King Charles has revealed five of his favourite books. He shared them with the Queen’s Reading Room, Queen Camilla’s online book club which works to celebrate and promote the power and benefits of reading. 

Among the king’s favourites are a Robert Harris classic, Lustrum, and historic non-fictions that tell the tales of hard-won battles and legendary leaders. The king described them as “unputdownable”, “captivating”, and “beautifully written”. Here are some of the king’s favourite books, according to the Queen’s Reading Room.

The Battle Of The Atlantic by Jonathan Dimbleby

This is an epic story of one of the most critical campaigns of the Second World War through contemporary diaries and letters, from the leaders and from the sailors on all sides.

The king said: “An unputdownable and gripping account of a deadly conflict in a vast, trackless ocean that could so nearly have ended Britain's hopes of winning the Second World War - made even more enthralling by the author's constant referral to German archive material."

Along the Enchanted Way by William Blacker

This is a memoir retelling Blacker’s youth in Romania, where he lived with locals in a place ruled by the cycle of the seasons, far from the rush of the modern world.

The king said: “A touching and deeply moving account of a fast-disappearing way of life and culture in Transylvania, a rare and uniquely special corner of Eastern Europe."

Lustrum by Robert Harris

This is a sequel to Imperium in a trilogy about the life of Cicero, a statesman who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire.

The king said: “From one of the most captivating of storytellers - a brilliantly imaginative combination of history and fiction, with original letters, speeches and descriptions of events in Cicero's lifetime, to produce another irresistible masterpiece with a warning from history."

Travels With Myself And Another by Martha Gellhorn

This is a memoir retelling Gelhorn’s globe-spanning adventures, both accompanied and alone. As a journalist, Gellhorn covered every military conflict from the Spanish Civil War to Vietnam and Nicaragua. 

The king said: “A series of the best and frequently hilarious descriptions of disastrous experiences on overseas trips from the late, lamented American travel-writer, Martha Gellhorn."

Napoleon by Adam Zamoyski

This is a biography using original European sources to tell the story of Napoleon. Zamoyski presents the conqueror as a man. and a rather ordinary one at that. 

The king said: “A beautifully written and, at times, sympathetic portrait of a remarkable, fascinating and talented man whose fatal hubris eventually destroyed him."