Alison Weir is a British writer of history books, and latterly historical novels, mostly in the form of biographies about British royalty. Her works on the Tudor period have made her a best-selling author. She is the highest-selling female historian in the United Kingdom.
1989's Britain's Royal Families, Weir's first published work, was a genealogical overview of the British Royal Family. She subsequently wrote biographies of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, Katherine Swynford, and the Princes in the Tower. Other focuses have included Henry VIII of England and his wives and children, Mary Boleyn, Elizabeth I, and Mary, Queen of Scots. She has published historical overviews of the Wars of the Roses and royal weddings, as well as historical fiction novels on Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth I, and Eleanor of Aquitaine.