3 comments about The Memoirs of Catherine the Great (Modern Library Classics).

1. Very interesting insight into the mind of a strong woman that lived long ago. Human nature never really changes does it? :-)



2. This rather large collection can be very absorbing in spite of its "pedestrian" style. Even a bad translation (which it likely was not) couldn't be an excuse to call it good writing, but memoirs are not really known for being Pulitzer material. "Alibiographies," these are sometimes called, and the stories in "Memoirs" are very often told by Catherine to make herself a favorable picture. As historian Will Durant says about the work, it is not so much false, as it is partial. Truthfully, though, it would be hard to name any other autobiography that did not do the same. The most glaring difference between "her version" and the "world's version," for example, has to be her thoughts and descriptions of her husband, Czar Peter III. The reader will find this easy -- and interesting -- to spot all through the memoirs!
   
   Durant also implies, though, that Catherine's memoirs fills many gaps, at least as material for further reading. No matter the partiality shown in the book, it is blindingly clear that Catherine was head and shoulders above almost all her contemporaries in intelligence, energy, curiosity, and shrewdness.
   
   A word of personal annoyance with this book. It took more than three-quarters of the pages to run across the telling of her first non-husband love relationship. Even then the fateful paragraph was extra-long and in an unexpectedly different style, and had to be read twice to catch on. All that work for so little naughty information!



3. Catherine the Great has long suffered from mixed press. Jeesh, I mean there was the fact she almost certainly had her demented husband, who just happened to be the Czar, conveniently snuffed, she enacted brutal laws in retaliation for a wee bit of disloyalty on behalf of the Russian peasantry, and, well, let's not forget that nasty rumor about how fond she was of horses. Ahem. But you know, this was also one of the greatest rulers in Russian history, a pen-pal of Voltaire, hand-picked agent of Frederick the Great, and above all else, an improbable survivor against whom the deck was stacked pretty high.
   
   I think Catherine used these memoirs to sway the public's feelings about her. That's a nice way of saying I suspect the ol' gal fibbed a time or two. But so what? This is still an invaluable first-hand account of a time and place about which we might otherwise have known far less than we do, but for courtesy of her gifted prose. Sure, Catherine wasn't perfect but she wasn't a monster, either, as so many other Russian rulers have been. She had a good sense of humor, she liked to read and she made an art of political pragmatism. Catherine also tried to do what was right (especially what was right for her) and early in her reign, this German on the Russian throne brought about a number of amazingly liberal reforms that ended laws that were suffocating Mother Russia, even during the Age of Enlightenment.
   
   I say, let historians debate all they want, Catherine deserved to have her say and her point of view is privileged. If for nothing else than the details of her era, this memoir is worth its weight in sable and caviar.

5 comments about Sovereign Ladies: Sex. Sacrifice and Power--The Six Reigning Queens of England.

