No comments about The Queen & Us: The Second Elizabethan Age.

2 comments about Diana: A Princess Remembered.

1. Lovely picture book in tribute to a lovely lady. If you are a fan, you will also appreciate the bonus DVD that comes with the book. I'm glad I bought it, well worth the money.



2. Very nice picture book of the life of the late Princess as photographed by Glenn Harvey. It's divided into sections, sometimes a country- other times by subject matter and not all in chronological order. Almost all of the shots are of the Princess (some of these appear to have been cropped just to show her) with a few crowd shots or something like that.
   
   The text is a sort of autobiography of Mr. Harvey as he followed Diana around, it's worth reading and very respectful of the Princess.
   
   The DVD is a kind of slide show, set- in my copy (from Amazon.UK last January)- to a jazzy piano soundtrack. It is also worth a look.
   
   Maybe not the best, most informative book on Diana but it is worth having if you're interested in her.

No comments about George the Fourth.

No comments about Maria Antonieta / Marie Antoinette: La Ultima Reina De Francia/ The Last Queen of France.

1 comments about Charles I.

1. A readable and balanced portrayal of Charles, showing his virtues as well as his faults. Charles was the wrong man for his circumstances, but not totally evil or inept at everything. He learned the wrong lessons from his life experiences, and in the end his private virtues such as loyalty to his servants meant he could not compromise when it was necessary. This biography gives good insight into Charles and what went wrong.

2 comments about John Brown: Queen Victoria's Highland Servant.

1. This book is about Queen Victoria's unusual relationship with her highland servant, John Brown. Most are familiar with the story because of the well-received movie, "Mrs. Brown". While the story made a very interesting movie, for most recreational readers the topic doesn't merit a full book. Raymond Lamont-Brown has certainly done excellent research, and I do not doubt that his account of Mr. Brown and his relationship with the queen is as accurate as possible. Unfortunately, oneof Queen Victoria's daughters drastically edited the Queen's personal papers when it came to the topic of Mr. Brown, so much of the historical record is irretrievably lost. Nevertheless, it seems clear that it is unlikely that there was a scandalous relationship and that the Queen simply considered Mr. Brown to be a completely devoted servant . She consequently kept him in constant attendance and was tolerant of his brusque manner. No matter how hard Mr. Lamont-Brown tries to find some actual drama, most of the relationship (and therefore most of the book) revoloved around the mundane routine of the royal household - daily ponyrides, picnics in the Scottish countryside, below-stairs jealousies, etc. Any excitement in the book is the result of speculation, not historical fact. If you have a serious interest in Queen Victoria, you will find this book worthwhile. Otherwise, see the movie.



2. The release of the well-regarded film _Mrs. Brown_, about Queen Victoria and her gillie John Brown, indicated there was still interest in the story of the Queen and her devoted servant. The full story of their relationship will never be known, but in _John Brown: Queen Victoria's Highland Servant_ (Sutton Publishing), Raymond Lamont-Brown sifts through what can be known to give as good a picture as we are likely to get of the servant beloved by the Queen and detested by so many others. It is a small but successful study of the Queen as honest and loyal, with a love of the outdoors, and with a sense of humor (when will the opposite legend go away?) which Brown must have frequently tickled. They were a good match. He impressed both Albert and the Queen with his knowledge of game and hunting, and a strong friendship grew between the gillie and his Queen. He liked jokes and gossip, and the Queen liked to hear his stories. There are many illustrations here of their familiarity. When the royal family went out on jaunts, John Brown usually brewed the Queen's pot of tea. Early in his service, she remarked that this was "the best cup of tea I ever tasted." "Well, it should be, Ma'am," came Brown's reply. "I put a grand nip o' whisky in it."

   There is little doubt that the Queen idealized Brown in a way no one else did, but especially after Albert's death, no one tended her as he did. A courtier wrote, "Others had tended her as their Queen and mistress. John Brown protected her as she was, a poor, broken-hearted bairn who wanted looking after and taking out of herself." Many around the Queen disapproved. Brown took his duties so seriously he would deny even her family access to her. His gruffness with others made few friends. Sent to convey the Queen's invitation to dinner to the Lords-in-Waiting, Brown pushed open the door of the billiard room, eyed the aristocrats, and bawled, "All what's here dines with the Queen." The Prince of Wales particularly disliked him, always referring to "that brute" rather than using his name. He obliterated all the busts and mementoes of Brown after the Queen's death, but he was never able to wipe out the rumors that Brown and the Queen were lovers, or that they had a morganatic marriage, or that Brown was her guide in spiritualism. Such evidence as there is shows that they were nothing but devoted friends as well and mistress and servant. This readable book well illustrates the relationship, with ample quotations from the Queen's diary and from remarks of those who knew both parties well.

5 comments about The Last Days of Henry VIII: Conspiracies, Treason and Heresy at the Court of the Dying Tyrant.

1. This book is a great comprehensive look at the last few years of Henry VIII's life, which is often overlooked due to the scandals of his earlier years. It explores in depth his last three marriages, the conspiracies and rivalries abounding in his inner circle, the religious climate, his volatile temper, his waning heath and final illness, and his majestic funeral. We see some familiar characters like Cromwell exit the scene in Henry's familiar tyrant fashion, and we become more familiar with others who filled large rolls behind the scene. I would recommend this as a great supplement to the collection of any Tudor enthusiast as a readable and straightforward account of Henry's final, tumultuous years.



