1 comments about Diana's Dreams: As Told to Her Dream Analyst.

1. I am almost through with this book and could not put it down. If you want some real insight into Princess Diana, this book is the one! Diana totally speaks from her gut in this book. The book is sad though because it truly shows insight into her loveless marriage and her lonliness! I wish I could get Ms. Hanger to analyze MY dreams!

3 comments about Isabel la Católica, Queen of Castile: Critical Essays.

1. This collection is an excellent introduction to the reign of the Catholic Monarch, Isabel, and especially to the works written by and about her. While the chapters on her role in religion and on her figure in theater are a bit too general, most of the essays are full of new insights, well-documented commentary, and useful leads for further reading. I was particularly impressed by the two chapters on Isabel's historiography, and that on the crown's relations with its medical officers. These were fascinating and beautifully written, and I have seen nothing on these topics in the many books and articles that I have read about Isabel, both in English and Spanish. In summation, this is a first-rate book, and a "must" for anyone interested in Spain, early-modern women, monarchs, and the way that history is really written.



2. Most books about the Catholic Monarchs are either apologetic or censorious, either panegyrics to the crown's magesty or cruel in condemning its abuse of power. This collection is instead a well-balanced and thoughtful reconsideration of both the good and bad aspects of an extraordinary reign, in which Isabel I of Castile had to confront, and overcome, challenges in both her public and private lives. Some of the essays published here achieve even-handedness by merely presenting the facts of Isabel's engagement in events such as the struggle to become queen, the conquest of Granada, the discovery of America, and her support for the arts and learning. But most are also critical (as the title promises) in a good way: by dissecting the way that she left her mark on history and is remembered by it. There are many new insights here, even in much analyzed areas such as the Catholic Monarchs' dealings with Jews, Muslims, and the Inquisition. But best are the chapters that examine the language of history itself, because in these (especially the first and last essays by the editor) one finds original and thought-provoking insights into problems that go well beyond Spain and Isabel herself, so as to illuminate the relationship between writing and power: history, the scepter and those who wield them.



3. While there are several major studies of political and social conditions during the reign of Isabel I of Spain, her letters and oratory have remained almost untouched until now. The two essays by David A. Boruchoff in this collection address this deficiency with brilliance, affording a profound understanding of the inner workings of her approach to national and international relations, and of the reservations expressed by those commonly seen as her promoters and allies. The remaining essays are more varied in their interest and quality. These range from serious analyses of religious and social minorities (Jews and Muslims), of medical practitioners within the new political order, and of Isabel's education and struggle to become queen, to more run of the mill pieces on her place in literature, art, and theatre. Nevertheless, the volume as a whole benefits from wonderfully acurate and vibrant translations of primary texts, many never before available in any form in English. Readers may therefore wish to pick and choose among the essays, but this collection is required reading for anyone wishing to know how Isabel's rule really worked, and why she was so successful.

1 comments about Love & Conquest: Personal Correspondence of Catherine the Great and Prince Grigory Potemkin.

1. We've all seen the Hollywood melodramas about Catherine the Great with the heaving bosums and the dashing guards. Even the BBC version is mostly fluff. But the real history of Catherine's life, especially the story of her remarkable relationship with Count Potemkin, is much more interesting. This book takes you right into this relationship by offering a vivid sampling of the letters that Catherine and the Count exchanged over more than twenty years.

   There's melodrama here, to be sure. The Empress and the Count were ardent lovers for a time. Later, Doug Smith claims, they became secret spouses and eventually life-long friends. But, as the letters make very clear, they were also practical political partners who together ruled the Russian empire, making decisions about war and peace and debating how to manage the vast lands of the Black Sea region that the empire was busily conquering from the Turks and the Crimeans. This book brings out the way romance and power were connected in Catherine's life and, in the process, it shows us something of the political culture of her court. All of this makes it a very valuable contribution.

