A long-overlooked figure in history, Catherine has a crucial place in the history of the British Empire: she may have failed to produce an heir to the throne, but her marriage to Charles in 1662 marked a key turning point in Britain's imperial ascendancy, for part of her dowry was Bombay, Britain's first territory of the Indian subcontinent. Catherine also was highly influential in the worlds of fashion, Baroque art and music, and food and culture. She popularized tea drinking, bringing England's national drink into fashion for the first time. Her life was at the nexus of Old and New Worlds, war and exploration, frivolity, and scientific inquiry.

Noteworthy in its scope and approach to sources, The Lost Queen combines personal and political accounts, offering a lively portrait of Catherine's life, and the wider politics and explorations of her time.