2. I found this book was not very reader-friendly. It was interesting, but not interesting enough for me to finish...



3. In response to the fellow that gave this book a 1-star, one cannot possibly understand the important political maneuverings in the final days of Henry without explaining details of his reign, of which I feel was the point of the book. I also did not mind the review of other parts of his reign because it included interesting primary sources.
   
   This book is a good starting point to understanding the Tudor political atmosphere and why it is how it is in the wake of Henry's death, backed with good solid sources of letters and financial records. It is also remarkably readable and interesting.
   
   The only thing I didn't prefer are the conjectures of Henry's ailments. At this point it's just a guess - and I'd prefer to just have the symptoms stated instead of a guess stated like a fact.



4. This book does a remarkably good job of presenting the facts about the final years of Henry VIII, a time when political and religious factions were vying for control over the course England would take after Henry's imminent death. I've read a lot about Henry over the years but this book taught me many things about him that I never knew before. This book contains an overview of the political and religious situation towards the end of Henry's time and also presents many interesting new findings and details you probably won't read anywhere else. It's written in an erudite yet relaxed style that is easy, even entertaining to read, and feels like listening to a lecture by a skilled history professor with a sense of humor. This book is a valuable and very welcome recent addition to the world's historical knowledge of Henry's time. I heartily recommend it to anyone who shares my fascination with Henry VIII or English history in general.



5. This book was extremely disappointing, especially for a person well read in Tudor History. The title is very misleading. I thought this book would examine in depth the final years of Henry's reign. Theses final years were full of scandal, intrigue and death but the book read like a summary of his whole reign. There are plenty of other books that do this and do it better (Alison Weir for example). It's pages and pages of he said, she said quotes followed by summaries of crucial events that surely deserve more description. If you are looking for a thorough historical analysis of the final years of Henry, save your money.

2 comments about Anne Boleyn..

1. I must admit that it has been quite a while since I read this. It was always my favorite biography of Anne Boleyn - I thought it brought her to life more than most that I have read. Bruce has some very interesting speculations and insights. I was quite impressed at the care she took in placing certain incidents which other writers have inserted, apparently almost at random, during or after Anne's life. The prime example is the conversation between Henry VIII and Jane Seymour regarding their future children - this is often placed after Anne's imprisonment or death, but Bruce carefully locates it before any accusations were even made against Anne.
   
   This has now be superseded by Eric Ives' the Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, but it is still very much worth reading.



2. In my quest to gain biographical information on the six wives of Henry VIII for historical novel purposes, Ms. Bruce's book on Henry VIII's second wife was one of the first to which I turned. Though it is difficult to prove a great many facts about Anne Boleyn, what Ms. Bruce has written is well supported by gripping evidence. Her extensive travel and study has rewarded her readers with a deep sense of knowledge concerning the knight's daughter-made-Queen and a good understanding of the rise and fall of Queen Anne. However, Ms. Bruce's biography has been succeeded by more recent works on Anne Boleyn, and the date of the studies conducted may point a reader in search of the hard facts in a different direction. Still, Bruce's "Anne Boleyn" is a wonderful and well-written source.

No comments about Elizabeth: The Woman and the Queen.

2 comments about Charles II: The Last Rally.

1. Hilaire Belloc is truly without peer as a historian. His works are beautiful and riveting. One has the feeling in reading Belloc of having a long and deep conversation with an old and extremely wise friend. The mood of the discourse is intoxicating, and we don't want the interlude to end. But end it does, the good news being we can always find more of this prolific and insightful author to peruse.
   
   In Charles II, Belloc tells the story of the restoration of the Stuart monarchy after the Cromwellian "Commonwealth". We heartily recommend reading Belloc's "Cromwell" first and then this excellent work. Simply by reading the last chapter of each respective work, the reader will grasp firmly one of the great truths that Belloc imparts, what it is to die in an unrepentent state, that of Cromwell, and what it is to leave this Earth, being reconciled in the Eucharist, as Charles II finally was. The story of the good English Priest who both introduced Charles to the Catholic faith, once saved his life, and finally gave his last rites, is far more powerful than any dramatic fiction I have ever read. His brother James, later to be James II of England, perfectly sums up this scene in saying,
   
   "The man who saved your life has come to save your soul."
   
   This is wonderful. Read it. And be richly blessed.



2. I've read several biographies of Charles II, the best of them Antonia Fraser's, with Stephen Coote's more recent Royal Survivor much less so. Almost all treat their subject as intelligent, but lazy, at best, feckless and disloyal at worst. Belloc takes the unique view that Charles had a strong and well developed set of principles that were reasonably adapted to a free and just society, but which were irreconcilable with the nouveau riche elements of his economy. This treatment was quite reasonable and fairly convincing, but most of all made good reading. As with much of Belloc's work, there is a strong institutional Roman Catholic orientation. Belloc does downplay the licentiousness of the Restoration Court in general and its monarch in particular, but those details can be readily found elsewhere.