   The book is also simply nicely put together. Smith begins the work with a helpful introduction on Catherine, Potemkin, their relationship, and the business of imperial rule in the late 18th century. The letters that follow are then organized into thematic and chronological sections, each of which is prefaced by a valuable brief survey that places the correspondence in its immediate context. The letters are also annotated, but with only the lightest of touches, giving the reader just enough information to fully understand the gist of things without intruding on the guilty pleasure of eavesdropping on someone else's billets doux.

   In all, Smith's book is a great English edition of the letters, and it's accessible too. Any one with an interest in Catherine, Potemkin, the Russian 18th-century, or the broader history of Europe in the Enlightenment Era should definitely get a copy.

No comments about James I (Lancaster Pamphlets).

No comments about Richard the Lionheart: King and Knight.

4 comments about The Lost Prince: The Survival of Richard of York.

1. The reader may or may not accept Baldwin's theory that the youngest of Edward IV's two sons survived the reign of Richard III, the Battle of Bosworth Field and the transition to Tudor rule, to die years later as an elderly stone mason in an obscure Kentish village. It is particularly difficult to believe that Henry VII and VIII, while murdering everyone else with a drop of Yorkist blood, knowing left alive the most dangerous threat to the survival of their dynasty. However, Baldwin is to be commended for bringing together all the evidence regarding Richard Plantagenet and for advancing an inventive new theory in a thoroughly readable style. This is a must read for anyone interested in the Wars of the Roses.



2. This is a very readable account of the missing prince, Richard of York. However, I do have some problems with the theory presented as to the identity of the lost prince and I agree with the reviewer who said Henry VII, and particularly Henry VIII, would not have allowed this young man to live out his natural life when they were busy murdering anyone who posed even the remotest threat to their regimes. In addition, there seems to be a certain naivite on the author's part regarding the dismissal of Perkin Warbect as the real Prince Richard. On page 116, he says "He [Perkin] told his interrogators after he was captured that he was only a substitute or stand-in..." Indeed he would when faced with the appalling horrors of the torture chamber in the Tower of London! On page 143 Baldwin states "henry's curiously negative response when Ferdinand and Isabella and others offered to help him 'prove' that Perkin Warbeck was an imposter - and his apparent failure to conmfront Warbeck with his 'sisters' - is also entirely explicable if he knew that prince Richard was alive and well and living at Colchester [i.e., as a stonemason]." This explanation is a bit of a stretch when the obvious one is ignored, viz. that Henry refused these requests and failed to confront the Pretender with his 'sisters' because he knew the Pretender was the real prince, Richard of York. Author Diana Kleyn in RICHARD OF ENGLAND makes a far more powerful and convincing argument as to the identity of this most unfortunate 'Pretender'-- that he really was who he said he was -- Richard, Duke of York and the true King of England. However, THE LOST PRINCE is a well-written and interesting account of this aspect of the Wars of the Roses in general, and has much to offer scholars and general readers alike. For that reason it should not be missed.



3. A well written book, whatever your opinion of the theory presented. It seems unlikely that little Richard of york would have been allowed to live, & the reasons given are somewhat implausible. The author obviously researched thoroughly, & tells a fascinating story. Well worth reading for the general information given on the period, & he has the talent of making the historical characters come alive. I felt I had a good picture of the personalities involved after finishing the book. Interesting appendices give a look at modern involvement in the story, & he offers a good case for DNA testing of the bones generally held to be those of the lost princes. Well worth buying.



4. This book told you nothing new and kept saying "maybe" this happened. I wanted my money back!!!!

4 comments about Born to Be King: Prince William of Wales.

1. This is a tender, loving look at Prince William and his royal heritage. There are plenty of color photographs of the royal family showing clearly the love of the proud parents as well as photographs of them as babies. This book will warm your heart and have you ooohing and aaahing within the first few pages. This is a must for anyone who is interested in the royals or anyone who loves babies. If each picture is worth a thousand words, then this book is priceless. It is a pure joy and holds the memories of a family which was dealt a tradgic, cruel blow.



