Kakaku：250 saved$2.50
Weiser Books
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (Queen of the Night rules!) 『I am been studying the Celtic spirituality, and wanted more information about their Moon Goddess. This book is a "must have" for those serious in finding addtional information that is found no where else. Loved this Book, highly recommend it to those wanting&searching for the eternal Mistress of the Night, the Celtic Moon Goddess.』
(One of the most important books for Pagans in years) 『With all the dull/dumb Wicca 101, Druid 101, Fairy Shaman Dolphin Crystal Child 101 books out there saying all the same things (if you have a solid background in Western Magical Trad, some basic Eastern practice, and varieties of shamanism) - yay, wow, thank you Goddess! It's written by a SCHOLAR, yes someone who STUDIED the topic beyond tossing together last year's 101 books and adding some "personal gnosis". She is an actual professor in Ireland and she's a Pagan. She is writing this book for her colleuges, but adding exercises that are amazing at the end each chapter for the Pagans. It's not dumbed down in any way which is so refreshing. She expects that the reader is smart, wants facts, and cares about integrity. PLEASE WRITE MORE BOOKS! The fact that it's never clearly understood just what the Celts had for a moon Goddess was irrelevant - she offered details about the Celtic calender that make a lot of sense, great Indian information that clicked in wonderfully for anyone who has done their Indo-European studies, and millions of other details. This book is worth 100 of the same old same old books being passed off as new. Most Pagan writers have no scholarly experience and can't write a footnote to save their lives - BUY THIS BOOK!』
(Lies, Dang Lies&Statistics) 『The back cover states that the moon has been associated w/the Goddess since earliest times. This is nonsense, of course. Although the author claims to have studied Celtic languages at Harvard, they somehow neglect to note the FACT that the Sun is feminine in Celtic languages&the Moon is masculine. That's enough for me to realize that this book's a waste of time, trees&money.』
(What is Celtic about it?) 『General overview of the Moon in various cultures. While it briefly touches on Celtic culture, I don't know why it's being marketed as Celtic, as there is very little Celtic information here. If you're looking for a general moon book, you may like this, but if you're looking for Celtic moon lore you'd be better off buying The Carmina Gadelica and The Gaelic Otherworld, then you'd have every bit of info the author mentions in here, and more.』
(Beautiful and Inspiring) 『Simply, this is one of the best publications on the subject. Thank you』 『- Practical exercises, ceremonies, and meditations help readers experience the power of the moon for themselves. - More than 60% of all spells and rituals are moon spells. - Sure to appeal to Neo-Pagans, Wiccans, Celtic enthusiasts, and others interested in the practical application of spirituality involving goddess symbolism and the moon.』
Kakaku：240 saved$2.40
Duke University Press
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (Do TV shows define your life?) 『While Berlant is quite definatly a good cultural theorist, the type of work she does is problematic. This book regularly tries to define a national mindset in relation to the productions of a small number of people. While one might be able to analyze any number of the texts mentioned in this book, Berlant insists on saying that these texts relate to a particular way of thinking that are shared by at least a majority of our population (enough to elect republicans to the presidency). She repeatedly uses really loaded/offensive terms, which can be fun if you politically agree with her (for instance patriotism=infantile citizenship, heterosexuality=dead sexuality), but if you disagree even slightly with her they seem mostly like bullying. While I'm rather left leaning, the core of her arguement, that right leaning people vote more based on emotions rather than well thought out ideas, I find to be mostly baseless (I think a misunderstanding of economics and international politics are the reason people vote republican... or immense wealth). Since most of the textual examples she uses I don't think can ever adequatly stand for the majority of the people she claims they represent, and are more caricatures of poltical discourse (which of course most political discourse is) rather than actual personal poltics, her work comes across as being based on a confusion of aggressiveness and refrences to Lacan with strong theorizing.