1. Sovereign Ladies is the story of the six women who have ruled Great Britian. You might call it a tale of the good, bad, ugly and beautiful!
   Historian Maureen Waller writes in an accessible style which adds to our knowledge of these important historical women. Waller's book discusses in scintillating chapters the following queens:
   1. Mary I (reign-1553-1558). Bloody Mary so called because of the over
   300 Protestants burned at the stake during her reign. Mary followed Edward IV her Protestant half brother to the throne. Mary was the daughter of Katherine of Aragon the first wife of Henry VIII. Henry had divorced Katherine in order to wed Anne Boleyn. Katherine had failed to produce a male heir to the throne. Mary wed Phillip II of Spain but failed to have a child. She was a devout Roman Catholic not liked by the British people. Her relationship with her half sister Elizabeth was convoluted. At one time she imprisoned Elizabeth in the Tower of London.
   Her attempt to align England with the papacy failed and she died after a short and inglorious reign.
   2. Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The greatest queen and possibly the greatest ruler in English history she was good Queen Bess beloved by her people.
   During her long reign the Spanish Armada was defeated; England lived under a policy of religious toleration; Shakespeare and his fellow playwrights produced great plays; North America was explored and Virginia named after the Virgin Queen. Elizabeth never married though she was often courted. Elizabeth was a brilliant intellect speaking several modern and ancient languages. She surrounded herself with savvy advisors. In 1587 she ordered the execution of her cousin Mary Queen of Scots due to the latter's involvement in conspiracies designed to dethrone Elizabeth and restore England to the Roman Catholic faith. The cult of Elizabeth was wide and she was considered a modern incarnation of the Virgin Mary. She was the daughter of the beheaded Anne Boleyn and the formidable and evil Henry VIII. Countless novels, movies and biographies of this complex ruler pour off the presses.
   3, Mary II. (1688-1694) Mary was the daughter of James II (he reigned from 1685-1688). James II was a Roman Catholic who was forced into exile in 1688 to be replaced by William of Orange the Protestant from the Netherlands. William and Mary reigned as co-monarchs. Mary was a bright woman and a good queen. She loved her husband, England and learning. She was childless and died young. Mary was a strong Protestant unlike her father James II. In 1690 James II lost the battle of the Boyne in his attempt to unseat William and Mary.
   4. Anne (1702-1714). Anne was the younger sister of Mary II and the daughter of Catholic James II. She was duller than her sister Mary and plotted against her father. Anne became Queen of England following the death of King William. She was constantly pregnant by her mediocre husband George of Denmark. None of her 16 pregnancies resulted in the birth of a healthy child. Her children died in childbirth or expired prior to adulthood. Her best friend was Sarah Churchill the wife of the famed soldier John Churchill but the two later had a bitter quarrel never reconciling. England grew in power during Anne's reign. She was an ordinary woman who was thrust into power.
   5. Victoria (reigned from 1837-1901). There is the Elizabethan age and the Victorian Age. Elizabeth and Victoria are not only the two greatest of the queens chronicled by Waller but the two greatest monarchs of Great Britain. Victoria was the daughter of the Duke of Kent one of the many dissolute sons of George III. She ascended the throne following the death of her uncle William IV. Victoria was not beautiful and had a willful and imperious nature. She became queen as a young girl being tutored by her beloved father-figure Prime Minister Palmerston. She would later come to rely on Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli a Tory. Victoria detested the Liberal Prime Minister Gladstone.
   Victoria's great love was for her German husband Albert. She and Albert had nine children; she became known as the grandmother of Europe. Kaiser Wilhelm II was her granchild as was Tsar Nicholas of Russia. When Albert died in 1861 Queen Victoria went into seclusion for many years. She worshipped Albert sleeping with a picture of him in his coffin each night.
   Under the prodding of Disraeli she emerged in the 1870s as a visible presence on the political scene. She favored the emergence of the middle classes and had a keen mind. Victoria was very fat with a 48 inch waistline in middle age. She did not get along well with the playboy Prince of Wales Edward who became King Edward VII when she died in 1901.
   During her reigin Britain ruled over a quarter of the globe. She became Empress of India and her image was seen on everything from the penny postage stamp to vases. Her storng sense of morality and service is commendable. Victoria loved England and the English loved her. A great queen!
   6. Elizabeth II (1953-present). Elizabeth "Lillibet" was the oldest daughter of King George VI and his wife Mary of Teck. W@hen the old king died Elizabeth and her dashing Greek husband Phillip were on tour in Kenya. Elizabeth was raised in a cocoon along with her spoiled sister Margaret. During her long reign Britain has declined in power. She has been a better queen than a mother. Three of her four children have divorced. She lost popularity when Charles divorced Diana and wed his love Camilla Parker Bowles. Elizabeth lacks imagination but has been a good ruler of what is sometimes called "The Firm" of Royals. Elizabeth has endured and is much admired throughout the world.
   Waller's book contains no new historical revelations and is written as popular history for a general audience. As a longtime fan of the British Royalty I did enjoy this book. It will both entertain and enlighten the reader. I look forward to future books by this young historian.



2. History is one of those subjects that endlessly fascinates me. And one of my favourite times and places is England. So it was pretty much a given that I would pick up Maureen Waller's latest study on the six women who have ruled as monarchs in their own right.
   
   The six women here enjoy a unique position in history, ruling alone (with one exception) and helping to shape what we now know as England. Each one had a very different personality and would help to provide plenty of legend and mythology to what we think of as a Queen. One of them is still living, and several have become icons in the modern mind.
   
   Mary I, Elizabeth I, Mary II, Anne, Victoria and Elizabeth II, are probably better known than their male counterparts. They have been the subjects of innumerable books and films, and have inspired the arts, social custom and were often the catalysts for change in the time that they ruled.
   