2. This is a tender, loving look at Prince William and his royal heritage. There are plenty of color photographs of the royal family showing clearly the love of the proud parents as well as photographs of them as babies. This book will warm your heart and have you ooohing and aaahing within the first few pages. This is a must for anyone who is interested in the royals or anyone who loves babies. If each picture is worth a thousand words, then this book is priceless. It is a pure joy and holds the memories of a family which was dealt a tradgic, cruel blow.



3. There is a nice informal picture of Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and Prince William on the front cover. On the inside cover and the next page is a family tree of Prince William's relatioship within the British Royal Family and with the Royal Families of Europe. The Prince of Wales' coat of arms which Prince William will inherit when he assumes he title.

   I have had this book since its publication, I have read it many times, and I have looked at its beautiful pictures so many times. I've really never paid much attention to Prince William's horoscope which was written at the time of his birth by John Naylor, President, Federeration of British Astrologers.

   The following is taken from the horoscope : "... Conservative in thought and basically cautious in action, though not without strong prejudices too. These qualities will be combined with an uncanny intuition which will enable him to read minds, anticipate actions.

   "...he has a good share of courage, ambition, aggression and physical vitality, quite a temper, and a vein of foolhardiness...

   "...Prince William's horoscope has the hallmark of monarchy, whereas his father Prince Charles' lacks this distinctive feature, as did King Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor's.

   "A good I.Q. and a useful academic ability is indicated, but it is an intellect which is imaginative and artistic, which inclines toward idealism and perfectionisim, rather being pragmatic, anaytical or rational...His ready sympathies and his emotionalism make him a romantic, gullible, susceptible to flattery, a 'good fellow.'

   "Prince William has an affinity for the sea...Yet, more than most members of the royal family, he has intellectual capabilities. He leans towards being an academic...he could develop an interest in constitutional law...

   "Not only because he is a prince, but because he has great charm, is sensitive, sympathetic and responsive as well as being full of vitality, he will wreak havoc with feminine hearts...

   " The astrological picture is therefore of an affectionate, sensitive yet lively child, courageous, and possessing a vein af aggression which will flare from time to time. He will need and demand, a lot of affection and attention, being prone to vivid emotional affection and approval.

   "...In maturity he will have a vigorous, active dispostion and will be capable of becoming a considerable stateman, combining keen intuition and a feel for public mood and reaction with a useful capacity for leadship...

   "...Yet the most interesting indication in regard to Prince William's future occurs in the late 1980's. Both he and his mother, the Princess of Wales, are Cancer subjects...Different but comparable indications occur in the horoscopes of the other principal royals, the Queen, Prince Philip, and Prince Charles. Royal stars suggest that the second half of the 1980's the winds of change will blow through the royal corridors; the younger generation, Prince William amongst them, coming into greater prominence. Happenings in the summer of 1985 will set this trend into motion."

   I included these excerpts because I believe that are most interesting in view of all that's happened to Prince William in his short life.

   Shortly before dawn a royal-blue Rover police car proceeded out of the gates of Kensington Palace and sped towards Paddington to St. Mary's Hospital. There were only four people in the car - the chauffeur, the personal detective, Prince Charles, and his twenty-year-old wife. Shortly after five o'clock Diana, Princess of Wales, was admitted to the Lido Wing. For once in her twenty-one months in the glare of publicity, there was not a photographer in sight. However, it was not to reamin this way for long. By the time Buckingham Palace released the news of the princess' arrival, there was a continous, steady stream of well wishers and onlookers. By ten o'clock the fist flowers had arrived.

   Within the hour after the birth of Prince William, Buckingham Palace made its official announcement. However, the news traveled faster by mouth. There were tremendous choruses of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" and chant variations on a footbal theme of - "Nice One Charlie-Give Us Another One."

