Our Top History Books of 2026… So Far!

Multiple authors
32 minutes ago
13 min read

Written by Emma Holbrook, Amber Rose, Kat Dewar and Emily Hammonds

What makes a history book impossible to put down? Is it uncovering a story from the past you thought you already knew, discovering the darker secrets hidden behind palace walls, or watching a historical figure come vividly to life on the page?

For our latest collaborative post, the writers of The Ill-Fated Wives of Henry VIII are sharing some of the books that have stood out to us most in 2026 so far. They aren't necessarily books published this year — some are recent discoveries, while others are old favourites we've found ourselves returning to — but each has reminded us why we love reading about history.

Our choices range from historical fiction that breathes new life into familiar figures and imagines the tantalising gaps left behind by the historical record, to non-fiction that delves into some of the most fascinating, scandalous and downright gruesome corners of the past. Expect Tudor executions and particularly horrific deaths alongside royal gossip, love, relationships and the intimate stories of people who lived centuries ago.

So, whether you're looking for your next historical obsession or simply want to know what has been keeping our writers turning the pages this year, here are some of our favourite history reads of 2026… so far!

Emma’s Pick:

Bloody, Brilliant Tudors: 100 Tales of Gowns, Gossip and Gory Ends by Elizabeth Goff:

Did Henry VIII really plan to have Anne Boleyn’s beloved dog thrown out the window?

Was Elizabeth I secretly a man?

Who were the Grey sisters, and why is theirs one of the saddest Tudor stories of all?

From Henry VII to Elizabeth I, Bloody, Brilliant Tudors answers all these questions and more.

Come with us as we delve into the people and places behind the world-famous Tudor myths and legends.

Through various tales exploring the whole of the glittering dynasty, we’ll learn about the lesser-known facts and figures behind these myths. Each reign serves up a wealth of fascinating historical stories to reveal the Tudor world in a new light.

– Official blurb of Bloody, Brilliant Tudors by Elizabeth Goff

A truly witty, enthralling and adventurous read that will leave you intrigued, astonished and often disappointed—more like downright mad—at the Tudor monarchs, their courtiers and the scandalous stories surrounding them.

Elizabeth Goff’s, better known to the world as @the_historical_gal, debut effortlessly brings to life over one hundred stories of drama, mystery, love, death, triumphs and defeats of the famous Tudor era. Featuring juicy tales from each of the six—yes, we are most certainly counting Lady Jane Grey in this list—Tudor monarchs, Elizabeth Goff captivates the reader with her elegant writing style, her witty humour and her refreshing blunt perspectives regarding some of history’s most scandalous and yet some lesser known facts and stories of the past. Which, yes, are mostly the fault of the most famous King of England of all time—bar King Arthur, although there is still the debate of ‘fact or fiction’—Henry VIII, the man who took six wives and chopped off two of their heads!

One aspect of Elizabeth’s book that I found rather intriguing was the decision to write these stories in a chronological order, rather than just in a random selection. Other readers might disagree with me on this matter, however I found this approach rather helpful for a neurodivergent reader such as myself who admittedly forgets what she’s read two seconds after reading it so having the small contextual reminders for each tale really kept me intrigued and captivated throughout. Naturally, as a Tudor historian, most of what was written about was not new to me—although I will admit that it was a thrill to learn about the Black Pearls and the Three Brother’s Jewel for the first time—I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is either new to, unfamiliar with or even loves the Tudor era as Elizabeth truly does bring these remarkable figures and their stories to life in such a beautiful way.

If Bloody, Brilliant Tudors is just a small glimpse of what Elizabeth Goff can offer us history lovers, then I cannot wait to see what else she has in store for us!

Amber’s Pick:

Tudor Executions - From Nobility to the Block by Helene Harrison:

The Tudors as a dynasty executed many people, both high and low. But the nobility were the ones consistently involved in treason, either deliberately or unconsciously.

Exploring the long sixteenth century under each of the Tudor monarchs gives a sense of how and why so many were executed for what was considered the worst possible crime and how the definition of treason changed over the period.

