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Summary history of the Tsars
The book is a well written account and summary of the origins of the Romanovs and their ultimate claim to the Russian throne. A chapter is devoted to each Tsar who ruled between 1613-1917 and reviews their reign. The chapters are concise and are to the point and are good history.I recommend to those who want to understand the Romanovs dynasty which culminated with the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Welcome to Romanov 101
A fast read with basic information - a good book if you are just getting into this era.If you are already an avid reader about the Czars of Russia, and the Romanov Dynasty, you won't find a whole lot of new information here.I enjoyed the chapters on where churches, palaces, etc., are located.Haven't really had that before. I would recommended it. ... Read more

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A funny, raucous, and delightfully dirty 900-year history of the royal marriages of Europe's most famous-and infamous-monarchs.

Since time immemorial, royal marriages have had little to do with love- and almost everything to do with diplomacy and dynasty. Clashing personalities have joined in unholy matrimony to form such infamous couples as Russia's Peter II and Catherine the Great, and France's Henri II and Catherine de Medici-all with the purpose of begetting a male heir. But with tensions high and silverware flying, kings like England's Henry II have fled to the beds of their nubile mistresses, while queens such as Eleanor of Aquitaine have plotted their revenge...

Full of the juicy gossip and bad behavior that characterized Royal Affairs, this book chronicles the love-hate marriages of the crowned heads of Europe-from the Angevins to Charles and Di-and ponders how dynasties ever survived at all.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Charming but lacks solid research!
A nice cursory light read but not for the serious history buff! Facts are a bit muddled on some accounts.

History, sex, scandle-what more could you want
This book goes into some of the more interesting royal marriages of the last 1000 or so years.

There are many, many marriages that are discussed. While not all the information is exactly new to people interested in royalty or history it is chock full of very interesting storys of royal marriages.

The book starts with the marriage(s) of Eleanore of Aquitaine and ends with the marriages of Prince Charles of Wales.

During the intervening years she details the notable marriages of people such as
1. Isabelle of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon
2. Juana la loca and Phillip the hansome
3. Catherine of Aragon and her marriages to Arthur and Henry
4. Mary Tudor (the sister of Henry VIII) and her marriages to the King of France and Duke Charles Brandon
5. Henry II of France and Catherine de Midici
6. Henry VIII's marriages to Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, and Catherine Howard
7. Mary, Queen of Scotts and her three marriages
8. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
9. Franz Joseph of Austria and his cousin Elisabeth
10. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Tsarina Alexandra

and many more that will keep you entertained for hours.

Love is in the air... and some affairs too
I cannot stop reading and re-reading this book! Well written, well researched, and one of the greatest books I have read in quite some time. One of my favorite features about this is that although it is organized chronologically, you can still read this book in sections and skip around to your favorite stories. The author presents her opinions in an appropriate manner, which I believe causes the reader to engage further with the text. You will not be able to put this book down. I especially appreciated the juicy bits on Grace Kelly and Wallace Simpson.

Light-hearted and amusing
This is not what I'd call overly-researched and the author throws her own personal opinions around a bit more than I am used to in a work of non-fiction, but each chapter is a quick and dirty ('scuse the double entendre) overview of a different period in European history with a lot of juicy tidbits about the marriages and affairs of various Royals tossed in to spice things up. I can forgive the various assumptions the writer makes, such as calling Jane Seymour a mealy-mouthed Milquetoast and Marie Antoinette a bubbleheaded spendthrift, because after all, who really knows? At least she didn't repeat the tedious "Let them eat cake" myth.

Great reading but in need of editing and fact checking
Overall, I enjoyed this book tremendously, it covered several centuries of royal marriages in various countries of Europe. Its series of accounts of royal marriages began with Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine through Prince Charles' and his first and second wives, Lady Diana Spencer and Camilla Parker Bowles. All six marriages of Henry VIII are chronicled plus include chapters on legendary matches of Victoria and Albert; Ferdinand and Isabella; Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI; the Duke and Duchess of Windsor; and Napoleon and Josephine. Readers should also appreciate the chapters on the stormy marriages of George I and Sophia Dorothea of Celle; Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley; George IV and Caroline of Brunswick as well as the true love matches of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville;Nicholas and Alexandra; and the love gone sour marriage of Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth. The author's writing makes this book absorbing and a must for historians and royal watchers. Carroll includes a bibliography for further reading.

