When Women Ruled the World by Maureen Quilligan

For almost half of the 16th century, four women shaped Europe in powerful and irreparable ways. Mary Tudor, Elizabeth Tudor, Mary Stuart, and Catherine de Medici are often portrayed as bitter rivals, but revisionist historian Quiligen uses letters and records of gifts to untangle the web of patriarchal views of these women. Each one has a complicated history with the others and I loved diving deep into their shared bonds. It certainly made me look at them all in a different light.—Ivy