   I have to say, I was not that impressed by this book. Each queen is covered in a series of vignettes, most of them rather scanty and feeling rushed, despite the attempt of the author to provide some historical and personal details. If that wasn't enough, Waller also tries to include some psychological insights, and also some medical theories as to why each woman behaved the way she did. The result is a thin narrative that doesn't really satisfy.
   
   Technically, the stories are written in a bland, matter-of-fact way that left me feeling rather bored by the stories, despite quite a bit of drama that occurs in each life. What I was hoping for was something new -- after all, how many more biographies of Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria can the market handle? And Waller has already written an outstanding book about Mary II and Anne titled Ungrateful Daughters, about James II and the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
   
   Along with the narrative, there are two inserts of colour and black and white photographs, as well as genealogical tables. The bibliography is about the best thing here, giving plenty of ideas for further research.
   
   Summing up, I would recommend this one for someone who doesn't know very much about the subject, but if you've already read biographies about these women, and are looking for something new, it's going to be a pretty dull read. Throughout the book, my attention kept wandering and I found myself bored silly. That's not a good sign, especially with history. Waller has already proved that she can do much better than this, and it's a real disappointment overall.
   
   Three stars overall. Somewhat recommended.



3. Seven personalities, not six, are on display here, the reigning queens' and Ms. Waller's.
   
   She doesn't condescend to the reader or get too lofty either; she assumes you're pretty educated, anyway, if you're reading this work, but not an expert on this subject. I loved her "voice;" it was friendly, highly personal--yet her research was impressive. I can't imagine trying to make sense of the huge amounts of often conflicting information.
   
   Like Antonia Fraser, Waller assumes the reader has a good command of foreign languages, so if, like me, you last opened a Latin book sometime in the 80's be prepared to miss a point here and there.
   
   In some places, I noticed sparks of startling misogyny. For example, Edward, son of Henry VIII was dying and his caretakers dismissed his physicians and brought in "a female quack." Well, maybe she was a quack and maybe she wasn't, but Edward was dying anyway and Ms. Waller didn't criticize the males who failed to save him. (Frankly, I wouldn't want to be treated by a medieval or Ren doctor of either sex.) In another section, she praises Elizabeth II for thinking "like a man." Hardly words I'd expect from a woman writing about comparatively powerful women!
   
   Waller succeeds in finding the personalities of all the queens, and since I never found anything interesting about either Anne or Mary II it was fascinating to feel them in particular come alive.
   
   
   All in all, I greatly enjoyed this book that gave wonderfully readable stories of the queens that were more than regents.



4. If you are not at all familiar with the six reigning Queens of England, than this is the book for you. It was informative, concise, not too biased in one direction or the other, and showed a bit of each ladies personality. It is the type of book to spark a persons interest in doing additional research on each monarch, on an individual basis.
   
   My reason for four stars, instead of five, is that I am VERY familiar with the British monarchy. This book did not disappoint, but there was little that was new and which hadn't been read in other volumes.



5. AN EXCELLENT BOOK THAT IS INFORMATIVE AND EXTREMELY INTERESTING. ALTHOUGH I AM FAMILIAR WITH EACH SOVEREIGN I LEARNED MUCH MORE THAN I EXPECTED TO. THE INSIGHT INTO THE TIMES MADE EACH SEGMENT RELEVANT. A VERY WORTHWHILE READ.

5 comments about Royals and the Reich: The Princes von Hessen in Nazi Germany.

1. 
   Petropoulos goes where no one has gone before. I had often wondered about the rumors surrounding the Windsors for which JP carefully separates facts from fiction. I had also wondered about what had become of the many royal houses of pre-Weimar Germany. With this book, I understand a lot more about their post WWI history.
   
   This is not just a story of the von Hessen princes, while they are the focus, they are used as a benchmark for many royals in this period.
   
   The devastation of Germany in WWI (22% of its young men killed) was followed by a new governance and the Weimar Republic arose. It exiled the Kaiser, rescinded royal titles, and voted on the status of lands formerly owned by a patchwork of royal sovereignties now abolished. While this vote on the lands failed passage, it was alarming to the aristocracy.
   
   Noting this, and perhaps the fate of the Romanovs, and the socialistic/communistic aspects of the times, the royals and aristocrats were seduced by Hitler's message. They joined the Nazi party earlier and in greater proportion than any other demographic.
   