Unless you want to get into arguements with friends who really like this book, I'd pass it up if I were you.』
(One of the best Cultural Studies books I've read) 『It needs to be acknowledged that this underrated book will not please the reader who has done no serious engagement with the scholarship on a) popular culture, or b) sexuality and gender. It is evocative and deeply insightful, but precisely because it is methodologically sound it is not really as accessible to the casual reader as popular "non-fiction". I hope this - rather than knee-jerk cultural conservatism - accounts for the negative reviews on the site.
As an investigation of the complex dynamics of culture and citizenship, this is might be the best going. Even as a non-American, and noting the "dated" nature of the sources, I still gained many insights into contemporary nationalism from this book. It's also very funny in parts.
Other reviews have gone into more detail about how useful the book is. I'll just say that if you compare the arguments of the negative reviews against the arguments of the positive reviews, it will be clear to you that this book generates a polarised response of extreme satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and you should be able to work out which camp you fall in. I bought it second-hand, but would have felt that it was a bargain at the new cost. A tremendous piece of scholarship.』
(No evidence? Maybe you should learn to read.) 『If you want a better critique of the kind of anxiety this book can inspire in its critics, then read the book itself which of course fully anticipates and explains overly negative panic responses to its arguments and its extensive archive.
Not only is Berlant's Queen stuffed full of evidence, it considers the question of evidence at great length; indeed, EVIDENCE is one of the most important topics this brilliant book carefully considers. Additionally, the included gallery of images, like the photograph mentioned in the review below, provide a rich graphic museum of evidence of the type Berlant considers closely throughout this book. Have you ever read a closer, more evidentiary, or more thorough reading of The Simpsons in relation to what it means to be "an American" than this book provides? Or what of the numerous, numerous, fascinating moments from every American citizen's life that serve as evidence here? The close readings of American literature? The salient keen interpretations of the speech of politicians, news articles, television images and more? If this book lacks evidence, then cats lack fur and whiskers.
The negative reviews I've read here of Queen accuse the book of many flaws (including no evidence) and yet, ironically, offer absolutely ZERO evidence from Berlant's writing to back up their baseless criticisms which exemplify most of all a profound failure of intellectual engagement. Beyond this, I would suggest that when allowing one's own artwork to appear in a publication, one should try to understand the CONTEXT in which one's image will appear. The image in question, rather than appearing "out of context," is given a deep and fascinating context provided by Berlant's analysis. But you have to read the book to understand that context. Duh.
Finally, as to Berlant's style of writing, there is no contemporary author I have read who can take such complex ideas and then translate them into effective, meaningful problems familiar to us all in such direct, intelligent, thoughtful words. If you've ever had a thought that you felt was too complicated to write out in a clear fashion, read this book as much for its argument as for its example of courageous, articulate, living prose. You'll be inspired to write your thoughts too.
In the present politically disastrous, difficult moment in this country, when clear-thinking people fill their heads with fantasies of how to leave rather than remain implicated daily in its murderous, imperialistic, cynical policies, this book reminds us all of the outright power of clear political and social thinking. If there is a way back to an America with which progressives might identify, or about which progressives might again feel some political optimism, then Berlant's work is the vehicle which can move us in a hopeful direction: a direction that requires us to honor and use our intellects just at the moment when we are threatened by drowning inside a spiral of political depression created by a Conservative Ideology which hates individual thinkers just as much as it hates thought itself. I keep Berlant's work close at hand along with my passport, but if she's not willing to defect just yet than neither am I as long as I can be led in part by her thinking.