I hope that future books about other royal marriages will be written by this author--there are many others that would be worthy subjects: for example Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh; George V and Queen Mary; Edward VII and Queen Alexandra; Charles I and Henrietta Marie; and Louis Napoleon and Empress Eugenie.

One quibble is the fact checking/editing. For instance: Andrew Parker Bowles is called Tom Parker Bowles at times; Guilford Dudley was not Edward Seymour's son; Princess Diana married at age 20 not age 19; and Prince Charles said "whatever in love means" not "whatever love means."

An excellent book for those already familiar with the royals and to those who are just starting their research on royal couples throughout history. ... Read more

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Insider knowledge
This is a true report from one of Marie Antoinettes intimats. But also at the same time truly a piece of writing in the style of the time. The english translation here is true to that form so it is not an easy read. The chapters are fairly short but to each chapter there are a couple of pages of footnotes (which are quite interesting and I recommend you read them). All in all the narrative is very interesting but if you expect to hear what Marie Antoinette had for breakfast or an insight to her personality beyond a superflous devotional and admiring account of a faithful servant you have to look elsewhere. (I have to say I came away with a sense that even if Madame Campan knew of all of Marie Antoinettes personal habits her sense of respect and discretion would have forbitten her to reveal anything that private about her beloved murdered mistress.) Madame Campan wrote a true account of her dealings with Marie Antoinette and especially the political climate that had the queen in its grasp is openly revealed and makes one understand the trappings of etiquette, intrigue and politics. One gets to understand how a young woman who did not mean any harm could end up generally hated and misunderstood. The book gives a good insight on the sense of adoration and reverence that royalty brought forth in those times and how quite impossible a revolution must have seemed to the king and queen. As a summary I would recommend the book because to understand this unfortunate queen one has to try and understand her times and circumstances first - which this book gives you a chance to do!

An eyewitness account

Campan gives the general reader and historians alike an eyewitness, description of events at this doomed court.It is well worth noting that such fine works such as Lady Antonia Fraser's MARIE ANTOINETTE: THE JOURNEY and MARIE ANTOINETTE, LAST QUEEN OF FRANCE by Evelyne Lever and Catherine Temerson (as well as many, many others) cite Madame Campan dozens of times throughout.

We're pleased to see that Madame Campan's memoir has attracted readers.It's a wonderful book and we are proud to be the publishers.Campan wrote her book shortly after the death of Marie Antoinette.It was among the first, if not the first, accounts of the young Queen's life.This book gives the reader a chance to experience the court first-hand for themselves.

GREAT
I really enjoyed reading this book after seeing the current movie out about Marie. ... Read more

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This engaging book presents the lives of the Greek royal family between 1863 and 1974, during a period of turbulence, and shows both the benefits and disadvantages of the dynasty's close ties to the other royal houses of Europe. ... Read more

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The six kings of the Danish-Greek family.
A nice little book about the history of the Greek Royal Family.Throughout many books about the Balkans, WWI, and WWII, I have read about all seven Greek kings.It was a pleasure to finally read about why Constantine and Paul ruled during several breaks.The Greeks threw out their kings regularly, and the two above ruled several times.

This also clears up how the Greeks were persuaded to fight in WWI.The Allies made them an offer they couldn't refuse.The Allies, particularly Greaat Britain fought Germany because of the guarantee for Belgium's borders.Well, the Allies violated Greek borders by landing troops on the coastline without the consent of the legal Greek government and then overthrew the king.They interfered with the Greek's government neutrality.

I wish the book would have went into the reign of Otto, the Bavarian first king of Greece.I also wished it would have gone into more depth on the end of the Constantine II's reign.This would have cleared up more on Greek history for me.Otherwise, this was a nice written book.

