Sophie Shorland has a PhD in early modern literature, with a focus on the cultural history of the late Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. A former Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, she is interested in queenship, celebrity, and the geopolitics of the past. In 2019, she was a semi-finalist in the BBC New Generation Thinkers programme. In 2020, she was shortlisted for the Tony Lothian Prize for a first-time biography proposal. Her biography of Catherine of Braganza was published in the UK in 2024 by Atlantic Books (UK) and Pegasus (US). The US edition was listed as one of the top ten history books of 2024 by the Smithsonian Magazine. Sophie’s second book, All the Queen’s Men: The Competition to Marry Elizabeth I (October 2026), sheds new light on the ambitions and desires of the iconic ‘Virgin Queen’ and repositions Tudor England within the dramatic power struggles of the sixteenth-century.

‘A brilliant new take on Elizabeth I. By exploring the self-styled Virgin Queen through the many courtships she encouraged, enjoyed and endured, this book brings a genuinely fresh perspective on one of the most enigmatic women in history.’ – Tracy Borman 

‘For a queen who never married, Elizabeth I's tangled love life makes for an enthralling read. Impeccably researched, Sophie Shorland takes readers through the courtships of French princes, Austrian archdukes and English earls, as well as detailing a surprising proposal from far away Russia. Fascinating and entertaining, All the Queen's Men is a compelling read. You will never look the same way at England's Virgin Queen again.’ – Elizabeth Norton

‘This lively, fascinating book retrieves an overlooked queen from a historical siding and restores her to the centre of European politics and Charles II's London.’ – Suzannah Lipscomb

‘A confident, cosmopolitan and always accessible life of the Queen Consort who brought England nothing less than the first toeholds of a truly global empire, and the habit of tea-drinking.’ – Ophelia Field

‘A splendidly sympathetic and sparky portrait, filled with unexpected images of a courageous woman who wasn't afraid to create her own circle and defend her beliefs at an English court dominated by her husband's mistresses. Wittily written and rich in detail.’ – Miranda Seymour