity by David Starkey