   The prose in this book is heavy, and for someone like me, without much background in the history of Germany in this period was a slow read. It was, nevertheless, a page turner. Because I didn't know this family, what they did, nor their fate, I was glued to it. A map would be useful for readers, like me, with little background in Germany and its geography.
   
   You came to understand the thinking and the loss which would compel the royals to do something, anything, following their loss of status and wealth. The Nazi party with its militaristic overtones was a match for their feudal ideals. JP documents the anti-Semitism of the aristocracy. He also notes that while their childhood training taught them their role above others, it also inculcated a sense of honor which should have precluded the activites they later got caught up in.
   
   Philipp and Christoph, perhaps typical of royals and aristocrats, were deeply entrenched in the party as it turned homicidal. Phillipp either approved or ignored the conversion of the former mental hospital to a torture and/or elimination facility in the town over which he presided. As the author notes, due to the heavy censorship of the times, and his inability to confide, we don't know the disposition of Phillipp (and the other royals and aristocrats in similar situations, nor their feelings and motivations as the party turned on them) as events careened into deeper madness. We do have Philipp's denazificaiton testimony, which of course is steered to his defense.
   
   A debt is owed to not just the author for assembling this massive amount of material, but to the von Hessen family who provided full access to their personal papers.



2. A rich account with impeccable sholarship of a German royal family's historical roots, European connections, and role in the Third Reich.



3. Petrouplos'has a remarkable knack for gathering valuable hisotrical information, not to mention wangling an interview with the formidable Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He is a serious academic historian and his work includes a list of previous books he's written about the Nazi era and the holocaust. His fluency in German, and his academic background, put him in a league of his own among royalty writers. The book is written with the stiff prose of an academic research paper, but on its face, it may appeal as much to royalty buffs as to historians of World War II and the Nazi movement.Often the sensational facts underlying the story are dulled by the musty language. However, the reluctance to sensationalize gives the book more credibility. Petroupols downplays the sizzling hot genealogy of the principal players, Christoph and Philipp von Hessen. Even the family tree fails to branch out as far as it could, straight into the heart of the living royal family of England. A typical royalty writer such as Kitty Kelley would have put the facts in big bold font: the Duke of Edinburgh, husband of the Queen of England, had three sisters and three brothers-in-law who became members of the Nazi party. The facts are interesting, if deplorable. Petroupolus seeks to lay out the facts objectively, looking at root causes. Maybe there is enough distance between us and the Nazi era to admit with some calmness the appeal of the movement. Royalty buffs may want to turn their idols into saints, but this book makes it evident that some royals backed Hitler long and enthusiastically. One vivid passage in the book quotes a conversation between Phillip von Hessen and Hitler, and the Prince sounds both subservient and fanatical: 'Jawohl, mein Fuherer!'he says, several times in one minute.
   
   I admit to being a royalty buff, and I bought this book because my current obsession is the house of Hesse. I found mayself seeing Princess Margaret of Hesse-Kassel in a new light. A daughter of Victoria, the English Empress of Germany, who was herself the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Margaret and her husband became devout fans of Hitler and Nazism. The root cause seems to have been a hatred of Communism and an admiration for the German economic and social renaissance ushered in by the Nazis. True, many German nobles gradually or quickly became disillusioned by the regime as it showed its profoundly evil side...and suffered military defeat. One can't help wondering how one would have acted in the same circumstances. And how our own reaction to the policies of the current administration will be viewed.
   
   We all get caught in our times. Petroupolos's book doesn't convey this vividly, and it is not a miracle of literature. But the facts he discloses resonate long after the last page is turned.



4. Philipp and Christoph von Hessen-Kassell were great-grandsons of Queen Victoria and nephews of Kaiser Wilhelm II. They were born into the highest circles of wealth and privilege in pre-World War I Germany, living in a variety of palaces and castles and secure within a wide family circle which extended into nearly every royal dynasty in Europe. Petropoulos' central story examines how such men could have been seduced into participating in the highest levels of one of the most thuggish regimes in modern times.
   
   The Hessen family, like other royal/noble clans, was severely shaken by World War I. Although they did not lose all their property (or their lives) as so many of their relations did, Philipp and Christoph's family saw their status slip and some of their wealth vanish. This, along with the terrible suffering more ordinary Germans underwent in the post-World War I period, made the Hessen princes prime targets for the appeal of Nazism: militarism, aggressive nationalism, revenge for past defeats.
   
