5 comments about Prince Leopold.

1. In the many books about Queen Victoria's family that I have read, Leopold seems to be known only for his haemophilia. He seems to have been the most popular member within the royal family, although not with his mother, who seemed to see him as a convenient drone. She was notorious for trying to keep her children on a leash long into adulthood. Leopold appears to have overcome these obstacles. In his short life, he accomplished a great deal, he was the first of the royal family to attend Oxford, he was on the boards of a great many charities, he managed to travel, and he worked as an unofficial secretary to his mother.

   This is a well written and researched book. The author provides information on other more obscure members of Queen Victoria's family, such as her half sister Feodora and her family. The family tree of the female side of Victoria's family is the most extensive and interesting I have seen, although it does not solve the question of where the haemophilia in the family came from.




2. I'd rate this less than zero, if the rating system allowed me to. This is completely lousy book and a huge waste of money! Many facts are wrong, which is a disgrace for someone of Ms. Zeepvat's experience. Her writing is flat and uninspiring and almost anything of interest is obtained from other books about the subject. Personally I'm sick of all these royal books that are basically re-packaged versions of previous books.



3. This is the first book, of the many I have read on Queen Victoria and/or her children, that focuses on Prince Leopold. Even reading the edited letters between Victoria and her daughter Vicky had very little mention of this child. The book was informative and I learned a great deal regarding her true obsessive and sometimes vicious behavior to Leopold, as a child and as a grown man. I highly recommend it.



4. This is a decent biography on Prince Leopold, although the author's theories on how he contracted hemophilia through his mother Queen Victoria was a little over my head, and the author could have made her explanation a bit more clearer. Also, I do wish the author would have made a family tree of Prince Leopold's descendents.



5. With this book, the author takes a welcome look at the life of Prince Leopold, fourth and youngest son of Queen Victoria. A fascinating prince, Leopold is one royal that history has more or less forgotten save his sad position as the first known royal hemophiliac. The earnest Leopold was highly intelligent (later Oxford educated), and desperate to live some semblance of a normal life, despite his illnesses (besides his hemophilia, Leopold was also likely a mild epileptic, both of which were not well-known outside of his family). His precarious health also made his already overbearing mother keep an even shorter leash on her youngest son, and his battles for a life separate from her were hard-won.
   
   Zeepvat is by profession a historian, and this book was definitely well-researched. The author includes much correspondence amongst a family of prolific letter-writers, and gives her audience an almost daily account of Leopold's activities and whereabouts. This approach also gives a well-rounded portrait of Leopold's personality, his thoughts on his illnesses, his struggles for independence, and his familial relationships. Aside from his dealings with Queen Victoria, Zeepvat also highlights Leopold's very close relationship with Alice, Grand Duchess of the small German principality of Hesse, and likewise her husband Louis. Zeepvat likewise describes Leopold's Oxford days well, along with the long-lasting friends he made there (Alice Liddell of Alice in Wonderland fame among them) and the happy memories he kept.
   
   The author also offers a theory on Leopold's hemophilia coming from Victoria's mother's family. Though the disease is passed to sons by their mothers, hemophilia was previously unknown on Victoria's maternal side. Hypotheses since Victoria's time have offered suggesting that Victoria's genes were perhaps mutated. Zeepvat points out what little was known about hemophilia even in Leopold's time, and further points out several young boys of Victoria's maternal family who died of what was thought to be usual childhood maladies of the times.
   
   The book is well-written in the fact that it is so rich in historical fact; however, Zeepvat's profession as a historian is evident, as the narrative is not particularly engaging. Also absent is much information on Leopold's wife, Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Though their marriage was brief (it lasted just short of two years, ending in Leopold's sudden death), Leopold had wanted to marry very badly as part of living a more ordinary life. He and Helena had a very happy relationship, unlike many arranged royal unions of the time, and had two children, a rare feat for a 19th century hemophiliac.
   
   Nonetheless, Zeepvat has provided a solid effort with this work on Leopold, giving her audience a good picture Leopold's life, one that was all too short and is remembered far too little.

No comments about Algernon Sidney and the Restoration Crisis, 1677-1683 (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History).

4 comments about Tudor Women: Queens & Commoners.

1. By summarizing the Tudor dynasty through its women (including the underrecognized Margaret Beaufort), Alison Plowden has constructed a surprisingly gripping read. Her conclusions seem well-researched, and she approaches her subjects, even Katherine Howard and the despised Mary I, from a symathetic yet realistic vantage point. Far from being a dry bit of history, this book is succinct and extremely well-written. I thoroughly enjoyed it.



2. This book presents, in chronological order, the stories of the women of the Tudor family starting With Margaret of Richmond, Henry the 7th mother, and the founder of the Tudor line.

   The writing in this book is easy to read, and the author is factually correct. However, the biographies lack any real depth to them, and there is little new information in this book and it mostly just skims over the surface of these women's lives.

   The bulk of the book deals with the women of the tudor royal family. (Mary and Elizabeth Tudor and Henry 8th's queens). There is some discussion on the lives of non-royal women, but 95% of this book is on Royalty.

   This book is a great introduction to the lives of Women in 16th century england, but don't get this book if you have read Extensively on 16th century england, because it primarly relies on secondary sources, and contribes very little in the way of new information.




