A review by chluless
Queens of the Conquest: England’s Medieval Queens by Alison Weir

informative

3.0

Weir presents a lot of good material, a reasonable scope, and a vivid picture of the period. She uses excerpts from letters, quotes from chronicles, and lists from charters or other surviving documents. While these sources give readers a detailed understanding, sources supporting the narrative can become an obstacle. Weir often loses her narrative thread in overly lengthy quotations. 

My main issue is the inconsistent critical analysis. The most glaring example is Weir’s treatment of Empress Maud. The majority of her turbulent life in England is presented in contrast with the Good Queen Matilda. I assumed this dual narrative was building to a neat conclusion on perceptions of women in power, but Weir's conclusion urges readers NOT to use a feminist lens on the past. Similarly, I appreciate Weir’s note on the very real and untreated medical issues medieval women may develop from childbirth. Yet it’s quite a leap to suggest Empress Maud’s political blunders were due to menopause. She was thirty-seven.

Queens of the Conquest is unarguably interesting and extensively researched. However, it's more of an overview than a dedicated analysis of five queens.