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In May 1978 Harold Pinter and Antonia Fraser visited Israel on the 30th anniversary of its independence. Fraser’s account of the trip, forgotten in a cupboard for decades, describes their visits to historic sites and meetings with Shimon Peres and Jackie Kennedy. It also offers an affectionate portrait of Pinter’s foibles, and his coming to terms with his Jewish heritage.

The tragic life of Queen Marie Antoinette of France (1755–93) has fascinated and divided historians ever since her execution. Was her thoughtless interference in affairs of state the catalyst that provoked the French Revolution, or was she an innocent victim of the dangerous world of late 18th-century power politics? Antonia Fraser's detailed biography explores these contradictory assessments and offers the fullest portrait yet of the much-maligned ‘Austrian woman’, the doomed queen consort of Louis XVI.

In 1780 the anti-Papist Gordon riots left 1,000 dead and London in flames; half a century later Parliament passed the Catholic Emancipation Act. This narrative history charts the struggles that brought about that conclusion. It profiles the key players, including George III, a staunch opponent of emancipation; the political rivals Wellington and Peel; and the Irish campaigner Daniel O’Connell; and examines the conflict between the right to practise one’s religion and allegiance to the state.