No comments about More (Past Masters).

No comments about The Last English King: The Life of Harold II.

1 comments about Marguerite de Navarre: Mother of the Renaissance.

1. Marguerite de Navarre was one of the outstanding women of the French Renaissance. She was the eldest child of Louise of Savoy and sister to the future Francois 1 of France. Both were born minor Royals in the house of Valois and it seemed unlikely for many years that Francois would inherit the throne despite all his mother's scheming.
   
   This biography is obviously the fruit of many years reseach. Its very detailed and literate and draws heavily on research done in France over the years on Marguerite. Unlike many women in her time Maguerite was an extremely literate woman who loved writing and this allows an insight into her character that is often missing in many biographies of women of this period.
   
   This book is not a quick read as it also devles deeply into the meanings of Marguerite's litrature. This is an academic biography in the sense that it is well footnoted and sourced, but in English, this would be hard to beat for and indepth and interesting biography of this outstanding French royal. And to top it off the book is nicely bound and on acid free paper - so made to last.
   
   THE GREAT REGENT: LOUISE OF SAVOY 1476-1531.
   
   Queen of Navarre: Jeanne d'Albret, 1528-1572
   
   Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I

2 comments about Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart: The Perils of Marriage.

1. This would be a suitable book for a beginning student of Tudor-Stuart history, but is disappointing to one experienced in the area. It does not reach either Antonia Fraser's work Mary Queen of Scots or John Guy's True Life of Mary Stuart,both of which deal extensively with Elizabeth as well, and lacks the scholarship of Allison's Weirs Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley, or Jane Dunn's Elizabeth and Mary, Cousins, Rivals, Queens. As with every work written that involves the unhappy rivalry between the Queens, ( even Fraser's) it has a bias. No book that deals with the history of these two women should be read alone.



2. This book held my interest well until about 75% of the way through it. Then it got dull, and read more like a history text book. Also, a lot of time was spent on her childhood, and adulthood, but once she reached old age, very little time is spent on her and more instead on the others in her life. One minute I was reading about her declining years, the next, she was already dead and the book was talking about anyone else but her. So so book, I'd recommend waiting for the cheaper paperback edition and buying that used. Also didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know - no new insights or information.

5 comments about Dicing With Di: The Amazing Adventures of Britain's Royal Chasers.

1. It was an interesting book that was candid and well written. I enjoyed reading it and will treasure owning a copy.



2. Insensitive, thoughtless, cruel, non-ending harrassment and deliberate blindness to the misery these two photographers caused Diana runs rampant through every page of this excellently photographed book. Stalking a woman who finally bursts into tears just goads them on to call her a "loon", whereas when she ignores them, they pout and sulk and pretend she secretly "wants the atention". With no thought at all of "do unto others" ,Mark and Glenn intrude onto every private waking moment. It is not enough for them that Diana is on public display as she carries out her duties or charity work. They must catch her sorrow at her father's death, her sipping coffee in her bathrobe in the mroning in her room at Disneyland when she has taken the boys on a visit. What is the purpose of following her everywhere she goes ? It seeme to me that stalkers get arrested in the United States, and yet these men get paid for doing the same thing -- making someone's life miserable -- and then getting paid for it, to add insult to psychological injury. It is a shame that more of the goodness of the Princess is not revealed here, that the evalustion of Diana is not more fair, more generous, more accurate. She was a fabulous Princess, a good Mother, and would have made a good wife to aman not bent from day one on belittling her while he kept up a relationship with his past girlfriend. A sad book because it repreatedly reveals the most despicable aspects of tabloid journalism.



3. This book shows just how terribly Diana was harrassed. You only think you know untill you read this book. The photographers called her crazy yet they did not see how PETTY they were or that they drove her to the brink! This book will make you very ANGRY!



4. I thought the book was enlightening, showing a tiny glimpse into another facet of Diana's personality. The stories told by Glenn and Mark sometimes were funny but most of the time sad, showing how strange life with the British royals must have been for Diana and how confining her life continued to be when she tried to break away and make a life on her own. I just kept asking "what if", if she wouldn't have spent so much time running away, would the paparazzi eventually have moved on to another target and left her alone?



5. The depiction of some of the most professional slimeballs at their very best, true paparazzis with absolutely no ethics whatsoever, if anything this should prove to you that these people at heart are good people, I would let them help my children cross the road anyday, both fine examples of the British tabloid media . Any way Glenn and Mark mine 'll be a swift pint (cheque is in the post I understand?)

1 comments about Edward VII's Last Loves.

1. A well-written book full of interesting information. The only problem with the book is that Agnes Keyser seems to be more of an afterthought to Alice Keppel than a subject in her own right. The treatment of Mrs. Keppel is wonderfully detailed. I highly recommend this book!

No comments about Canada's Queen: Elizabeth II: A Celebration of Her Majestys Friendship with the People of Canada.

No comments about The Reign of Louis XIV.

1 comments about Diana (Diana Princess of Wales).

1. This book is not only a personal slide show with over 150 images of the late Princess of Wales. It looks at Diana's life and her impact on other people. Using her own words and quotes from those who knew her, A Life and a Legacy presents an engaging tribute to a remarkable woman.

No comments about Anne.