』
(Editor, Please!) 『The author needs someone to explain to her that arguments develop not simply by stringing one sentence after another and expecting that with a little tape, good cheer, and hope, a coherent line of thought will emerge. Rather, arguments develop by actually rereading what you have written, revising it so as to clarify the connecting ideas, and making assertions that require some kind of evidence to defend them. A little reseach along the way wouldn't be a bad idea either. While the topics being discussed are certainly interesting, the result of this porridge-like prose (it's not at all clear that book represents sustained meditation), is a kind of mush capable of taking any of a number of shapes.』
(forget the cranks: this book is subtle and brilliant!!!) 『On the face of it, the Queen of America is a book about family values and the fetish of innocence in the conservative citizenship ideology of the last few decades. But it is so much more than that. It is a brilliant work of cultural theory, but in the language of story telling. It considers why people have feelings about nationality and how they get that way, which couldn't be more important now. It challenges all sorts of norms about proper sexuality, knowledge, and politics, without being condescending. A slow, careful reading is powerfully well-rewarded.』 『InThe Queen of America Goes to Washington City, Lauren Berlant focuses on the need to revitalize public life and political agency in the United States. Delivering a devastating critique of contemporary discourses of American citizenship, she addresses the triumph of the idea of private life over that of public life borne in the right-wing agenda of the Reagan revolution. By beaming light onto the idealized images and narratives about sex and citizenship that now dominate the U.S. public sphere, Berlant argues that the political public sphere has become an intimate public sphere. She asks why the contemporary ideal of citizenship is measured by personal and private acts and values rather than civic acts, and the ideal citizen has become one who, paradoxically, cannot yet act as a citizen—epitomized by the American child and the American fetus. As Berlant traces the guiding images of U.S. citizenship through the process of privatization, she discusses the ideas of intimacy that have come to define national culture. From the fantasy of the American dream to the lessons of Forrest Gump, Lisa Simpson to Queer Nation, the reactionary culture of imperilled privilege to the testimony of Anita Hill, Berlant charts the landscape of American politics and culture. She examines the consequences of a shrinking and privatized concept of citizenship on increasing class, racial, sexual, and gender animosity and explores the contradictions of a conservative politics that maintains the sacredness of privacy, the virtue of the free market, and the immorality of state overregulation—except when it comes to issues of intimacy. Drawing on literature, the law, and popular media,The Queen of America Goes to Washington Cityis a stunning and major statement about the nation and its citizens in an age of mass mediation. As it opens a critical space for new theory of agency, its narratives and gallery of images will challenge readers to rethink what it means to be American and to seek salvation in its promise.』
Kakaku：1188 saved$11.88
The History Press
Usually ships in 6 to 7 days IPhone 3G used's review (A Liner Lover Must Have!) 『This epic tale of seafaring is a must have for the liner lover, or even the basic ship enthusiast. It was published after the death of Captain John Treasure Jones (by his son-in-law) the last Captain of the most loved ocean liner of all time the Queen Mary. He also was the one who took her around the Horn to Long Beach on the last voyage. One gets an facinating look at the development of ships during the 20th century first hand and what life was like on the two greatest passenger ships of the Atlantic run the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. A MUST HAVE for those of you out there who know who you are, and you know who you are!』 『
John Treasure Jones first went to sea when he was 15. For the first four years at sea, he was indentured as an apprentice, surviving the oceans in a small tramp steamer. Slowly however, he worked his way up to become Captain of the most famous ocean liner afloat, Cunard's RMSQueen Mary. During World War II, as a commander in the Royal Navy Reserve, he was torpedoed in the Atlantic and mentioned twice in despatches. In the post-war years, he mixed with film stars and royalty, commanding several of the famous Cunard liners, such as theSaxonia,Mauretania, andQueen Elizabeth. In 1967, he took his final commandQueen Maryon her last voyage—a 12,000 mile trip from Southampton to her retirement home in Long Beach, California. Captain Treasure Jones died in 1993, but his manuscript was recently found and has been edited by his son-in-law to be reproduced here for the first time.
Kakaku：320 saved$3.20
Philomel
Usually ships in 24 hours 『What do you get when you mix a fiery, red-headed girl with the high seas? Granuaile, better known as Granny O’Malley! And would she rather raid ships than learn the ways of a woman? Yes. And though a woman, would she become captain of her own crew and take to pirating and plundering every English merchant ship that dares sail by? Indeed. But Red Liz, the Queen of England, isn’t going to take Granny O’Malley’s filching without a fight. When she imprisons Granny’s son, the pirate and the Queen come face to face—and neither feisty female is prepared for what happens next!