Fantastic
This is a wonderful work.I am very interested in Royalty and I find Mr. Van Der Kiste's work very informative.

very dry and uninteresting
As a 1st generation greek-american I was initially very excited to read this, but found it very difficult to get through.I waited chapter after chapter, hoping it would flow better but found it difficult to get through. It's such a shame as I've got every reason to read it.

The Hellenic monarchy: if it's Greek to you, read this book.
This book provides an excellent overview of the history of theGreek monarchy.

How exactly did the Greek people come to be reigned over by a Danish prince and his heirs? Did a King of Greece really die from a monkey attack? The story of the Greek monarchy has a good mixture of everything that intrigues the typical royal-watcher, and Van Der Kiste tells it well.

You might find it refreshing that, in the chapters dealing with World War One, Van Der Kiste doesn't take a typical (jingoistic) pro-Allied stance. He presents the Hellenic involvement in that war from a Greek royalist perspective.

If the book is lacking, it's in the final chapters. As the author points out, a historian can only do so much justice to a topic as fresh as the royal family's current standing. The subject of the Greek monarchy in the past 60 years could fill another book.

Overall, this is a fine addition to Van Der Kiste's body of work, and a good starting point for anyone researching the subject. ... Read more

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Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne de Habsbourg-Lorraine); (Vienna, 2 November 1755 - Paris, 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I.At the age of fourteen, on the day of her marriage to Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France, she became Dauphine de France. At the death of King Louis XV, in May 1774, her husband ascended the French throne as Louis XVI, and Marie Antoinette assumed the title of Queen of France and Navarre. After seven years of marriage she gave birth to a daughter, Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, the first of their four children.During the Reign of Terror, at the height of the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette's husband was deposed and the royal family was imprisoned. Marie Antoinette was tried, convicted of treason and executed by guillotine on 16 October 1793, nine months after her husband. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Queen of France by Andre Castelot
"For all its careful scholarship and judicious balance of judgment," says The Listener, "it has the readability and grip of a good novel.It deserves the wide public that it is likely to attract."

She was Marie Antoinette, a lovely Austrian princess.She was fourteen when she first met her fifteen-year-old husband, the Dauphin of France.He was a shy, heavy young man, overshadowed by his grandfather, Louis XV.

The girl had many problems to cope with at the French court, among them her husband's lack of interest, the King's spinster daughters (almost her only companions at first) and Madame du Barry, the King's favorite.Yet she soon won everyone's heart and had all of Paris at her charming feet.

But as time went by, not only the court but the country as a whole and Marie Antoinette's mother (Maria Theresa of Austria, four hundred leagues away, and constantly advising her daughter by mail) were alarmed by the fantastic parties, wild extravagances, and excessive pleasures of the Dauphin's bride.

Then Louis XV died, and the courtiers coming to salute the new nineteen-year-old king found him and his queen on their knees weeping bitterly."Oh, God," they cried, embracing each other, "protect us, we are too young to reign."

Andre Castelot, a distinguished French scholar and historian, has in this book written one of the most brilliant of recent biographies, which makes Marie Antoinette, from her arrival in France to the day she rode to her death in a cart, amazingly alive for the reader.We are carried from the intimate chambers of the young queen, through the incredible splendor and shocking discomfort of life at Court, to the awesome sounds of the rising mob, the last desperate flights, and the ultimate imprisonment and execution.

The author has had a mass of decuments at his disposal while writing this book, many of them newly discovered in Viennese and Parisian archives, and never before presented to the public.
Robert Pick says, "I admire this book immensely.Familiar with the Marie Antoinette story and its grim climax, I yet found myself in suspense to the last."

