No comments about Kings and Queens of Britain's Modern Age: FROM HANOVER TO WINDSOR: 1714 - TODAY.

No comments about History of Friedrich II of Prussia Volumes 8-12.

2 comments about Henry VIII and the English Nobility.

1. Whatever his personal and political faults, Henry VIII was astute in the art of government, weaving a network around the throne, and around the dynasty he was setting out to create, of old aristocratic families and newly created noblemen. By examining the way in which the king selected "new men," created new titles, promoted existing peers, and saw to it that the extinction of a title was always to his own advantage, Miller shows how Henry's attitudes, policies, and use of patronage reflected his dynastic insecurities.



2. While I did not love this book, it is well-researched and makes a solid contribution to a relatively under-researched area of Tudor history. Given the extent of the shadowy way in which Henry VII came to the thrown influenced Henry VII and Henry VIII's actions, you would think there would be more books written on Henry VIII's relationship with his nobles.
   This book is relatively bland but it gives real insight in to the pressures of faction politics in HVIII's court, discussing how some nobles refused to participate in the trial of Anne Boleyn, how Henry VIII's succesful "judicial murder" of Buckingham cowed the nobles and encouraged Henry in his other outrageously tyrannical prosecution of nobles, and how some nobles would be complicit in these actions since they occasionally benefited if the victim's land was divided amongst the jurors.

No comments about CHARLES: A BIOGRAPHY.

No comments about The Life and Times of Queen Elizabeth II (Naxos Audio).

No comments about The Mission: The Life, Reign, and Character of Haile Sellassie I.

No comments about Queen Victoria: Her Girlhood and Womanhood.

3 comments about The Truth.

1. I found this book to be generally friendly to the Princess, less so to the Royal family which suprised me because some writers try to straddle the fence as to which side they favor. Much of the story is similar to what we've all read in so many books with the exception of Diana's last trip to Australia in 1996, I hadn't read about the charity aspects of that one. For a book called "The Truth" I would've either left out the love affair rumors or done a better job of proving or dispelling them (the Charles & Camilla chapter near the end didn't need to be in this book either). I do think Ms. Wade probably is right about the Dodi Fayed "romance", there wasn't one, but she possibly made too much of the Princess' relationship with Hasnat Khan. One of the wildest stories in my view, and which I have the most reservations about, is on pages X-XI in the prologue. Here Ms. Wade reports as truth a hairdresser's suspicions that the Princess had had breast implants based solely on her apparently changed cleavage. How could the world's most famous woman get that kind of surgery done without anyone finding out about it?, I think some other explanation would be more likely.



2. Princess Diana was my hero and still is. She grew into a mature
   person, only to have her life cut short. Dodi was not her love
   it was the dr. If only she lived to see there romance survive
   She had faults as we all do. I am proud that she came out with
   those faults. She did know how to work the media to her advantage. Good for her.
   I will never tire of books about her.



3. Actually, for $250.00, I would expect there would be a piece of jewelry from Diana's collection thrown in! Exorbatant pricing for a book that just rehashes the same ole same ole. A lot is pure speculation...but $250.00?????????? What is THAT all about??? Gold lined? Signed by Diana herself? Good book, but not THAT good..have read better for $5.99 !

2 comments about Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses Ii, King of Egypt (Egyptology) (Egyptology).

1. This book gives the reader a massive insight into the land of Egypt under the fist of pharaoh Ramesses II. The book paints a clear picture into the truth behind this greatest of kings, it explains his family, the history preceeding his reign and the various campaigns during his time on the throne. This is truly a book for the experienced Egyptologist as you have to have a lot of back ground knowledge on the 19th Dynasty. This book makes the great hero out of Ramesses as he no doubt truly was, he truly was "PHARAOH TRIUMPHANT".



2. Dr. Kitchen's monumental work is the standard book on Ramesses the Great, one of Egypt's Greatest Pharaohs. The author meticulously examines Egypt's history prior to Ramesses' reign and Ramesses II's motivations as king. Kitchen explains Ramesses II's need to enhance his family line's legitimacy to the throne since his grandfather, Ramesses I, only acquired the throne by being appointed as heir apparent to Pharaoh Horemheb. In addition, his family were commoners with no previous blood ties to the royal family. This helps explains Ramesses II's need to create massive statues, rock cut temples at Abu Simbel, the great Ramesseum at Karnak, his initiation of almost yearly military campaigns against the Libyans, the Barbary Sea Pirates, and most famously, the Hittites, among his many numerous deeds in order to prove the legitimacy of his kingship.
   
   Ramesses ended up becoming one of Egypt's most famous and dynamic kings and was probably the Pharaoh of the Bible who faced Moses since the prominent city of 'Raamses' is explicitly mentioned in the Biblical account in Exodus as being one of the Egyptian cities in the fertile Delta that the Ancient Israelites left. This is probably the new city of Pi-Ramesse Aa-nakhtu or the "House of Ramesses-Great-of-Victories" which Ramses II built in his reign. His extremely long reign--at 66 Years--allowed him to virtually stamp his authority and memory into posterity. All in all, Kitchen gives an insightful study of Ramesses II: the model pharaoh in war, international diplomacy and monument building. Hence, Kitchen's astute book title: Pharaoh Triumphant indeed.

No comments about Prince Edward, a Biography.