Matt Faulkner sets readers sailing on a pirating adventure that guarantees you’ll never forget the name Granny O’Malley.』
Kakaku：480 saved$4.80
Penguin (Non-Classics)
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (No depth) 『A flat narration of some historical events. A surprisingly boring read for such a juicy subject.』
(Great Tid Bits of History) 『I love history but I didn't want to read a 600 page novel that read like a textbook. This book is perfect. Fun, and straight to the point. I learned about all the dirty details of some of history's famous characters that my teachers and professors never bothered to mention. History + sex + murder= good time. The book educates you and entertains.』
(Looking at the royals as most have never seen them) 『This book details all the sexual and psychological peccadilloes of royalty. The main focus is European royalty from the Middle Ages to the present, but some discussion of ancient Rome is thrown in towards the end. It's a wonder the royals stayed on top as long as they did. Pure brain candy.』
(Highly Entertaining!) 『Michael Farquhar's "Scandal" series is simply fantastic. If school history books included the subject matter presented here along with all the dry dates and places, more students would enjoy history class I'm sure! Many readers are enchanted by historical figures, as indicated by the popularity of such writers as Philippa Gregory, or Jean Plaidy. We want to hear about the sordid affairs of Henry VIII, Louis XVI, and other famous dead people! But, the author doesn't give us fiction. He digs into the past of many royals across the centuries for the juicy stories that actually happened, but aren't necessarily important.
There were books before this one, most notably "Royal Babylon," that made a similar attempt. However, that book was plodding and the writing too formal and dissertation-like. This is where Farquhar shines. He tells each anecdote with simple, elegant language that is easy to read and flows like a fiction novel. It's like reading an episode of "Access Hollywood" for the celebrities of previous centuries. Some will argue that he has his facts wrong, or "it didn't happen that way." They're missing the point. This is meant to titillate, entertain and give readers a peak into a less than glorious past. And it may just inspire some people to look further for more information on some of the historical subjects depicted. Highly recommended!
Others in the series: A Treasury of Great American Scandals: Tantalizing True Tales of Historic Misbehavior by the Founding Fathers and Others Who Let Freedom Swing
A Treasury of Deception: Liars, Misleaders, Hoodwinkers, and the Extraordinary True Stories of History's Greatest Hoaxes, Fakes and Frauds
A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten Americans: Pirates, Skinflints, Patriots, and Other Colorful Characters Stuck in the Footnotes of History』
(Five Stars) 『A fun read that will have you laughing from beginning to end at the wickedest, weirdest and funniest true stories and the witty way the author writes them right down to the funny titles for each chapter.』
Kakaku：544 saved$5.44
Dutton Juvenile
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (Our Favorite Fairy Tale, Beautiful Version) 『I have two small children, and this has fast become our favorite read-aloud fairy tale. This version is very lyrical and well-told. The illustrations are very detailed and beautiful. The snowy scenes are anything but stark due to good use of color, and we actually get chilled and need to snuggle under the covers when looking at them because they are so full of life. This is a beautiful and treasured book in our household.
Great film version of The Snow Queen: The Snow Queen Our favorite new fairy tale series: Periwinkle and the Cave of Courage (The Fairy Chronicles) Great classic fairy tale book: Rapunzel (Caldecott Medal Book) 』
(Beautiful and compelling) 『My son and I both enjoyed this beautifully rendered book. The story is very interesting..a great example of children's literature.』 『When the coldhearted Snow Queen abducts a young boy, Gerda begins a magical and perilous journey to find him and release him from the Snow Queen’s treacherous spell. Follow Gerda in this sparkling retelling of the classic fairy tale, as she sets out on her dangerous quest to the frozen north.