   After Hitler's coming to power in 1933 and the establishment of the Third Reich, the Nazi Party made a concerted effort to win the support of highly placed individuals and families. Much of the German aristocracy and many members of former royal houses joined the Party, and while they may have privately sneered at the lumpenproletariat side of the Nazis and contrasted it with their own urbane sophistication, they were not above working for and doing the bidding of those they considered so uncouth. Philipp and Christoph were two prime examples. Philipp assisted Hitler in cultural affairs and, since he was married to a daughter of the Italian king, often served as an envoy to Mussolini. Christoph ran one of the Nazi intelligence agencies and served as a fighter pilot in World War II. Both were members of the SS, and both were used by Hitler to try to win influence with their cousins, the British royal family.
   
   Having so much access to Hitler meant making a lot of moral compromises for the Hessens. Neither was particularly anti-Semitic (at least by the standards of the time) and had Jewish friends, but both were silent participants in the early stages of the Final Solution and similar atrocities. Both were artistic and fairly well educated by the standards of their caste, but neither protested the Nazi book-burnings or the destruction of art deemed insufficiently Aryan. Petropoulos does a good job contrasting this lack of action by the Hessens with the opposition of such aristocrats as Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, who with his family suffered enormously because he refused to collaborate.
   
   As so often happens to those who cooperate with evil, Philipp and Christoph became victims themselves. Philipp and his wife (the beautiful Princess Mafalda of Savoy) ended up in concentration camps where Mafalda died after terrible sufferings. Christoph was killed in a suspicious plane crash after he too lost the Nazis' favor. After the war Philipp spent time in POW camps and went through a long drawn out denazification process before being allowed to retire, poorer and hopefully wiser, to what was left of his estates.
   
   Petropoulos had the cooperation of many members of the Hessen family and other German nobles as well as that of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was Christoph's brother-in-law. He does a good job depicting the two men as the cultivated, charming cosmopolitans they were, and the reader is left with a disturbing question: If men such as these could be corrupted by the Nazis, is anyone really safe from similar extremism?



5. A VERY WELL DOCUMENTED BOOK REGARDING THE RELATIONS BETWEEN GERMAN PRINCELY FAMILIES AND THE NAZI REGIME FOCUSING PRIMARILY ON THE HESSEN-KASSEL BRANCH.
   
   UPON READING IT WE CAN SEE HOW THE PROMISES OF THE REICH AND THEIR DEFINITE HOSTILITY TOWARDS COMMUNISM MADE THESE PRINCES SUCEPTIBLE TO THE NAZI REGIME. AFTER ALL ON THE WAKE OF THE DISASTER OF WW I, THEY WERE DISPOSSED OF THEIR TITLES, POSITIONS AND IN MANY CASES THEIR SOURCE OF WEALTH.
   
   HOWEVER, IT IS NOT QUIET CLEAR IF THEIR ASSOCIATION WAS A MEANS OF SURVIVAL AND FINANCIAL BETTERMENT (OR AT LEASE A STATUS QUO) OR AN ACTUAL POLITICAL/ECONOMIC CONVICTION BY THEM OF THE NAZI RPHILOSOPHY AND REGIME.
   
   THE BOOK IS VERY WELL DOCUMENTED...BUT A BIT TEDIOUS READING. NOT SOMETHING YOU READ FOR ENJOYMENT BUT FOR ITS SCHOLARLY INFORMATION.
   
   STILL, AN INTERESTING BOOK ON AN INTERESTING CHAPTER IN HISTORY.

5 comments about Diana.

1. If you're like me and just want to know Princess Diana's whole story, this is the book you need to read. It tells her life story in such an intertaining way that i just couldn't stop reading it until the very end. Sarah Bradford's work is remarkable. I highly recommend it.



2. I wasn't sure about "Diana" by Sarha Bradford when I picked it. I thought that it would be a Diana hate fest or love fest. But this book was either. I was a balance book about Princess of Wales. Ms. Bradford should that Diana was just everyone else in the world. She had her up and downs with family and friends and all that she was looking for was her place in world, but unlike the rest of us the whole world was watching her do it.
   If you are a fan of the late Princess of Wales this may be the book for you.