France
Great! Not only the negative side of the Marie Antoinette was mentioned but also a good analysis ... Read more

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Great Story, Difficult Read
I read this book a couple of years ago.I recommend it to anybody who is seriously interested in political theory, monarchy vs democracy, the Catholic Church, Europe, World War I, Communism, and any other cross currents of interest within the above.
The book tells the story of Blessed Charles and Princess Zita, the last Emperor and Empress of Austria-Hungary.It is a story about a deeply religious man who worked very hard for his people...and failed.He was unable to gain peace before the U.S. entered WWI, partially due to the U.S. president's unwillingness to meet with him (as an emperor is unelected).After the war, he was exiled and saw his empire torn apart by nationalism and violence.
The book will change your views of monarchs if you watch a lot of movies and heard the standard liberal line of monarchy=bad.
The only reason I have not rated the book a 5/5 is that it is not very readable.It is academic in nature, not pop-oriented like a Thomas Woods book.Nevertheless, it is an important book considering Blessed Charles may soon be a saint, and definitely one worth praying to in our day. ... Read more

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Hereditary rule once dominated European politics. A few families, believing in divine rule, controlled the destinies of millions before they were ousted. This book takes an irreverent look at the monarchs with disturbing passions, the empress of sex and the king into a peculiar form of bribery.Amazon.com Review
From the madness of King George to the equine escapades of Catherine the Great, from the intramural squabbles of Elizabeth and Di to the staggeringly decadent exploits of Charles X: in this gossipy chronicle of regal shenanigans, British journalist Karl Shaw dishes plenty of dirt--and ably demonstrates why royal watching is such a satisfying hobby.

Was there ever a good monarch? To judge by Shaw's account, it's unlikely. Instead, he writes, "Every monarchy in Europe has at some time or another been ruled over by a madman," adding in passing that only Bavaria's King Ludwig had the good grace to turn his madness into a source of tourist revenue for his subjects' descendants. Of the mad and the downright curious there's no shortage in these pages, as Shaw delivers anecdote after anecdote concerning the demented, sometimes awful, sometimes entertaining behavior of the likes of Germany's Frederick the Great, who "drank up to forty cups of coffee a day for several weeks in an experiment to see if it was possible to exist without sleep"; Russia's Catherine I, "a raddled old alcoholic with bloodshot eyes, wild and matted hair and clothes soiled with urine stains ... [who] once survived an assassination attempt too drunk to realize that anything had happened"; and England's Queen Mary, "the only known royal kleptomaniac," whose aides would surreptitiously gather the knickknacks she'd lifted from her subjects' parlors and return them with muffled apologies.

Royal Babylon is a guilty pleasure of a book, and one that does a fine job of explaining, in Shaw's tongue-in-cheek words, "why most continentals can't get enough of royalty, provided it isn't their own." --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Customer Reviews (40)

Genetics in action
It was a much better book than anticpated. I had no idea what genetic problems the European royals faced.
This was our start to this years book club about royality. I feel that this gave a perspective that none of us expected or had perceived existed. And between us all we have read many books about royality. We will read our future choices about our royality and courtiers with a different perspective. Reality sometimes diminishes our images of people in this case it enhances.

Below a 1
My wife, who has an interest in good historical fiction was reading this. I picked it up and started reading the section on Peter III of Russia. About 50% wrong. Then about Paul I, again, about 50% wrong. And so it went. Facts, factoids, and just plain "stories". Oddly, the author leaves out some juicy stuff that actually happened!

as if Joan Rivers had written your high school history textbook
This book is fabulously hilarious.Each page has at least one memorable zinger, and each paragraph guarantees a laugh or two or more.It's as if every naughty salacious rumor about Europe's royals were gathered in one scrapbook.The mind reels as you move from country to country.Which one had the most disgusting royals?--England, France, Spain, Germany, Russia, Portugal?According to this book, they all tie for first place.

If I were playing Word Bingo while reading this book, I would want my card to have the following words on it:inbreeding, syphilis, dwarf, ugly, madness, idiot, homosexual, insanity, transvestite, debauchery, dysfunctional, and (a new one to me) paradomaniac. These words pop up with almost frightening regularity.