Sparkling new jacket art, recolored and newly rendered interior art, and silver foil borders all add to the beauty of this glorious, large-format reissue.』
IPhone 3G used's review (Love this book!) 『I had read this book before and misplaced it, so I was happy to find another copy to read again. This is a great book. Victoria Holt combines historical accuracy with a bit of fiction, and the result is a book that is informative as well as interesting.』
(A Love Triangle in History) 『I've yet to find a Victoria Holt book that I don't like. This was a great historical biographical novel. The historical research was accurate. This book made the triangle between Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley and LetticeDudley come alive. Highly recommended.』
(The court of Elizabeth I from another viewpoint) 『Interesting read, I was fascinated to learn more about Lettice Knowles. From previous books I have read about the period, I had heard Lettice's name occasionally, and knew there was some speculation about whether or not Henry VIII fathered her mother during his affair with Mary Boleyn. We'll never know.
All in all an enjoyable read - not the greatest in the historical fiction genre, but worthwhile to learn more about the secondary players in the times of Elizabeth I.』
(Two is company, three is a crowd, but when one is the virgin queen? Oh boy.) 『I have to say, it's kind of sad that history has all but forgotten Lettice Knollys. She was, according to this book, one of the most vibrant and influential people of the day. But she also made a terrible enemy of her queen, perhaps explaining why more people don't know about her.
Everyone who knows something about Queen Elizabeth I knows that she loved a man named Robert Dudley, a man she gave great honors to and had known all her life. Some historians even believe that he killed her wife so he could marry the queen, and that they may have had a son together. But Elizabeth remained unmarried all her days (and supposedly a virgin) while Dudley had two wives in his life.
The second was Lettice. She was the Queen's cousin and possible her niece as her mother was popularly believed to be Henry VIII's daughter through Mary Boleyn. She came to court when Elizabeth came to the crown and soon fell in love with Robert Dudley. Later they would become lovers and eventually marry. But always it was a relationship of three people, the Queen, Robert and Lettice. Later on, the Queen would give her son from her a previous marriage great honors, and eventually was forced to behead him when he led an uprising against the crown. In that relationship too was the Queen, Lettice's son the earl of Essex, and Lettice.
This book is her story. It's a little dry at times, being a supposed memoir Lettice writes before her death at the age of ninety six, but overall not bad. I do like to think of Robert Dudley as an entirely different person as described in this book, but hey, this was the authors vision and if she saw him as grabbing for power (which he was, true) and not truly loving Elizabeth for herself not just for the crown, that's her choice.
The only bad thing about this book is the most annoying way Lettice constantly says how beautiful she is and how she's so much prettier than the queen and all men love her and bla bla bla. It gets old fast. But hey, a vain women would probably write her life story like that.
Other than that, I just like to view Elizabeth and Dudley in a more romantic way then this book does. Possibly I'm deluding myself. But if you're like me, then read this, because its not a story I was familiar with and I bet most people aren't either, and then read the secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, for the very sweet scenes between Elizabeth and Dudley (part of the book takes place right after Elizabeth becomes Queen). 』
(Spectacular Book!) 『This is, by far, one of the best books, if not the best, I have ever, ever read. Victoria Holt really did her research on this book, and it is a pleasure to read both from the fiction-lover's viewpoint, and from the biographers. Be forewarned, however, that if you are not already in love with Robert Dudley and Elizabeth I, you will be no later than halfway through the book.』 『Is Queen Elizabeth I too wily or too afraid to marry? Or is there a spoiler -- Lettice Devereaux -- in the royal romances? The marriage between this beautiful and tempestuous widow and Elizabeth's longtime favorite, the Earl of Leicester, can't have endeared Lettice to the queen.
Some years later, on Leicester's death, another courtier wins the queen's heart -- only to break it by secretly marrying someone else and then by plotting against the Crown. This soldier-poet, the Earl of Essex, is the son of Lettice and her first husband, Walter Devereaux.