3. Bradford sounds like a fan of the Princess. She gives Diana the benefit of the doubt at every juncture. In a way, this makes for a pleasant and poignant read. Diana is portrayed as misunderstood and misused by "the establishment," the press, her family and most of her lovers. The only ones who didn't let her down were us (her public) and Hasnat Khan, the Pakistani surgeon who loved her dearly but couldn't/wouldn't marry her. Diana's more destructive impulses are portrayed as being the flip side of her strength. The thing of it is, though, very little of this information is new and much of it is hard to believe. Diana did bring much of her heartache onto herself. As Tina Brown's superior book exhibits, Diana's real story -- objectively told -- is just as compelling and heartbreaking as this more rose-colored version.



4. I've read many biographies of Diana written by the usual suspects and wasn't going to read this one. It was recommended to me by a friend and I'm so glad I bought it.
   
   It is a very well written biography by an author who obviously knows her craft. She touches on some events that are well known, but treats them in a different way---crisply and to the point. I'm learning some new things, too.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a good book about a subject that seems will never be over.



5. Ms. Bradford is a celebrity biographer! She certainly did not bring anything memorable to the enigmatical Princess but she dragged it out forever. As Americans, we know little of the British system of royalty or those priveleged to be titled. I'm not certain that dragging every name and title connected with the late Princess brought anything at all interesting to this writing but it certainly filled pages with useless information. The only fact that was of any interest to me was that Diana Spencer's English lineage is absolute while that of Prince Charles is notably flawed! Diana's ideas concerning Prince William's elevation to King in place of Prince Charles has much value to the British people if the sequence of events reveal themselves to be in the best interests of the Monarchy. Diana would have liked William to be 'a very English King' who brings the Monarchy into the 21st century with she taking on the role of Queen Mother and aiding him in this huge endeavor. The Princess wished William and Harry to be a part of comtemporary English life by knowing his people and not reigning from afar in isolation. She wished him to be a democratic King to the people he would rule and to the extent that she was able, already had William and Harry on the road to that end. After reading almost 400 pages of information, this was the only enlightenment I came away with. I much preferred the biogaphy written by Paul Burrell to this one although the comparison is, more or less, one of apples to oranges.

5 comments about Queen Victoria's Little Wars.

1. This is simply a terrific book for those who wish an overview of British military involvements in the 19th Century without having to sort through the literally thousands of works which have been written about them. It is not, and was plainly not intended to be, an exhaustive history of the subject, but rather a terse and readily digestible summary, made vital and appealing by Farwell's engaged and engaging writing style. As is true of his several other, and equally well-crafted, books, the author tells this story through the lives and exploits of the principal military leaders involved, from the brilliant but ultimately frustrated (and, he thought, betrayed) Garnet Wolseley, to that Hapless Hero, Evelyn Wood, who appears not to have been able to eat dinner without stabbing himself with his fork. They're all here, leading the finest soldiers in the world at the time, through a seemingly endless thicket of minor and major conflicts, many the product of hasty and defective thinking by their political masters, but nonetheless invariably costly in blood and treasure. Every time I read one of Farwell's books, I picture him as having picked up his pen (he died in 2000) thinking, "I'll write what I find interesting, and see if readers agree." We do.



2. This book, says the back cover quote from the Library Journal, "will be of value and interest to both the student of military history and of the Victorian Empire," but on the first page of the Foreword, Farwell writes, "Scant attention is paid [here] to the causes of the wars or the political manoeuverings which preceded the hostilities. They are not of much importance." Such matters are, however, of great importance to anyone wanting insight into "the Victorian Empire." And, as others have pointed out, this book is far too short to do justice to the military history, so unless a reader is looking for little more than a "light read," this book disappoints on all scores.



3. This extremely well-written book tells the reader, in somewhat condensed form, about the various wars, excursions, etc., that happened during the long reign of Queen Victoria. I don't think that it's completely comprehensive, because to even say a little about each event would mean this book would be three or four times its length. The author hits the "highlights" (if you will), and the reader who is interested in further in-depth resarch can do it on his or her own. There are a plethora of books about the various actions of Imperial Britain during the 19th century, but this one short book gives the reader guidance for them. It's a book that contains much savagery, but there is a touch of humor also, which relieves the almost constant tension. There are also thumbnail biographies of the most important personages of the times, which are quite helpful. This is an excellent short book on the apex of the British Empire.



4. Magnificent job,describes the various military expeditions, little wars, rebellions, mutinies(well only one was the only big threat to the Queen Victoria Empire, the Indian Mutiny)and all the small affairs to repel a proboked attack, to save or to protect resident Britons, to avenge an insult or to stop any other Empire from extending it.