I doubt if any of your history teachers ever shared these hilarious bizarre and perverted stories with you, but you need to read this book to find out the following:

-- Who thought she had swallowed a grand piano made of glass?
-- Who smelled like an open sewer?
-- Who was toothless and replaced her missing teeth with squares of wax?
-- Who had a 102-inch waist?
-- Who broke the heads off phosphorus matches and drank them dissolved in milk?
-- Who found her ex-lover's head pickled in alcohol in a jar by her bed?
-- Whose dog snatched and ate his heart during an autopsy?
-- Who drank seven bottles of champagne almost every evening?
-- Who ate toad excrement as an aphrodisiac?
-- Who wanted to soar above some mountains in a car drawn by peacocks?
-- Who kicked hussars to death and fired live rats from cannons?

For the answers to these and many other pressing questions, you must read this book.You will be alternately horrified and amused.

Granted there are some problems.The author tends to repeat himself as we move from chapter to chapter.And there are some factual clunkers (Charles II of Spain died in 1700, not 1770), but these little things pale when you consider how stunningly shocking the entire book is.It's impossible to have too much Dirt on these crazy royals.

good read
This book was full of compelling stories. Slightly worn when arrived, but in good condition.

Entertaining but not necessarily history
Kenneth Anger's notorious Hollywood Babylon created the archetype for this kind of expose literature. It's more or less like eating junk food--it tastes great at first but becomes tiresome after awhile. I'm very impressed with Shaw's coverage: all the major ruling families of Europe are represented here including Bourbons, Habsburgs, Hanoverians, Hohenzollerns, Romanovs, Saxe-Coburgers, and Wittelsbachs. In more than 300 pages, Royal Babylon chronicles the excesses, sexual and otherwise, of various members of the royal families of Europe. It's entertaining although not free from errors. For example, in discussing the murder of Rasputin, Shaw states that "While Rasputin sat and waited for the arrival of the Princess Irena, Yusupov set up a gramophone and played the only record they had, 'I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy,' over and over." All the accounts I've ever seen of this incident point to "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and not the George M. Cohan tune as the one played in the background by the conspirators. The description on the back cover of the paperback edition says "Royal Bablyon (sic) is history, but not as they teach it in school, and it underlines in side-splitting fashion Queen Victoria's famous warning that it is unwise to look too deeply into the royal house of Europe." The sloppiness of such an obvious spelling error makes one wonder about the quality of the editing in this book. Royal Babylon lacks an index, which would seem to indicate that the publishers see this book more as entertainment than history. The book comes with a bibliography. Most of the titles in the bibliography are books published within the last 30 or 40 years and all appear to be secondary, rather than primary sources. Given the scabrous nature of many of these anecdotes, I think it would have made sense to provide footnotes so that the reader can judge the veracity of the sources for these stories. Again, I suspect that the publisher was just looking to publish something that would be gossipy and entertaining. However, the biggest shortcoming, at least in my paperback copy, is the lack of pictures. Shaw spends a great deal of time describing the unattractiveness of many of these profligate royals so how come there are no pictures so that we can draw our own conclusions? This is definitely a fun book to read except that you'll come away from it feeling empty.
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Enjoyed reading...Frederick the Great: A Historical Profile
I wanted this book to read more about Frederick the Great, especially to get another perspective on Frederick's influence on Silesia, Lutheranism, and Prussia as a whole.My paternal grandmother's folks were born in Silesia back around 1857/1860. Family lore indicated an ancestor who was a count sometime after the Frederick takeover of Silesia. The count's presence in the Falkenberger communities is still a mystery to me but the book allowed me to understand more of the hundred years prior to my great grandparents birth. After reading the book I was able to carry on conversations with my friends about Frederick without missing a beat.

Fred the not so Great
Book was a dull read. No insight to the man and why he did what he did. Not very good story telling.

A Great Work
Who was Frederick the Great? Where was Prussia? What was the political dynamic in Prussia? What was the interest in Silesia? This book offers everything from the most basic answers to interesting facts to a great military mind on a relentless campaign for national prestige. Not many people know much about Prussia; this book helps you stand out from the crowd and enjoy doing so.