"Holt skillfully weaves invention and suspense into the fabric of history." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)』
Kakaku：542 saved$5.42
Paul Freeman Publishing
Usually ships in 24 hours 『Having a Drag Queen but no idea what to call her? Uma Gawd! This Trudy Light of a book has literally hundreds of names to suit Drag Queens of every shape (Justine Ormous), age (Terri Daktil), race (Fu Ling Yu) and religion (Cath Lick). Your Drag Queen is destined to be the Bella DeBall with this Paige Turner!』
Kakaku：279 saved$2.79
Harper Paperbacks
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (a great find!) 『I bought this book at a doller store and wasn't expecting much because of that. But it looked interesting. I was definatly surprised and intruiged. Ended up reading it in one night. Well written, interesting with an intense thrill of discovery! This book made me want to visit these ancient places. I had to settle for buying a wealth of histories on the ancient Maya to settle the curiousity this novel unearthed! I defintaly recommend this book to all!』
(Wildly unrealistic) 『OK, i really wanted to like this. I realize its a spoof, a fantasy, an improbably adventure story. But it was just too improbable for me. It wasn't so much the concept I didn't like, but it was based on some assumptions that just rang wrong, and by 22 pages into it I was just annoyed.
Archeologists don't go hunting for rare valuable artifacts to bring home and put on display in museum display cases. They also don't set off on their own to "dig" for two weeks. Archeological digs take a long time, a lot of preparation, and in most cases involve garbage dumps, not treasures. Rare book sellers don't splay centuries-old manuscripts open on Xerox machine glass. The author's entire concept of archeology and anthropology is based on an outdated colonialist model that's patently offensive to modern thought about how we study ancient cultures. I can buy it with the Indiana Jones character because he's set in another era, but these characters resemble modern scholars as much Martians do.
Also, I found the author's point of view about Guatemala's politics strange, unrealistic, and troubling. The way she writes about the people of that country is very colonial and condescending. A couple of places she refers to people as "serfs" and "sherpas" - both demeaning and factually wrong.
The characters are peculiar and unsympathetic. Yolanda's a borderline sociopath. Some of the plot devices are ridiculous. We're supposed to believe that Eric and Lola find the key to the cipher by looking at the image of an artifact on a museum T-shirt - um, if such an artifact has become iconic of the museum, wouldn't it have been studied by hundred of thousands of scholars already? The solving of the cipher ends up being simple word games using an English translation - how hard is that?
Even trivial details are annoyingly wrong - couldn't the author have at least driven up the 405 to visit the UCLA campus? It's not "palmy". And why would a 33 year old woman in 1998 be driving a Ford Pinto?
Well, once you suspend disbelief, it's an OK read. If you imagine it takes place in a fantasy world.』
(A Hollywood Movie) 『The novel is entertaining, yet lacks depth. The character's actions were somewhat predictable.
The story builds up nicely, yet at the height of the story, the author scrambles quickly to get to the conclusion. 』
(The Queen Jade) 『An entralling mystery that is fascinating to read but the part about Balaj K'waill seems a little unrealistic and is hard to believe. However Ms. Murray's vivid discriptions of the setting and the characters make you feel as though you were actually surrounded by emerald green bushes and the sweet tangy jungle fragrances. Also, Ms. Murray's ability to blend romance with mystery is superb! All in all a great read!』
(Recommended) 『This is a really interesting book, which centers around an ancient legend and a mystery. I found it absolutely fascinating, and I personally enjoyed the word puzzle and discussion of hieroglyphs. Jades and hieroglyphs are not topics we usually associate with Guatemala and ancient Central American cultures, so I think this adds to the book's appeal. It's a great adventure story, which also discusses academic research, puzzles, and translations.』 『
There is a legend of the New World that has endured for centuries: the strange, tragic tale of a King, a Witch . . . and a blue gem of intoxicating beauty said to grant extraordinary power to whoever possesses it.
