sheila chisholm
Book News

Book News Week 50

*contains affiliate links* Book News week 50 – 8 December – 14 December 2025 Queen Elizabeth II: A Concise Biography of an Exceptional Sovereign Hardcover – 11 December 2025 (US) Cleopatra: A Reference Guide to Her Life and Works (Significant Figures in World History)  Hardcover – 11 December 2025 (US) Marie-Antoinette’s Garden: An Eighteenth-Century Herbarium  [read more]

parysatis ii
Iran

Parysatis II – The Babylonian Princess who was King Alexander the Great’s wife and was murdered by his other wife, Queen Roxane

Queen Parysatis II was the third wife and queen to King Alexander the Great.[1] She was also the daughter of King Artaxerxes III of the Achaemenid Empire.[2] After the Battle of Issus, Queen Parysatis II was a hostage under King Alexander the Great.[3] He eventually married her for political reasons.[4] The birthdate of Queen Parysatis II is unknown.[5] Her [read more]

empress dowager zheng achun
China

Empress Dowager Zheng Achun – The widow who became a respected Empress Dowager of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and whose name was tabooed

Empress Dowager Zheng Achun was the imperial concubine of Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. She was the mother of Emperor Jianwen and the grandmother of Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Before Empress Dowager Zheng Achun met Emperor Yuan, she was a widow with a young son.[1] However, he could only make her [read more]