A brilliant study of Frederick and of Prussia
This work is the study of a society as reflected in the life of Frederick the Great.The subject of interest is not so much the man per se but rather his interactions with the society he did so much to shape. Ritter's treatment allows the reader to learn about Frederick but not to know him as a man.In fact, the work serves largely to sublimate Frederick the man to the Prussian state.The reader sees Frederick as having succeeded not through divine placement but by luck, reason, and a commitment to the state above all personal and worldly considerations.But despite all Frederick's realism, as revealed by Ritter, he remains an enigma.Indeed, as Paret alludes to in his introduction, certain events of European history and aspects of Frederick's life are not explored in Ritter's European-oriented presentation.Certainly my own lack of understanding of the complicated alliance patterns of early modern Europe detract from my understanding of the book.

Frederick's reign seems to have marked a crucial turning point in history-- one toward the development of the modern European nation-state.Frederick utilized the French designs of emerging nationality to bring to life a state whose purpose was to further the good of all its inhabitants rather than to serve as an instrument of the prince's vainglory.From the mediaeval throes of dynamism was born the modern state.To a large degree, Frederick the Great was Prussia; he raised her to a level of power that would not long outlive him.This is what makes Ritter's biography history.

There was a certain ambivalence evidenced in Frederick's conception of warfare.He only pursued war to further the state, and he learned from war--especially his initial invasion of Silesia.Always, Prussia in the end seemed to prosper from her ruler's military actions.Central in Frederick's conception of the state was the need for a vigilant standing army.To oversee this grand army, Frederick developed a program for proto-modern statehood--in all aspects to be overseen by him personally.In his state, he sought to utilize the nobility in a paternalistic system.Patriotism was his goal; his military leaders were not to fight for him but for Prussia.Frederick was deeply involved in military strategy; as a soldier-king he demanded discipline and controlled aggression among his men.Significantly, over time he came to see the value of statecraft over military action; after his Silesian invasion, his wars seemed more defensive in nature; often no decisive victor emerged from battle.He came to realize that warfare was constrained by the state's national resources.As Ritter describes it, Frederician warfare was defined by maneuverability and limited aggression.It is the birth of patriotism in the form of Frederician absolutism that lies at the heart of Ritter's study.Compelled by the rise to power of Naziism, Ritter seeks to show how such German nationalism had originally been born. ... Read more

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Weekend/Holiday Book
This book was okay, interesting tid bits about the Queen Mum and other members of the Royal Family. For someone who wants to read a book over the weekend, vacation, or holiday...this book is the one for you! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Is it History or Story?
This was an enjoyable read, but it's hard to think of as either historical nor archaelogical scholarship. The narrative is filled with suppositions about what the people thought and felt. Entire conversations are retold as if as if a reporter was present to record what was said. The Notes at the end of the book don't really support statements made in the text. It seems Mr. Holland has relied on Ronald Syme's The Roman Revolution (1939) and the writings of Appian, Pultarch, Ovid, Seutonius, etc. Very little modern scholarship is referenced.

In the Preface and the last chapter "The Godfather of Europe", Mr. Holland takes takes jabs at current American foreign policy in Iraq. Analogizing that the Emperor and the American President carried the same motive to police the world. The author is constantly looking over his shoulder straining to draw comparisons between the Ancient and present day worlds. At times, the effort makes you chuckle. More often, it's just a distraction. The other thing the author does, as implied in the subtitle, is declare Augustus an ancient of the modern day mafia.

As a story based on the ancient, contemporaneous writings Augustus entertains. As history, this biography is not an important contribution to our understanding of its subject.

brilliant and provocative
Following the success of NERO, this biography of the Emperor Augustus by Richard Holland is a triumph.

I found it brilliant and provocative, rarely following in the footsteps of other biographical historians but treading a new and bold path. Holland thinks between the lines of what antiquity has left us in the form of historical records and paints a three-dimensional picture of Augustus as an elusive but daring leader, the outsider who changed the face of Europe, a man who would not look out of place amongst the politicians of today's Western governments.

Highly recommended!