This book examines how and why Tudor nobles like Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham; Queen Consort Anne Boleyn; Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey; and Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, fell into the trap of treason and ended up on the block under the executioner’s axe. Treason and the Tudor nobility seem to go hand in hand as, by the end of the sixteenth century and the advent of the Stuart dynasty, no dukes remained in England.

How did this happen and why?

– Official blurb of Tudor Executions by Helene Harrison

I was so excited for this book I asked for it for Christmas on pre-order in the states. I didn’t get it until after Christmas due to the release in the US, but it was certainly worth the wait! I liked the premise of it being not only about the executions of certain individuals, but their stories and how they got there.

Before you even get to the first chapter, Harrison has put together beautiful family trees for the families mentioned in the book. The format is so clean and easy to read, I changed how I make my own family trees to match how she had hers in the book. They are super helpful since all the families mentioned in the book and the Tudor era in general can get confusing. I also liked how they were all at the beginning. Since families are often connected it was easy to reference more than one.

Each chapter starts with an overview of the individual(s) life leading up to the execution. The chapters are detailed and very well researched without feeling dense or heavy to read. When Harrison gets to the actual execution, she breaks it down where you feel like you know what happened to the person.

There are a few chapters which contain more than one individual as they were interconnected and flowed well together. For example, you don’t discuss Anne Boleyn’s execution without mentioning her brother George. When you think about the execution of Lady Jane Grey (Dudley), you also think of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. While these chapters covered two people, they flowed nicely and didn’t feel like too much was packed into one chapter.

Harrison was so well researched I find myself going back to her book in my own work picking up new pieces I hadn’t yet drawn from. Last year it might have been the book I cited most in my own work. Even in work that didn’t mention executions, the backgrounds of the individuals mentioned were fleshed out so nicely. I actually referenced the book in my first piece for The Ill-Fated Wives of Henry VIII website, where I discussed a few more notable executions.

Kat’s Pick:

Margaret Beaufort: Survivor, Rebel, Kingmaker by Lauren Johnson:

SURVIVOR. REBEL. CONSPIRATOR. MATRIARCH OF A DYNASTY.

Born into a century of conflict as the daughter of the Duke of Somerset and a descendant of Edward III, Margaret Beaufort was married at twelve, a mother and widow at thirteen, and a player in one of the most violent chapters of English history.

Across three marriages and decades of civil war, Margaret endured loss, intrigue and exile - yet lived to see her only son crowned Henry VII, the first Tudor king. Against a backdrop of shifting power and danger, she helped broker the union that ended the Wars of the Roses, shaped the early Tudor court, and played a formative role in the life of her grandson, Henry VIII.

In this perceptive biography, historian Lauren Johnson brings Margaret vividly to life as a woman of rare resilience and ambition. With empathy and sharp insight, Johnson reframes our understanding of medieval power and restores Margaret to her rightful place: not simply a mother behind the throne, but a skilled political operator whose determination changed the course of English history.

– Official blurb of Margaret Beaufort: Survivor, Rebel, Kingmaker by Lauren Johnson

A well-researched and beautifully written biography about the life of a truly incredible woman. Lauren Johnson tracks how Margaret Beaufort navigated the dangerous and ever-changing political landscape of the Wars of the Roses, going on to forge a unique identity for herself as the mother of the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII. The writing is incredibly clear and engaging, making it easy to follow. Johnson also places Margaret’s life in the wider historical context without it feeling like focus is lost on Margaret herself.

This is not the first biography about Margaret Beaufort I’ve read and it probably won’t be the last, but something that made this one stand out was the sensitive and nuanced approach Johnson took to Margaret’s story. While Margaret is generally considered primarily through her relationship with her son, Henry Tudor, Johnson aims to consider the relationships Margaret had with other women and the influence these had on her. This includes her observing her mother, Margaret Beauchamp’s, role in administrating a noble household and estates, as well as the inspiration she took from Cecily, Duchess of York with whom she shared the similar unique position of being the mother of a king without having been a queen herself. Johnson also breaks down the idea that Margaret was a dominating and controlling mother-in-law, highlighting how she not only had a positive relationship with her son’s wife, Elizabeth of York, but frequently collaborated with her.

