Matthew Firth is Associate Lecturer in medieval history at Flinders University, Australia. His research focuses on historical narrative and its transmission across time and place with particular interest in the historiography of tenth-century England. His research has appeared in various journals, including Royal Studies Journal, Neophilologus, English Studies, and Scandinavian Studies.

• Introduction: Queens, Consort, Concubines 1. Æthelflæd: Lady of the Mercians 2. Eadgifu: Queen Consort, Queen Mother, Queen Grandmother 3. Ælfthryth: Anointed Queen 4. Queenship as Political Office 5. Afterlives and Legacies Conclusion

"(...) this is an excellent book. It provides new methodological approaches to the study of histories with limited surviving sources and adds much to the growing research on female rule and representations of female power in medieval and early modern Europe."Natalie Tomas, Australian Catholic University and Monash University, Parergon 42.1 (2025)."Early English Queens is highly recommended for anyone interested in late Anglo-Saxon England and the roles of queens, and it provides very useful biographies of Æthelflæd, Eadgifu, and Ælfthryth. The book is well presented with figures, maps and tables providing useful context, and the style is easy to read for the non-specialist, making it suitable for both undergraduates and postgraduates, and a wider public."Shane McLeod, University of the Highlands and Islands in Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association