Sceptred Isle

THE TIMES BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2025

Beginning with the death of Edward I in 1307 and ending with the deposition of Richard II in 1399, Sceptred Isle is the story of a century told through the lives of the last Plantagenets, uncovering lesser-known voices and untold stories along the way.

Through the epic drama of regicide, war, the prolonged spectre of the Black Death, religious antagonism, revolt and the end of a royal dynasty, we encounter the human stories behind a fractured monarchy, the birth of the struggle between Europeanism and nationalism, social rebellion and a global pandemic.

Sceptred Isle is a thrilling narrative account of a century of revolution, shifting power and great change – social, political and cultural – shedding new light on a pivotal period of English history and the people who lived it.