   A lively and compelling study of the Savage wars of peace and the eccentric personalities who fought them,from 1837 to 1901 continuos warfare to protect British Interest in Asia, Canada, Africa, Arabia, this is not a complete work but is one of the best, Mr. Farwell gave us a fascinating overview highly readable with many entertaining historical anecdotes of British colonial wars and bloody confrontations, well written.

   I know that there are other works that name all the battles or small campaigns(like the work of Philip J. Haythornthwaite "The Colonial Wars Source Book")but a fascinating and exciting story that was omitted was the Fashoda Incident,this was going to be one of the greatest collision of rival imperial ambitions, the French with their historic claims of the Nile try to take control of a small town call Fashoda and this was a big threat to the British control of the Suez Canal and Egypt so after the famous battle of Omdurman Kitchener was send to stop the young Colonel Marchand, at the end the Fashoda crisis was eventually resolved, the British gave the French a free hand on Morrocco and the French forget about Egypt.

   Even with out this the author made an exciting book and a valuable addition to military history, maps and pictures,well laid out, nice appendix, one on the British Regiment system essential to understand the British Military Mind and the other a easy to follow list of the Little wars from 1837 to 1901 this is a partial record of the conflicts for the "PAX BRITANNICA"




5. Queen Victoria fought more wars in her time then any queen in english history. Under Victoria the british government was involved in countless wars in the colonies across the world. This was the era of the great british empire, that the sun never set on. THis book details these wars from the war against the SIhks to the wars in Sudan and the Boer war and many more. Churchill wrote anumber of books on this period as well including his book the 'River war'. Unfortuantly this read tries to compact all these fascinating events into a single volume, but the text is horribly boring and tedious. Its a great resource and one of the only books of its kind(that focus on the entire period and detail every small skirmish and battle). It should be updated by a writer who will help you live history rather then a writer who writes like sheep, like a plodding lawnmower.

1 comments about The Nine Day Queen of England: Lady Jane Grey.

1. Nine Day Queen of England is a wonderful book, convincing and truthful. Faith Cook tells the true story of Jane Grey as no other book I've read has! This book is truly amazing. I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in Lady Jane Grey, or in English Monarchy!
   This is certainly a truthful account of one of England's most tragic and brave monarchs.

No comments about Diana: Her True Story (Diana Princess of Wales).

5 comments about Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman (Grove Great Lives).

1. fantatstic book
   not one sided at all
   story told from letters written
   you get to decide how you look upon Marie Antoinette which is refreshing since she is so controversial



2. I love all the works of Stefan Zweig; even in translation, you can tell what a brilliant storyteller that Stefan is. In Marie Antoinette, you could almost feel pity for the unfortunate woman that fate so harshly dealt with the responsibility of a queen. The book is excellent in detailing the emotional stages of her life as a young child into womanhood, & all that she had to endure amid all the royal duties, gossips, struggles & fights behind the palace doors. All in all, an execellent book that I enjoy over & over again.



3. As a disciple of Freud, Zweig was fascinated with the new psychoanalysis and applying it to historical characters. I think he overdoes it in his biography of Marie Antoinette, attributing her love of clothes, gambling, and partying to supressed desires rather than youthful vivacity, since she was a teenager, married at fourteen. This is a book that has outlived its time. Unfortunately, Zweig's Freudian interpretation has been imitated by other biographers and gives a false view of Marie Antoinette even to this day.



4. I think the title should read, "The Portrait of an Average Woman's Behavior". I think one would find it hard to accept that Ms. Antointte was anything but an average woman of her time. Yes, it is true that her behavior was typical of an average woman, but she was raised to become a queen, not your average woman. Finding true love with a warm, romantic, and compassionate man in comparison to her husband Louis XVI and the manner in which she handled the affair are truly average. Her thoughts and behavior as the momentum of the French Revolution accelerated are those of an average woman. Aside from the misnomer, I truly enjoyed the information and the manner in which Mr. Zweig presented it to the reader. Mr. Zweig exposed Ms. Antoniette to the reader as if he had known her personally. After reading this biography I now feel that beneath all the hair pieces and hats, she behaved as any woman would have done in her situation.



