No comments about George IV.

No comments about Henry VIII and the English Monasteries: An attempt to illustrate the history of their suppression. Volume 2.

No comments about Capetian Women (The New Middle Ages).

No comments about Henry VIII and the English Monasteries: An attempt to illustrate the history of their suppression. Volume 1.

No comments about Her Majesty: Fifty Regal Years.

No comments about Oxford Bookworms Factfiles: Stage 1: 400 Headwords Diana, Princess of Wales (Oxford Bookworms: Factfiles).

No comments about Monarchy: Behind the Scenes With the Royal Family.

4 comments about Diana: Her New Life.

1. I love Andrew Morton's writing style. This is such a touching story. Highly recommended.



2. but just as good. This book is an update on Diana since her separation from Charles in 1992 and what the future could hold for Diana as a single woman.

   Unfortunately, only a year after her divorce, we got the answer, and it wasn't good.




3. Without question, this is a book sympathetic to Diana's side, and justifiably so. The grey-suited eunuchs of Buckingham Palace have never done the monarchy a favor by meddling in the marriages of the royal family. Morton tells the tale of Diana, her remarkable courage and resourcefulness, and her feelings of alienation, in the face of a smear campaign that would have shriveled us lesser mortals. Diana is a flawed, but nevertheless feeling, human being who did not deserve the ill treatment she received at the hands of her prince and his minions. This is an interesting book to read in light of what's happened since the book's publication in 1994. One can believe that Diana's death may not have been an accident.



4. I loved this book, I felt as if I was there writing the book as it happened,rather than reading the book years after it happened.

3 comments about Royal Subjects.

1. After hearing Theo Aronson talk about the pending publication of his latest book on a radio show, I hastened to order it. It sounded like it would be a lively insider's account of less-known incidents and anecdotes about the British Royal Family. Instead it turned out to be a thinly-disguised autobiography of Mr. Aronson with very few interesting stories and some very hissy jabs at the Windsor family. Perhaps his other biographies may be more interesting, but this one was very disappointing.



2. Theo Aronson is a well known biographer of European royalty past and present. Royal Subjects is a description in diary form of twenty years or so of contacts with British Royals both well known (The Queen Mother, Prince Charles) and almost unknown (Colonel Sir Henry and the Lady May Abel Smith). Aronson clearly enjoyed meeting these people and likes most of them quite a bit, but he is not blind to their character flaws and is on the whole refreshingly unidolatrous. (Not to say he isn't loyal, as he obviously has little truck with republican sentiment)

   Royal Subjects will appeal to you even if you are not a royal aficionado because Aronson very humorously describes the day to day sillinesses he puts up, from inane phone calls and letters to being interviewed by people who have obviously not read his books. Most appealingly of all, Aronson never takes himself or his subjects too seriously, even when he has to deal with prostate cancer. He has had a full life which he has enjoyed immensely, and you will enjoy this glimpse of part of it, too.




3. Based on the annotated information in the journals he's kept for years, Theo Aronsono has written a light and interesting book on the English Royals. As he's interviewed many of them for his other books, this is a chronoligical walk through his memories (from 1979 to the present). It's fascinating. I ordered this book after I heard an interview with him on the radio. It arrived yesterday, and I read it in its entirety last night. If you're interested in the Windsors, this is a slice of life from a man who doesn't pull any punches. And yet he still remains a gentleman. I really enjoyed it.

5 comments about The Wicked Queen: The Origins of the Myth of Marie-Antoinette.

1. I read and reread this and I never could make myself like it. It's pretty bad. But for those not wanting to know that much about the human Antoinette and more interested in her in the metaphysical sense, this is the book for you. It's crap to me right now. But who knows....I might find gold in it a decade down the road. Maybe there's insight I've yet to understand. Hence, I'm not placing it in a garage sale...for now.



2. I regret I did not read these reviews before I bought this book.
   The digressions were very distracting. I was greatly offended by the
   vulgar language of the phamplets. I had to throw the book out to prevent any one else being offended. At the time I bought this book I bought another that was more informative.



3. Unfortunately publishers feel that a book on Marie Antoinette will sell every couple years, so like clockwork we see an avalanche of pro royalist, sympathetic, out of context garbage. Most of them repeat the same legends...They base their accounts of the flight to Varennes on Carlyle and talk about her martydom...With the exception of Le Notre not one of her biographers has also done a biography of one of the leaders of the Revolution. Most demonstrate an alarming lack of understanding of basic events such as the the Bread March on Verseilles, September Massacres, the Necklace Affair or even how official Court appointment were made.

   This is the first book in sometime that has put Marie Antoinette back into the context of her time...unfortunately for Royalist Mythology she was commonly referred to as the Austrian .... By her actions she precipitated the Revolution...she was provocative and weak...a flammable combination.

   As for the reader who's sensibilities are offended by the "riding the penis" cartoon...you obviously haven't seen the several thousand cartoons of time that are available...the one you refer to IS tame...you should see the ones where she is dressed like a nun....You should also read the pamphlets sold at the Palais Royale...

   While Hebert did indeed make things up in her indictment, it is hard to get around the fact that she has to shoulder a lot of responsibility for the revolution...

   I recommend this book as one of the best books on Marie Antoinette in last 20 years...it has also prompted me to seek out the author.

   I think the book is well researched, devoid of sentimentality and attempts to place Marie Antoinette back into the context of the tapestry of her times.

   Michael La Vean
   Fellow, International Napoleonic Society




4. The author should study her history and get the facts!
   This book was a joke. I was rather furious and more than disappointed. Marie Antoinette's name was drug through the mud over 200 years ago based on hearsay and false accusations.

   Isn't it time she is given the credit due her by now?
   Read your facts author!




5. This book was a disappointment. I ...was very interested. I am a 'fan' of Marie Antoinette and have been fascinated with her life since reading Castelot's biography of her.

   This book however, though it has some interesting pamphlets of historical interest, is more like a scrapbook. The writing is poor and has no direction. The pamphlets reproduced in the book are mostly pornographic lyrics and droll poetry of the Queen. The worst of which is Marie Antoinette riding an erected penis as if it were an ostrich.

   If you want to learn about the Queen, her children, or the French Revolution, this is not the book to find it in. If you are very familiar with the Queen's life, this may offer you a little insight as to the people's attitude at the time, but that's it. I read it once, and it has been on the shelf since.

   For a truly amazing book about Marie Antoinette, I suggest 'The Fatal Friendship'.