Welcome to my website. You'll find all the details of my books here -- plus links to my latest articles and interviews below. "Lege feliciter," as the Venerable Bede would say -- may you read happily!
Click here for the publisher’s brief as a download.
9/11 gave birth to many conspiracy theories - among them the suspicion that Islamic charities were knowing and willing vehicles for Islamic terrorism. Robert Lacey examines this accusation with his co-editor Jonathan Benthall, a leading analyst of Islamic philanthropy, and a host of international academics and experts - the proceedings of a conference at Kings College, Cambridge, convened by the Gulf Research Council in the summer of 2012.
Available from any academic bookshop worldwide or from the publisher directly - all contact details on the publisher's brief
The mobile phone is proving to be an unexpected tool of female liberation in the Arab world. In conversation with Dame Ann Leslie, veteran foreign correspondent, Fawziah Bakr Al-Bark, a professor of education at the country's King Saud University, and I debate the state of women in Saudi Arabia.
The conversation is available on the BBC website through the excellent listen again service.
BBC’s The World Tonight -- my contribution starts about seven and a half minutes into the program.
Why was British law helpless to prevent the hate-filled rantings of the extremist preacher Abu Hamza? That's the perfectly reasonable question that the Queen put to her Home Secretary a few years ago, according to BBC Terrorism and Security correspondent, Frank Gardner - who promptly apologised to Buckingham Palace for revealing this fascinating titbit from a conversation he had had with Her Majesty.
"The Queen was at the heart of the Diamond Celebrations this week. But how relevant is she in modern day Australia? Rod Quinn discussed with Robert Lacey, author of 'Majesty'."
Please feel free to download my first foray into Podcasting. It is an interview I did with Australian radio host Rod Quinn.
I've discovered there's a new star in that stellar building at Windsor, St George's Chapel.
'Where's the Queen Mother buried?' was the question most frequently asked by visitors until last year. But then Colin Firth won his Oscar, and now there's a new query - "Where's the King of 'The King's Speech'?" King George VI has finally become the most important occupant of the tomb that holds both his remains and those of his consort, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother -- along with the ashes of Princess Margaret that were slipped inside after her cremation in February 2002.
Tina Brown, editor of The Daily Beast and Newsweek, tells us what she's been reading in a feature that Morning Edition likes to call "Word of Mouth." This month, Brown shares reading recommendations on Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family. The Diamond Jubilee takes place over the weekend, marking 60 years of the Queen's reign in Britain.
Whilst newspapers and journals have their own professional reviewers of new publications, I am always pleased to see real readers reactions to my books. - The Queen: A Life in Brief.
Two recent examples are Lesa's Book Critiques
The Queen: A Life in Brief, is the perfect biography for those of us who are curious, but don't care to know every detail a biographer or the media would normally reveal. It's just the right touch before the Diamond Jubilee.
On Sunday June 3rd I shall be on BBC Radio 2 with Aled Jones talking about the Jubilee -- I shall be on the show around 8:30am (UK time).
"Each week Aled Jones plays tracks from a broad musical spectrum, that celebrates both our choral traditions and the vibrant world of modern music as well as spiritually uplifting and reflective music. He also discusses religious and ethical issues of the week with faith representatives."
