Matilda

“Impressive study.”—Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian

“A fine example of the genre.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times

“A lively and authoritative account.”—Katherine Harvey, Times Literary Supplement

“This volume is designed for a wide readership and deserves to find one.”—Sean McGlynn, The Spectator

“[Matilda] will attract a growing audience interested in stories of women challenging the male-dominated European past.”—Alexandra Locking, Medieval Review

“Catherine Hanley’s accessible biography lifts Matilda from between the lines of recorded history to gives us a fascinating portrait of a woman who did not need to rule to be remembered.”—Timothy D. Lusch, The Kirk Center

“This account of Matilda’s frenetic and unfulfilled life puts the DNA of her world’s sexism front and center, which makes this thousand-year-old story feel . . . modern.”—Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Review

“The biography of Matilda I’ve been waiting for: as clear-sighted, forthright and formidable as the Empress herself. Catherine Hanley combines lucid scholarship with page-turning narrative; military expertise with a fine-grained understanding of the challenges facing a twelfth-century woman who sought to rule. The result—authoritative, human, and utterly compelling—is a triumph.”—Helen Castor, author of She-Wolves

“Ambitious and compelling. Matilda brings the female ruler alive for a new generation of readers, capturing her early experiences as the young bride of the Holy Roman Emperor, her difficult marriage to Geoffrey of Anjou, her bitter rivalry with her cousin King Stephen for the English throne, and her vitally important role in supporting the accession of her son King Henry II.”—Louise J. Wilkinson, author of Eleanor de Montfort

“A lucid and long-needed study of Matilda, the mother of the Plantagenets, England’s longest ruling dynasty, and a pivotal figure in the power struggle that followed the death of her father, Henry I. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand this remarkable woman and the tangled politics of those years when ‘Christ and his saints slept.’”—Derek Wilson, author of The Queen and the Heretic