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Legenda
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  • Published: 24 November 2026
  • ISBN: 9780753560433
  • Imprint: WH Allen
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 480
  • RRP: $35.00

Legenda

The Real Women Behind the Myths that Shaped Europe

Formats & editions
Paperback
24 Nov 2026
Tr. Paperback
11 Nov 2025
Hardback
6 Dec 2025
EBook
6 Nov 2025
Audiobook
6 Nov 2025
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A brilliant reappraisal of the medieval women whose lives have been misrepresented and co-opted over centuries for political, nation-building ends. By bestselling historian and author of FEMINA Dr Janina Ramirez.

From the bestselling author of FEMINA, a brilliant reappraisal of the medieval women whose lives have been exploited for political, nation-building ends.

From Joan of Arc to Lady Godiva, Isabella of Castile to Catherine of Siena, famous medieval women have become national icons, their legends burnished and celebrated. But over the centuries their lives have been exploited, their stories twisted and weaponised. Searching for the real women behind the legends, bestselling historian Janina Ramirez reveals how history is often hijacked to serve the ideological and political agendas of the present.

Praise for LEGENDA:
'Fearless, stunning and shockingly relevant' Alice Roberts, author of Domination

'A history like no other. Fabulous, invigorating and beguiling' Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth

'Sensational! Janina Ramirez is writing women back into history one by one' Lauren Laverne

'A brilliant concept, conveyed with that dynamo mix: academic authority and storytelling pizzazz!' Alice Loxton, author of Eighteen
  • Published: 24 November 2026
  • ISBN: 9780753560433
  • Imprint: WH Allen
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 480
  • RRP: $35.00

About the author

Janina Ramirez

Professor Janina Ramirez is a Sunday Times bestselling author, Oxford lecturer, BBC broadcaster and researcher. She is Director of Studies for History of Art at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, and Visiting Professor in Medieval Studies at the University of Lincoln. She has published widely on medieval history, art and literature, has written both fiction and non-fiction for adults and younger readers. Janina has written and presented documentaries across the world for over 15 years. She is Lifelong President of Gloucester History Festival, and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Royal Society of Arts, Universities of York and Gloucestershire and City Lit. Her book Femina was an instant Sunday Times bestseller.
portrait photo of Janina Ramirez

Also by Janina Ramirez

Femina
The Private Lives of the Saints
See all

Praise for Legenda

This is a history like no other, a top-down story of nationhood and mythology, a dazzling assessment of the past through the lens of the present and a rallying cry for the importance of history. Most of all, it's a plea to consider the real flesh-and-blood women who made the world rather than their sanitised, mythologised counterparts. A fabulous, invigorating and beguiling read

Kate Mosse, author of LABYRINTH and WARRIOR QUEENS & QUIET REVOLUTIONARIES

Breathtaking and urgent. From dismantling assumptions about legendary women's assigned roles as mothers of nations to re-instating them as powerful agents of change, Ramirez expands our understanding of womanhood. This book is a tour de force

Olivette Otele, author of AFRICAN EUROPEANS

Sensational! Janina Ramirez is writing women back into history one by one

Lauren Laverne

Janina Ramirez fearlessly deconstructs the dangerous historical myths and legends that have been shamelessly created to stoke division and hatred, finding complexity, truth and inspiration in this stunning - and shockingly relevant - new analysis of medieval history

Alice Roberts, author of ANCESTORS

A brilliant concept, conveyed with that dynamo mix: academic authority and storytelling pizzaz!

Alice Loxton, author of EIGHTEEN

In Legenda, the legendary Janina Ramirez strikes again. I love the way she cuts through the myths with her fierce mind. Stirring stuff

Lucy Worsley, author of AGATHA CHRISTIE and JANE AUSTEN AT HOME

Lively . . . important. Ramirez is urging us to become critical thinkers, able to spot those places where history has been rewritten to serve the ideological interests of whoever happens to have the largest megaphone

Kathryn Hughes, Daily Mail

Very readable . . . Ramirez tells each of these [women's] stories with verve , and is a knowledgeable guide to the medieval world

Katherine Harvey, Sunday Times