Lady Antonia Fraser gathers eight British historians for this fully illustrated, engaging history of the monarchy, updated to include a new chapter on the House of Windsor. It's a tremendous resource on English royalty, chock full of personality, incident and scandal. Fraser, who has made her career chronicling the lives of the royals, has also written memorably about Mary Queen of Scots and the Wives of Henry the VIII.  (GBR160, $34.95)