Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Triptych of Poisoners | 1958 | Eleanor Burford / Hibbert | Buy |
| 2 | The Rise of the Spanish Inquisition | 1959 | Eleanor Burford / Hibbert | Buy |
| 3 | The Growth of the Spanish Inquisition | 1960 | Eleanor Burford / Hibbert | Buy |
| 4 | The End of the Spanish Inquisition | 1961 | Eleanor Burford / Hibbert | Buy |
| 5 | The Spanish Inquisition | 1961 | Eleanor Burford / Hibbert | Buy |
| 6 | Mary Queen of Scots: The Fair Devil of Scotland | 1975 | Eleanor Burford / Hibbert | Buy |
Although Eleanor Burford Hibbert is best known for her historical fiction, she also wrote non-fiction under the Jean Plaidy name. Her most substantial non-fiction project is the three-volume history of the Spanish Inquisition: The Rise of the Spanish Inquisition, The Growth of the Spanish Inquisition, and The End of the Spanish Inquisition, published between 1959 and 1961. These books cover the Inquisition from its origins under Ferdinand and Isabella through its final abolition in the nineteenth century. A single-volume abridgement, The Spanish Inquisition, was also published.
A Triptych of Poisoners examines three famous historical poisoning cases, drawing on the same kind of detailed research that informed her fiction. Mary Queen of Scots: The Fair Devil of Scotland is a biographical study of the Scottish queen whose life Plaidy also fictionalized in the Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots novels. These non-fiction works show how thoroughly Plaidy researched the historical periods she wrote about, and readers of her fiction may find them useful as companion volumes.