Matilda of Boulogne

Much to my lasting regret, no one has yet written a book on Matilda of Boulogne.  Therefore the research for this episode had to come from various sources. Of the General Reading books the books by Lisa Hilton and Helen Castor were really useful, but there are a lot of books written about the Anarchy that are also out there

I would strongly recommend Edmund King's King Stephen and Marjorie Chibnall's Empress Matilda: Queen Consort, Queen Mother and Lady of the English as the best sources for those two characters.  They are quite academic, but are peerless in terms of analysis.

If you are looking for something a little more in the way of military history Jim Bradbury's book Stephen and Matilda: The Civil War of 1139-53  is a really nice and relatively short book, and it will also give you a good grounding in all the political and diplomatic manoeuvres of the war.