   The crowds began to swell in anticipation of Prince Charles' emergence. I can remember watching TV and wondering if he were ever going to come outside. Of course, when he emerged, it was the first time he had been seen in public that day. There was lipstick on his cheek and soon there was more. He appeared to be extremely happy as he spoke of his first-born in glowing terms such as "beautiful" and "marvelous form" and he himself was "relieved and delighted" and duly impressed by the experience of attending the birth. With warmth and concern Prince Charles thanked everyone for their interest and concern. I was almost 11:30pm when the Prince left for home at Kensington Palace.

   Anyone who was watching TV will never forget the Prince of Wales leaving the hospital the next day with the glamourous Princess and their baby prince. Prince William was the first direct heir to the Throne who was born in a hospital. Princess Diana could not wait to get him home. They certainly appear to be a radiantly happy couple as they leave the hospital with their small bundle of joy. picture p. 123

   I hope there is a republication of this book so that those who don't have it will be able to puchase this beautiful book.

   This book is a must for all who collect books on the Royal Family or just enjoy reading about them.

   This refers to the hardback edition which was published in 1982 and measures 91/4x113/4 inches.




4. My brother has got this book and everytime I go to his place I look at it.I even remember when it came out.It is a fantastic book and I love it.That is why I have purchased a copy...

5 comments about Documents of Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen of England 1553.

1. If the book is used as the author indicates it's only purpose is to be, which is for reference, then Mr. Taylor has done a great job of bringing all the literary remains of Lady Jane Grey together in one edition for others to use. Though I do not believe that the "Lane Letters" should have been included, I will commend Mr. Taylor on not following the format that some recent authors have chosen of embellishing a few facts and sensationalizing them to appeal to the masses. I have used this book in my classes and the book is a time saver for my students who often research Tudor history.



2. Mr Taylor has clearly spent a great deal of time and effort in producing this volume. Unfortunately the result is useless for anything other than entertainment. It cannot in any way be called legitimate "history." The book is replete with flaws, errors and omissions. Mr Taylor relies very heavily on a late-eigtheenth century collection of "letters" published by William Lane through Minerva Press. The collection is tellingly entitled "Lady Jane Grey: An Histoircal TALE"..."tale" being the operative word. Mr Taylor notes that the Lane collection had been "lost" to historians for over 200 years until he "re-discovered" it. There is a good reason why the "letters" were "lost": any trained historian would immediately recognize them as complete fiction. The "letter" from Henry Grey to "Lord Protector" Northumberland, for example, reveals the fiction (p. 18-20, Lane Letter 86). Northumberland was never titled "Lord Protector," and Henry Grey would never have addressed him as such. Any trained historian familiar with the Tudor era would have known this. But Mr Taylor is apparently not a trained historian. This is evident from his bibliography. He has "primary" and "secondary" sources utterly confused. Further, he cites works such as Jane's prayerbook by using a secondary source (a later Harley Manuscript). The original prayerbook is Harley MS 2342, and has been microfilmed. That microfilm is available in many US libraries. Why not look at a microfilm of the original rather than a printed transcription of a later manuscript that simply describes the original? A serious error. And finally, in his bibliography he lists a work as having been written by Guglielmo Facciotti. In actuality, Facciotti was a PRINTER, not an author. He was active in Rome ca. 1592-1637. The AUTHOR of the work cited is actually Giovannni Raviglio-Rosso. Read this book for what it is: a compilation of factual AND FICTIONAL documents that take Jane Grey as their subject. But for legitimate ("real") history, look elsewhere. This book is a perfect example of why amateur historians and sloppy publishers should never be brought together. The result is a complete mess, and leaves readers completely misinformed and confused...and legitimate history teachers scrambling to pick up the pieces.