Through exploring Margaret alongside other women of the period and in her life, rather than viewing her as an exception from them, Johnson’s approach feels incredibly humanising and discusses ideas and perspectives I had not previously encountered despite already being familiar with the topic. This approach also allows Johnson to highlight the crucial, but often overlooked, political roles played by noble women in late medieval England more widely. Therefore, whether you already know a lot about Margaret or nothing at all (if your source is Philippa Gregory please just put everything about that aside), this is a great read to explore her fascinating life, the Wars of the Roses and the origins of the Tudors.

Emma’s Pick (Again!):

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell:

A stunning new departure for Maggie O'Farrell's fiction, Hamnet is the heart-stopping story behind Shakespeare's most famous play.

On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that one of the children will not survive the week.

Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright. It is a story of the bond between twins, and of a marriage pushed to the brink by grief. It is also the story of a kestrel and its mistress; a flea that boards a ship in Alexandria; and a glovemaker's son who flouts convention in pursuit of the woman he loves. Above all, it is a tender and unforgettable reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.

– Official blurb of Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

A beautifully written, emotionally rich and utterly heartbreaking exploration of grief, family and the unimaginable loss of a child, Hamnet is the kind of novel that quietly consumes you before leaving a lasting impression long after you have turned its final page.

Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet takes one of the most famous names in English history and literature and, remarkably, pushes him almost entirely into the background. Instead, O’Farrell turns her attention towards Agnes, the wife of William Shakespeare, and their three children, Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith, imagining the lives, loves and losses of a family whose story has so often been overshadowed by the man who would eventually become one of the world’s most famous playwrights. Yet, this is not really a story about Shakespeare at all. It is a story about a mother, a marriage and a family attempting to navigate the devastating reality of losing someone they love.

Agnes undoubtedly stole this novel for me. Mysterious, unconventional and deeply connected to the natural world around her, she is not necessarily a character that the reader immediately understands—and I absolutely loved that about her. There were moments when I admired her, moments when I questioned her and others when I simply wanted to understand her, but it was precisely this complexity that made her feel so beautifully alive. O’Farrell does not attempt to make Agnes merely the wife of a famous man; she gives her an identity, desires, fears and grief entirely of her own, transforming a woman who has so often existed on the fringes of her husband’s history into the beating heart of this story.

Perhaps one of my favourite choices, however, is that Shakespeare himself is never truly given the identity by which we know him today. He is the Latin tutor, the son, the husband, the father… almost anything but ‘William Shakespeare’. It is such a simple decision, yet an incredibly effective one. We are not being asked to look at this family through the eyes of the famous playwright history remembers; instead, we experience him as Agnes does, as the man she loves and the father of her children. In doing so, O’Farrell allows Agnes and Hamnet to occupy the centre of a story from which history has largely pushed them aside.

The novel’s exploration of grief is where Hamnet truly became unforgettable for me. Grief here is not confined to one dramatic moment, nor does every character experience it in the same way. It changes people, creates distance, manifests itself through anger, silence and desperation, and forces each member of this family to discover their own way of surviving something that can never truly be undone. I particularly loved the movement between past and present throughout the novel. Rather than disrupting the story, these shifts allowed me to become more invested in the characters, understanding who they were before tragedy entered their lives and therefore appreciating just how profoundly that loss changes them afterwards.

There were aspects that I struggled with, particularly the suggestion of infidelity within Agnes and her husband’s marriage, which personally made some sections difficult for me to read, but even here I could understand what O’Farrell was attempting to explore: two people experiencing the same devastating loss yet responding to their grief in completely different ways. And ultimately, it made the conclusion all the more moving. There is no grand solution to grief, no miraculous moment in which everything becomes as it once was. Instead, there is understanding. There is art. There is a mother finally recognising how the man she loves has attempted to make sense of the son they lost.

