“Greetings! I’m Matilda -- you may know me as Empress Matilda -- and I was so nearly the first Queen of England. William the Conqueror was my grandfather, and I should have succeeded my father, King Henry I. For many years I ruled in the southern counties of England and came very close to seizing the crown back from my cousin, Stephen. However, it was not to be. This is my story.”So begins this colourfully illustrated book telling the story of Empress Matilda, a medieval feminist who fought to gain her rightful place as Queen of England.With a foreword by Lindy Grant, Professor Emerita of Medieval History at the University of Reading, and an expert in Kingship and Queenship in the High Middle Ages.