3. I will admit that I was skeptical about this book after reading the contrasting feedback left by other readers but after completing the book I feel that Mr. Taylor should be commended for several reasons. First and perhaps that most important to a retired professor of European history as myself is that Mr. Taylor did not follow the same format as many "historians" do by using colorful embellishments to retell a few known facts. The second being that Mr. Taylor also refrained from criticizing other author's lack of information or misuse of. It is clear that Mr. Taylor only recites the sources that he felt were the most accurate. I have learned in 30 years of teaching college level classes that if you present 10 people with 10 primary and secondary sources that you will have 14 different opinions about them. I feel that Taylor's use of the Lane Letters is questionable and after contacting the author, he explained that the publisher omitted a sentence in the introduction indicating the use and source of letters. Nevertheless, the Lane Letters should have been placed in a separate chapter away from the main body of the book, but when they are read as the author intended, they are entertaining. Ill regardless of the rather harsh criticism left by another reader, I would have used the book in my classes if I were still teaching. Publishing Weekly left an accurate feedback and I do feel that there is a fresh approach here that does belong in a library. From what I can see, Mr. Taylor is the first to present all known information about this young lady. I look forward to a revision



4. I have read much more reader friendly books that incorporate primary source documents. The book was dull and did not provide any new insights or information about an interesting character in the Tudor era.



5. When I first purchased this book I thought I was getting something legitimate, but after going through it I found myself asking over and over, "Is this for real?" The answer is no. I don't know if Jane Grey ever had a cousin named Anne, but if she did they wouldn't have written to each other in flowery 18th century sentences such as "Fly to your Anne" or "Adieu, hasten to your Jane Grey". All of Jane's letters are written in 16th century English and most of them are religious in tone and theme. The only people she would have flown to would have been her governess Mrs. Ellen and her teacher John Aylmer, to escape her abusive parents. Jane supposedly being distracted from her studies by falling for dashing young Guilford Dudley is ludicrous. Nothing could keep her from her daily lessons except marriage to Guilford, which her parents had to beat her into accepting. She disliked him for being spoiled and demanding while he very likely thought her a prudish little bookworm. My advice is to skip this book and go with Hester W. Chapman's "Lady Jane Grey", Alison Plowden's "Lady Jane Grey and the House of Suffolk", or even Alison Weir's novel "Innocent Traitor".

2 comments about King James and Letters of Homoerotic Desire.

1. First and foremost, the letters between King James and his three male "favorites" are fascinating. Even the little, unintended cultural insights are interesting, for instance, that "gossip" meant godfather, that "Steenie" is short for Stephen, or that the king of Spain had given James an elephant as a gift.

   With the author's help in establishing the king's difficult passage into manhood, and his piety as a Christian primitivist, as well as his love of literature--ditto for the gripping biographical sketches of the king's "sweet hearts"-- one cannot read some of the more beautiful passages without being profoundly touched. There is the time James wrote to George Villiers, Marquess of Buckingham, that "for protest to God I rode this afternoon a great way in the park without speaking to anybody and the tears trickling down my cheeks, as now they do that I can scarcely see to write. But alas, what shall I do at our parting?" Or on another occasion, "I had rather live banished in any part of the earth with you than live a sorrowful widow's life without you."

   Other times the content is more "saucy," to use Villiers's term. A good example is his own letter to the king: "All the way hither I entertained myself your unworthy servant with this dispute, whether you loved me now ... better than at the time which I shall never forget at Farnham, where the bed's head could not be found between the master and his dog. ... --Your majesty's most humble slave and dog, Steenie"

   The letters come from the manuscript collections of the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and so on, where Bergeron saw and transcribed from holographs, correcting occasional mistakes or intentional glosses from previous historians who have from time to time cited or published versions of these letters, or mentioned them in an embarrassed footnote. The letters have not been otherwise previously collected in such a topical form.

   Bergeron does careful work as a scholar; that this does not translate into equal achievement as a writer is okay. Perhaps more seriously, though, are a few puzzling lapses, such as his use of a secondary source for an important speech by King James to the Privy Council in 1617, and the fact that the abbreviated footnote does not have a corresponding bibliographic entry, but again, I'm willing to overlook minor distraction for the strengths the book demonstrates. After reading it, I only want to read more by Bergeron.

