General Reading

A great start if you just want an overview of each queen is Lisa Hilton's Queen's Consort: England's Medieval Queens.  It's designed for the general reader and is very accessible.  If you want to go back a little further then I would recommend Elizabeth Norton's England's Queens: From Boudica to Elizabeth of York.  It is a lot shorter than Lisa Hilton's book, but if you want a brief summary of each reign, then this is the book for you. 

In a similar vein, Helen Castor's book She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth is a brilliant introduction to queenship, especially to the power that certain queens did have.  The book focusses on Empress Matilda, Isabella of France and Margaret of Anjou but it is a worthwhile read no matter which queen interests you.  The book accompanied an excellent BBC television series which is periodically on the iPlayer and well worth a watch.

If you are looking for something a little more academic then I would suggest Anne Duggan ed. Queens and Queenship in Medieval Europe, Pauline Stafford's Queens, Concubines and Dowagers and John Carmi Parson's Medieval Queenship are all great places to start.

If sensationalism is more your thing, then Agnes Strickland's Lives of the Queens of England. It was written in the nineteenth century and is completely uncritical of some of the claims of sources and even on occasion seems to just make things up.  That said it is an entertaining read and available for free as it's in the public domain.