5. Dating from 1933 in its first edition, this book is part biography and part psychological analysis of the great Austrian Empress Maria Theresa's daughter who died a hated Queen of France. While both its writing style and its ideas - particularly its author's assumptions about the fundamental nature of womanhood - may seem quaint to the 21st Century reader, it's still very well worth reading. Zweig refuses to rely upon a number of commonly used sources that he has reason to consider suspect, and he approaches his subject with genuine interest that's refreshingly uncontaminated by awe. The Archduchess Antoinette, the Dauphiness of France, the giddy young Queen to Louis XVI, the maturing mother of the Dauphin who would have become Louis XVII - Zweig captures them all, and then takes us with him through this woman's terrible final transformation into the prematurely white-haired "Widow Capet" who mounts the scaffold. He writes her life with frankness that's remarkable, truly, considering the era in which his work was originally published.

5 comments about Diana: Closely Guarded Secret (Diana Princess of Wales).

1. In some ways this book misses the point. While it repeats stories of Diana's professional manner and her caring ways, it I felt missed the whole point behind some of Diana's petulant behavior. Charles hurt Diana very deeply. That is obvious. Due to this she did not trust people (but who can blame her). Anything that showed friendliness or respect to Charles sent the message: "Ok! Charles how you treated Diana is acceptable conduct.
   This spelled betrayal to Diana. In Ken's book he often stated how likable Charles could be. To Diana, liking someone who caused her so much pain was a breach of trust.
   Also, while loyalty was often questioned by Diana and she was branded as paranoid because of it -- the truth was Ken Wharfe was reporting Diana's every action to Prince Charles' protection officer and naturally every nuance got back to Charles. No wonder she did not trust her protection officer.
   The same with Patrick Jephsen, the moment Diana announced to him that she was going to do something, he was on the phone to either the Prince's staff or the Queen's staff telling everything and giving them advanced warning. I do not consider that to be a mark of a loyal employee.
   Also, there were inconsistencies in this book. One moment Ken is nothing more than a silent protection officer there to ensure Diana's safety and yet he was frequently given to handing her stern advice and speaking his mind concerning her opinions and decisions. Something that probably kept Diana off balance. She also seemed to resent him pointing out her shortcoming and disagreeing with her decisions.
   The message Diana wanted to send to the world was that she was an innocent girl who married the Charles, Prince of Wales and despite the best PR Buckingham could conjure up Charles' cruel and selfish behavior toward his wife and his ongoing relationship with a married woman came to the surface. Even without the Andrew Morton book, telling all that Diana had been through, there was still rumors and connotations of Camilla being more than a "friend" of the prince.
   A husband having an ongoing affair with a married woman gave Diana the high road. She reacted in a manner common with most women. The bottom line was that Diana WAS done wrong. All the books in the world stating she was paranoid, unforgiving and unstable cannot change the fact that she was done wrong by her husband, her in-laws, staff of various royal households and her own employees.



2. I found this book to be very entertaining and informative from the point of view of one of Lady Di's bodyguards. I'm glad I bought it and read it.
   However,I feel very strongly that Ken should not have included the last chapter
   "Postscript to the paperback edition". He comes across as a very jealous man when he attacks Paul Burrell, her butler whom she came to trust and confide in on levels of which I'm sure Ken was unaware ( read Paul Burrell's Books to see what I mean) With the exception of the last chapter This read is very worthwhile.



3. I have read many of the books written about Princess Diana since her death. This book, written by her bodyguard seems to be honest and balanced in comparison to others that I have read. This book is well written and gives us more insight to what Princess Diana was like in her private life as well as her personal life. I would recommend this book to anyone that has followed the life of Princess Diana, whether it was before her death, or after her death.



4. This book is an excellent, balanced, well-written account of Diana's life and a heartwarming glimpse into Diana's personality. The author has no axe to grind nor is he trying to make a buck by using the most shocking stories he knows. Instead, he has produced a very readable, fun book on Diana. I would not say this is THE one book to buy on the Princess of Wales but if you like to read about Diana, this is probably one of the Top 10. There is plenty of interesting new information to make it worth your time.



5. I found this book a believable and honest account of Diana's
   bodyguard's relationship with her. Enjoyed reading about the
   great times and not so great times she shared with this bodyguard
   and the difficult job he was required to do. His loyalty is
   evident in the book and also his sadness at the end of their
   working friendship. Great book!

No comments about Zara Phillips.