'BECOMING QUEEN showcases an oustanding talent, from which we can expect much more.' SpectatorBooks of the Year I cannot recommend it highly enough.' Alison Weir This fresh and vivid portrayal of the young Queen Victoria is deserving of the highest praise. She has perfected the art of historical biography and her pacy writing is underpinned by the most impeccable scholarship. Even the most fervent anti-monarchist might warm to this history about the young, pragmatic and reserved ‘Lilibet’.' BBC History Magazine ‘This is accomplished history, told with literary grace and intellectual confidence. 'Sumptuous period detail and a narrative crammed with intrigue and speculation, this is the debut novel Kate Williams was born to write.' Sunday Telegraph 'Intense, intelligent and hugely entertaining, THE PLEASURES OF MEN will add Williams to the ranks of queens of contemporary fiction.' Guardian Kate Williams is already an accomplished biographer The Pleasures of Men shows a soaring talent let loose.' Independent This intoxicating and disturbing novel is properly thrilling and extraordinarily well-written. 'THE PLEASURES OF MEN shares with Wolf Hall an ambitious, challenging concern with form combined with a pitch-perfect historical ear. Kate Williams illuminates with skill.' Country Life 'That Josephine was able to weather the storms that beset her throughout her eventful life is a testament to a determination that history has often underestimated, but which receives full credit in this scintillating new biography. In 2019, Kate chaired the Women's Prize for Fiction. She reviews and writes often for newspapers and magazines and lives in London.

She is CNN's in-house historian and analyst. She was the social historian on BBC2's Restoration Home and her BBC 2 documentary 'Young Victoria is often repeated. She appears weekly on television and radio, discussing social history, royal history and general politics and culture. She studied her degree and DPhil at Somerville College, Oxford and is now the Director of Life Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. She wrote THE RING AND THE CROWN on the history of royal weddings with fellow history girls, Alison Weir, Sarah Gristwood and Tracy Borman. She is the author of historical biographies, ENGLAND'S MISTRESS ('wonderful', Washington Post), BECOMING QUEEN ('outstanding', Spectator), YOUNG ELIZABETH ('fascinating', Telegraph), JOSEPHINE ('a sparkling account,' The Daily Mail) and the novels, THE PLEASURES OF MEN ('thrilling.a soaring talent let loose', Independent) and THE STORMS OF WAR ('the new Cazalet Chronicles,' Lisa Hilton). Kate Williams is a historian, author and broadcaster.

The Ring and the Crown by Alison Weir