Judith‘s review of Notorious Royal Marriages by Leslie Carrol.
Since time immemorial, royal marriages have had little to do with love00and almost everything to do with the d istinctly unromantic concepts of diplomacy and dynasty. Clashing personalities have joined in unholy matrimony to form such infamous couples as Russia’s Petter II and Catherine the Great, and France’s henri II and Catherine de Medici—all with the purpose of begetting a male heir. But with tensions high and silverware flying, kings like england’s Henry II have fled to the beds of their nubile mistresses, while queens such as Eleanor of acquitaine have plotted their revenge. Full of the juicy gossip and bad behavior that characterized “Royal Affairs”, this book chronicles the love-hate marriages of the crowned heads of Europe—from the angevins to Prince Charles and Lady Di—and ponders how dynasties ever survived at all.
My thoughts: Ms Carroll has exhibited a great love for history and a remarkable talent for taking her research and putting it all together in a more than readable form. Her evident delight in the comings and goings of royalty have served her well, and she has given us a volume full of the missing tidbits that, had we had them when we were in school, would have made history and social studies far more interesting. I am impressed with the scope of this volume and took great delight in visiting old “friends” about which I had read much while discovering historical figures about whom I knew very little. For instance: I would have never really considered Mary Rose Tudor to have been of much interest (younger sister of England’s Henry VIII), but I was fascinated with her story. I think I realized anew while reading of her marriages that she was deemed a proper human mannequin upon which to hand the wealth of England and France (her wardrobe at the time of her first marriage would have cost $30 million in today’s money). I was disappointed that Ms Carroll did not include one of the true royal love stories of the 20th century, that of Princess Elizabeth of England and Prince Philip Mountbatten of Greece. Perhaps their relationship was far too pedantic for this book. Nevertheless, this romp through nine centuries of royal wedding and bedding was delightful and beautifully written. Even though it is a book of relational history, it reads like a novel and is a testimony to the talent of Leslie Carroll in helping to affirm that truth and reality can often be just as interesting as fiction, if not more so.
My thoughts: Ms Carroll has exhibited a great love for history and a remarkable talent for taking her research and putting it all together in a more than readable form. Her evident delight in the comings and goings of royalty have served her well, and she has given us a volume full of the missing tidbits that, had we had them when we were in school, would have made history and social studies far more interesting. I am impressed with the scope of this volume and took great delight in visiting old “friends” about which I had read much while discovering historical figures about whom I knew very little. For instance: I would have never really considered Mary Rose Tudor to have been of much interest (younger sister of England’s Henry VIII), but I was fascinated with her story. I think I realized anew while reading of her marriages that she was deemed a proper human mannequin upon which to hand the wealth of England and France (her wardrobe at the time of her first marriage would have cost $30 million in today’s money). I was disappointed that Ms Carroll did not include one of the true royal love stories of the 20th century, that of Princess Elizabeth of England and Prince Philip Mountbatten of Greece. Perhaps their relationship was far too pedantic for this book. Nevertheless, this romp through nine centuries of royal wedding and bedding was delightful and beautifully written. Even though it is a book of relational history, it reads like a novel and is a testimony to the talent of Leslie Carroll in helping to affirm that truth and reality can often be just as interesting as fiction, if not more so.
I really like this book, but then, again, I love history. For those who are not drawn to historical narratives, this may be a very good introduction to the genre. For others who crave more salacious reading, this may be somewhat disappointing. I am afraid that it will not appeal to everyone and that is unfortunate. But this book accomplishes what many others set out to do and fail: it makes history fascinating. There’s lots to be said for that !
I would give this book a 4.75 out of 5 rating.
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This book is available from NAL. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
Leave a Reply