   Oh, by the way, I suppose that no one needs to point out the obvious implications for fundamentalist Christians: those who (1) use the King James Bible only, and allow no other biblical translation, and then (2) use the same Bible to theologically bludgeon homosexuals. This further reminds me that if there are any fellow Mormons out there, you will want to know that the letters refer to Apostle Boyd K. Packer's seventh-great-grandfather John Packer, who was the "patronage secretary" of King James's lover, Duke Buckingham--according to corroborative data in Donna Smith Packer's book, "On Footings from the Past: The Packers in England" (self-published by the Boyd K. Packer family, 1988, 488 pp.). Although Donna doesn't mention that Buckingham was in love with the king, but she does mentions that John Packer was forty years old when he married. What's my point? Well, maybe just that it's a small world. Enjoy the Bergeron book.




2. I write this review from the perspective of one who is interested in reading about the history and documentation of same-sex love, but who is not an academic, a linguist, or has any special interest in the history of literary styles. I offer this explanation because while this book is tremendously fascinating in its historic and biographical material, it at times lost my interest when going deeply into literary interpretation and syntactic analysis. For example, the first chapter on the history and style of writing love letters, or "letters of desire" as the author coins it, I found uninspiring and difficult. However, it does lay the groundwork for the author's study of James' letters.

   Having said that, I nonetheless found the book extremely informative, both about James' life and how his contemporaries viewed his life.

   The first section covers James' association with Esme Stuart who became the Duke of Lennox. What was of particular interest to me was the fact James was just 13 years old and Stuart 37 when they first met. The description of their first meeting makes it unmistakeable to the reader that the two had indeed fallen in love. The biographical information on how the church leaders and other politicos involved in James' life broke up the relationship was extremely interesting and saddening. But the reader shouldn't interpret these actions as purely coming from the realm of the church's "condemnation of homosexuality." Because there was no such thing at the time as "homosexuality." That was a term and a concept that wouldn't be coined for another 200 years. Rather, the condemnation was over "lying with a man as though a woman." Because of James' young age, it is quite possible that he had taken the submissive role, or that his advisors presumed that he was taking the submissive role. What really happened we don't know. But if the king were in a submissive role, then Stuart was having an undo influence over the young king. Having the king taking the role of a woman would have been blasphemous.

   This notion is given further support during the chapter discussing the king's relationship with George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham. In one of the king's letters, he refers to Buckingham as not only his "dear son" and the king the father, but also as "wife" and the king being "husband." In one letter, Buckingham writes: "my thoughts are only bent of having my dear Dad and master's legs soon in my arms." This phrase also suggests that Buckingham took the submissive role in his relationship with the king.

   Which fits in naturally with the culture of the times. Both James and his "favorites" married and sired children, as the king saw marriage and raising a family an obligation to be joyfully fulfilled. And throughout Renaissance Europe, it was acceptable for a man to play the dominate (top) role during sexual relations with another male, with the submissive generally being younger because it was then excusable for the youth to be a bottom because he was in a submissive role anyway because of age.

   It is also made clear in the book that James' other advisors disapproved of his relationships with his favorites not so much because they viewed the physical relationship as being immoral, but because of James' lavish endowment of titles and gifts, and consequently power to his favorites. The book does reveal critics, both contemporary and later, of the king's behavior who found the intimacy of these relationships unseemly and even "disgusting." And it is amusing to read how some of these critics eschewed discussing in detail the nature of the relationships.

   In all it is a good book, but for the general reader of the history of same-sex relationships, it may be a bit troublesome and slow to plod through. For example, if I read the book at night while in bed, I usually fell asleep after just one page. If I read it in the morning, then I could read upward of a dozen or so pages.

No comments about Edward V: The Prince in the Tower.