3. It's a good book,but it lacks detail.I kept getting Margaret Beaufort and Margaret Pole mixed up because it didn't explain better. Still,it has good stuff because it has feeling; you can feel how daring Catherine Howard felt,you can feel the disapointment of poor Bloody Mary.It almost makes up for what it lacks.



4. I was disappointed, mostly because I was interested in the how women of the Tudor period lived. The book gave very few details about the average woman, it was mostly about the queens of the period. I gave it 3 stars because what it did do, it did very well. It was a fast moving overview of the Royal Tudor women but there was very little depth.

1 comments about Lenin Lives!: The Lenin Cult in Soviet Russia, Enlarged Edition.

1. This is a very good book about how Lenin was made into a god to Russia. There is a lot of detail about Lenin's life, but more about what happened to Lenin after he died. It was not to surprising his body was preserved and put on display. In this way he was treated as the Orthodox Church has always revered its saints by keeping relics and body parts. Lenin's wife was angry that Lenin was not properly buried, but Stalin's idea was to make him into a saint. For all the years following Lenin was practically worshipped. This book shows how the cult was created by the Communist Party and forced on Russian citizens. The book treats Russians and Lenin with respect, and it has very good history.

No comments about Oliver Baldwin: A Life of Dissent.

1 comments about Freedom of Angels: Surviving Goldenbridge Orphanage.

1. This is a surpisingly objective account in places, but it's interesting to see how the author, a qualified counsellour, often reverts back to a childhood linguistic mode when describing her early experiences. She's conscious of the effect that living in an orpanage has on the way she percieves the world as a whole. At times it feels like the book is written by 2 different authours, one a badly scarred orpanage vitim, the other an impartial commentator.

   it works, though, it's often harrowing and should be enough to make anyone who perpetuated the institionalised cruelty of these institiutions feel ashamed. It's an angry, but not necessacarily bitter book that deserves a wide audience in Ireland and elsewhere.

No comments about Notes from the Heart: A Celebration of Traditional Irish Music.

3 comments about The JG26 War Diary, Vol. 2: 1943-1945.

1. Whether you are a fan of Don Caldwell's previous works on the Luftwaffe, or a first-time reader, you will not be disappointed by his latest effort. Caldwell is able to provide a wealth of detail and a highly readable narrative at the same time. His research is excellent, and the lives and deaths of the fighter pilots are presented with an unusual depth of realism. Mr. Caldwell continues to be among the top aviation historians writing today.



2. This has to be the best book ever written in english of the subject of the Luftwaffe. This book covers the day by day history of the most famous and sucsessful unit facing the onslaught of the British and American forces during WW2.Included are a complete list of all victories and losses. This alone is worth the price. I only hope future histories are this indepth. Recommended to all. THANX Don.



3. A Classic on the Luftwaffe! It is without a doubt one of the "must have" books for anyone interested in the fighter operations of the Luftwaffe. It is full of previously unpublished pictures and narratives by surviving Luftwaffe pilots. At its price, it is a bargain

1 comments about Royal Family, Royal Lovers: King James of England and Scotland.

1. King James, sponsor of the famous Authorized "King James" Bible, is often lauded as defender of the faith by some who worship his 1611 publication as the be-all and end-all of all English Bible translations. Many hagiographic works abound, but Bergeron's isn't one of those.

   While writing his Basilicon Doron to attack the sin of sodomy, James himself used his royal position to shield himself from such a charge against himself. Bergeron digs up the historical dirt and shares a contemporary's view of the hypocrisy, a diary entry in 1622 by one Simonds D'Ewes of a conversation he'd had with a friend:
   "Of things I discoursed with him that weere secrett as of the sinne of sodomye, how frequente it was in this wicked cittye, and if God did not provide some wonderfull blessing against it, wee could not but expect some horrible punishment for it; especially it being as wee had probable cause to feare, a sinne in the prince as well as the people, which God is for the most part the chastiser of himselfe, because noe man else indeed dare reprove or tell him them of ther faults." (Bergeron, p. 183)

   Many more pieces of evidence are to be found in those pages, and what emerges from Bergeron's picture is that of a great man who was both King of England and Scotland and quite human.

2 comments about Yale English Monarchs - Edward the Confessor (Yale English Monarchs).

1. Though the subject of this book may seem a bit daunting and even boring, I promise you that Frank Barlow has done a fabulous job. He has brought to life the enigmatic and somewhat obscure lives of the most important Englishmen of the late 11th century: Edward the Confessor, Earl Godwin, Edith Godwin's daughter, King Harold II, Swegn Godwinson, and Tostig Godwinson. A must-read.



2. Wow - this man knows his history! If you are a serious historian interested in Edward the Confessor - this is your Bible! The reading is extremely dry - don't think you'll find more here than the facts, but there are facts galore! Barlow begins with an indepth look at Edward's background and the background of the political situation in England. He ends with the impact of Edward during the reign of Henry III and covers literally EVERYTHING in between. Then for good measure, he adds nearly another 100 pages of appendicies, time lines, maps, tables and illustrations. I'm very impressed with the author's knowledge of the subject. I only hold back that last "star" because I regret that the author didn't make it a bit more "friendly" to read. It is dry and moves slowly and is not probably a book that would generate interest in Edward the Confessor so much as it is a book to verify facts for those already interested. I personally prefer history and historical fiction that can introduce a reader to a subject and make them want to read more. I'm afraid that his work will be too daunting to many and makes Edward sound extremely dull - which he truly was not.