... Read more

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Edward of Caernarfon is best known today for his disastrous military defeat in 1314 at Bannockburn, where his English army was defeated by a vastly inferior Scottish force led by Robert the Bruce, leading to Scottish Independence. This catastrophe was one of many in a disastrous career marked by indolence, vengefulness, vacillation in relationships with France, deranged policies at home, and constitutional wrangling, ultimately brought to an end by a minor insurgency led by his vindictive wife and her paramour, a disaffected baron. Roy Martin Haines examines Edward II's eventful life and the more salient periods of his reign, situating the monarch in the context of the "empire" he inherited and the aftermath of his unregretted death. ... Read more

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Scholarly, exhaustive, & painstakingly researched
Roy Martin Haines is a life member Clare Hall, Cambridge University, a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and the author of numerous scholarly works concerning British history. In King Edward II: His Life, His Reign, And Its Aftermath, 1284-1330, Haines presents a scholarly, exhaustive, painstakingly researched, in-depth, and authoritative account of the days and rule of Edward of Caernarfon (1284-1327). King Edward II inherited a war with Scotland, yet his lack of skill in the art of war would eventually precipitate Scotland's independence. Ultimately, Edward would also become the first anointed king of England to be dethroned since Ethelred in 1013. King Edward II is an informed, informative, and very highly recommended contribution to personal and academic British History & Biography reference collections. ... Read more

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Historians have long been fascinated by the nobility in pre-Revolutionary France. What difference did nobles make in French society? What role did they play in the coming of the Revolution? In this book, a group of prominent French historians shows why the nobility remains a vital topic for understanding France's past.

The French Nobility in the Eighteenth Century appears some thirty years after the publication of the most sweeping and influential 'revisionist' assessment of the French nobility, Guy Chaussinand-Nogaret's La noblesse au dix-huitieme siecle. The contributors to this volume incorporate the important lessons of Chaussinand-Nogaret's revisionism but also reexamine the assumptions on which that revisionism was based. At the same time, they consider what has been gained or lost through the adoption of new methods of inquiry in the intervening years. Where, in other words, should the nobility fit into the twenty-first century's narrative about eighteenth-century France?

Contributors to the volume are Rafe Blaufarb, Gail Bossenga, Mita Choudhury, Jonathan Dewald, Doina Pasca Harsanyi, Thomas E. Kaiser, Michael Kwass, Robert M. Schwartz, John Shovlin, Jay M. Smith, and Johnson Kent Wright. The French Nobility in the Eighteenth Century will interest not only specialists of the eighteenth century, the French Revolution, and modern European history but also those concerned with the differences in, and the developing tensions between, the methods of social and cultural history. ... Read more

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A biography of the second son of Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana, third in line to the throne, including his family background, education, and the aftermath of his parents' divorce and mother's death. ... Read more

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Prince Harry
This book though interesting in some ways, it was very poorly written. There were numerous errors in typing and factual dates were inaccurate. The author used quotes from other books on the royal family, so a lot ofthe information was second hand and already covered in other books on thesubject.As a first book on the prince in paperback it is ok, but I amsure there will be other books to follow that will be much better quality. ... Read more

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Judgment and prudence were not the qualities most naturally to be expected in a young princess not yet fifteen years old. The best prospect which Marie Antoinette had of surmounting the numerous and varied difficulties which beset her lay in the affection which she speedily conceived for her husband, and in the sincerity, we can hardly say warmth, with which he returned her love. Maria Teresa had bespoken his tenderness for her in a letter which she wrote to him on the day on which her daughter left Vienna, and which has often been quoted as a composition worthy of her alike as a mother and as a Christian sovereign. ... Read more

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This is the biography of one of the most remarkable and amazing women in history. Joséphine de Beauharnais was born on 23 June 1763, in the West Indies on the Island of Martinique. She is said to have been a Creole, a term that often but not always implies a person of mixed race. Yet, from this humble origin, Josephine became the first Empress of the French. Through her daughter, Hortense, she was the maternal grandmother of Napoléon III. Through her son, Eugène, she was the great-grandmother of later Swedish and Danish kings and queens, as well as the last Queen of Greece. The current reigning houses of Belgium, Norway and Luxembourg descend from her. All of these things happened because Josephine met a lowly and seemingly unimportant corporal named Napoléon. ... Read more