Edward Gregg presents Anne as an active monarch rather than a weak figure controlled entirely by favourites and ministers. The biography follows her difficult path to the throne, repeated pregnancies and close relationships with Sarah Churchill and Abigail Masham, all of which became entangled with the intense party politics of her reign.
The book examines the War of the Spanish Succession, Marlborough’s victories, the union of England and Scotland and the struggle over the Protestant succession. Gregg shows Anne exercising judgement within severe physical limitations while Whigs and Tories competed to define the future of monarchy and Parliament.