Archaeologist Juana Sanchez, convinced that she's discovered the key to unlocking the mystery of the fabled Queen Jade, ventures into the Central American jungle alone—just ahead of the relentless pounding fury of Hurricane Mitch. When the terrible storm is over, Juana is gone, and an ancient, long-buried jade mine has been uncovered in the mountains of Guatemala, giving new hope to all obsessed seekers of the legendary stone. But it is a different obsession that plunges Juana's daughter—scholar and bookseller Lola Sanchez—into the remarkable adventure of a lifetime. For only by following the Queen Jade's perilous, cursed trail can Lola hope to find her vanished mother . . . if it isn't already too late.
IPhone 3G used's review (Everything you wanted to know about the Kings and Queens of England) 『There is a lot of history in this book. Over 1500 years is covered. The author digs deep into history to give us the histories of the people that became the Kings and Queens of England from the reign of Egbert in the 800's to Queen Elizabeth II who is currently reigning.
The book is broken down into sections. The first section details the lives of the King or Queen in question. The next details the people that they married. The next is how the person died and where they are buried. The next section details wither the King or Queen had any illegitimate children.
Very informative book for people who are interested in the royal family or just want to learn more. It also has a family tree that connects the first King of England to Queen Elizabeth-fascinating stuff! 』
(Great Tidbits Of History) 『This is a fun book that gives interesting and little known facts occuring in the royal history of England. It ties together many unions, births, deaths and other important events of English royalty and lesser royals. It is an easy read and a great reference for understanding the royal succession.』
(Chill out - people) 『Honestly, people - calm down. Did any of the previous readers/reviewers honestly expect a book with the title "Kings, Queens, Bones and Bastards" to be a flawless description of centuries of English history ? And that with scholarly accuracy and intellect ? Take it for what it is worth. Read the "Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy" if you want accuracy. This book is a highly entertaining, easy read. I highly recommend it for its amusing anecdotes and enjoyable style.』
(no murder happened in the corridor) 『leading to Princess Sophia Dorothea`s apartement.
In fact Count Königsmarck was last seen whe he left his house in Hannover on the evening of 11.July 1694. No corpse was ever found. Of course there were rumours all over the town that he had been assassinated and murdered and that his body had been thrown in the river Leine. But wether this had really happened anif it was being carried out on the instruction og George Ludwig (the latter George I) or his father Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hannover or the Countess of Platen (who was not only Königsmarck`s mistress but also Ernest Augustus`s) will never be known. Princess Sophia Dorothea was not divorced and put under house arrest in Ahlden because the dying Königsmarck was found lying before her bodouir But because she was forced to return to her father in Celle. This business was called run away and although she did not "flee" voluntarily and although of course her father turned her down she was accused of wilful deserting thus justifying George Ludwig to divorce her. As a note of history she became not only the mother of the english dynasty of Hannover but through her daughter, another Sophia Dorothea, the mother of the prussian dynasty of Hohenzollern.
But on the whole the book is remarkably enertaining and gives you a fascinating insight into 1500 years of englisch history.』
(Entertaining, but has many mistakes of fact.) 『The book is entertaining but if your goal is the study of history, do not buy this book. It is, as another reviewer pointed out, full of mistakes. The first one I found (that stood out) was on page 10. The author states that Mary II (of William III and Mary II) was the sister of James II. She was, in fact, James II's daughter. William's mother, Mary, was the sister of James II and Charles II.
I also found that Hilliam's method of tracing the lines of descent of the various royal houses of Great Britain seemed designed to confuse, rather than enlighten, the reader. I think that it even confused the author himself(see page 10).
On the plus side, the sections on Bones and Bastards are entertaining to read, if you don't plan on using this book for research purposes.』
『Who invented the House of Windsor as a royal name? Who founded Westminster Abby? Which king had twenty-one illegitimate children? David Hilliam answers all these questions and many, many, more, covering unusual incidents of royal history which rarely appear in text books.』
