Tracy Borman tells this story with a steady eye and a steady hand, tracing what can be known of Matilda's part in the events that were to change the course of English history

Borman shows that Matilda was a capable regent and political operator... Matilda remains relevant: one legacy is her bloodline, which still rules in Britain today

A richly layered treatment of a stormy reign

Borman moves deftly between the difficult written sources... The often scanty details of Matilda's life are given more rounded form by viewing them in context

Borman has expertly forged an absorbing biography from fragments of her personal history

This being the year of the Queen’s Jubilee, we should expect an avalanche of books celebrating every aspect of her life and reign, but I shall be very surprised if any turns out to be more revealing and engaging than this thoughtful study by the veteran Royal watcher Robert Hardman

Delectable biography

Hardman’s Our Queen is the closest thing to an official jubilee portrait. It is thoroughly researched.

[A] superb book.

As this book immodestly reveals, Tony Blair was, and remains, a remarkable influence on politics, both domestically and internationally

What makes his memoir so absorbing as it swings from clever phrase-making and thoughtful contemporary history to wince-inducing self-analysis, is that he is the first of a generation of politicians to conduct their craft as if observing themselves from an amused an admiring distance - and then to write about it. No recent politician has examines his own motives and psychology quite so candidly

It is the small revelations about the character of Blair that make this book worthwhile

It's a gripping insight into the ex-PM's ten years of power . . . It will take a lot for many people to read his own take on the rise and fall of New Labour, but those that do might be reminded of the charm and vision that swept him to power

I have read many a prime ministerial memoir and none of the other authors has been as self-deprecating, as willing to admit mistakes and to tell jokes against themselves

Paints a candid picture of his friend and rival, Gordon Brown, and of their relationship