Hamnet is not simply a novel about the death of Shakespeare’s son, nor is it merely an imagined explanation for how one of his most famous plays came to exist. It is a story about those who are left behind. About a mother learning how to exist in a world without her child, a family altered forever by absence, and the different ways human beings attempt to carry grief when letting go is impossible. Maggie O’Farrell has taken the few fragments history has preserved of this family and created something intimate, tender and profoundly human from them. It is undoubtedly one of the most beautifully written and emotionally affecting historical novels I have read.

Emily’s Pick:

In My Tudor Era by Kate Bromley:

Lily’s life is turned upside down when she suddenly finds herself trapped in the body of Catherine Howard, King Henry VIII’s doomed fifth wife. Can she make it out of Tudor England with her head and her heart intact? Slip into this raunchy, irreverent time-travel romance!

Lily’s trip to England with her best friend was meant to be a reset after a stressful year of grad school and disastrous dates. But when a visit to Hampton Court Palace ends with the full Tudor experience, Lily needs a plan to make it back to the twenty-first century stat.

Everyone is calling her Catherine, and to her dismay, Lily learns that she’s caught the eye of the king – none other than Henry VIII. Lily’s PhD is in psychology, not history, but even she knows that being married to Henry does not bode well for her life expectancy.

As if things weren’t complicated enough, Lily can’t seem to stay away from Simon Gainsford, the king’s champion jouster. A jock with a heart of gold, Simon understands Lily better than any guy she’s met, and every dark corridor presents a new opportunity to continue their dangerous, white-hot affair.

Meanwhile, smoldering courtier Francis Dereham (who seems to think they are secretly married?!) won’t leave her alone, and the king’s sinfully handsome groom, Thomas Culpepper, is also quite…persistent.

In the Tudor era, rumors can get you killed. Lily is determined to change her fate, but everyone knows how this story ends…right?

– Official blurb of In My Tudor Era by Kate Bromley

I was in the bookstore with my husband, a favorite date activity of ours. We had been roaming around the store for awhile, and I hadn’t found anything that said, “I need to buy this!” I was looking around the fiction section when this one jumped out at me. A historic romance novel that isn’t about the Regency era for once?! Sold!

I knew from reading the back cover that there was time travel involved in the story, and I loved that this wasn’t just a case of mistaken identity. Lily literally became Catherine Howard, and she spends the novel desperately trying to get back to the modern day. She is warned by the court astrologer (the only person who actually knows she’s not Catherine) that anything she does while she’s visiting the past could potentially alter the course of history; however, Lily is still Lily, and she can’t help but do what we history fans dream of doing. She improves the working conditions for the servants in the palace. She helps her maids of honor and ladies-in-waiting express their feelings openly and without shame. She falls in love with the dreamiest guy at court and gives Bridgerton a run for its money in the romance department.

Ultimately, the best part about the novel is that Bromley made Lily a psychology student, and this gives Lily the ability to do what any historian may be tempted to do but probably shouldn’t: she is actually able to psychoanalyze historic figures. She spends 1:1 time talking with Henry VIII, Lady Rochford, the Duke of Norfolk, Francis Dereham, and Thomas Culpepper, precious time that we simply will never be able to have. Lily’s emotional intelligence is a powerful weapon in the Tudor court, so much so that she may be able to change the fate of what happens to everyone involved in Catherine Howard’s downfall.

I am so glad I stumbled across In My Tudor Era that day at the bookstore. It has so many things going for it: the time travel, the Tudor time period, the romance, the psychoanalysis. It was one of the most fun and unique books I’ve read in a long time, and I can’t stop recommending it to my friends. I can only hope that we’ll see more romance novels set in the Tudor era after this!

So, tell us… which one of these books tickles your fancy?

Until next time!

- Have a ‘Tudor-fic’ week!

Purchase Links:

Bloody, Brilliant Tudors by Elizabeth Goff: