This gives a brief history of the house and of the people who lived there from Victoria to the present royals. Clearly a much loved place.The book's strong point are the black and white photos, and many portraits of individuals who are known to history photographed there.The author gives the reader the sense that this was an important house historically and personally to the few favored to live and visit there.

In this book, one begins to understand the long history of scandals in the family of Britain's monarchs. Elizabeth II's 'annus horribilis' is not an isolated event but an on-going saga of sexual high jinx and jealousies that have been a part of the British royal family for centuries.

Unlike their German cousins, the British people have an equally long-standing tradition of lampooning and laughing at the follies of their monarchs. Tabloid journalism was alive and well as far back as the early days of the House of Hanover.

The long-suffering Queen Caroline does her duty to the best of her abilities-gently leading her arrogant and insecure husband, George II, into doing the right thing in spite of himself. But the need for a government, independent of the whims and follies of the monarch, is by now most evident. The evolution of power centered in the Prime Minister and Parliament, and the ability of the British people to not take their leaders too seriously, is the reason England ruled a mighty Empire while Germany floundered and fell in two world wars.

Jean Plaidy not only has a gift for making history easy to read, but easy to understand. This book should be read after "Queen in Waiting."

In this, the fifth volume in her Queens of England series of novels, the author, also known as Victoria Holt to her legion of fans, tackles the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine, a woman who led an incomparable life. Born in an age when women tended to be submissive and docile, Eleanor was anything but. She was an outspoken, well educated, independent, and beautiful woman. Hers is a story that, in the hands this author, an accomplished storyteller, captivates the reader.

Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, became Queen of France when she entered into a marriage of state with Louis VII of France, a somewhat weak and ineffectual, though pious, young ruler. Theirs was not a passionate affair of the heart but, rather, a mesalliance that would come to a somewhat abrupt end, when she met Henry II, the first Plantagenet King of England. Though she was eleven years his senior, theirs was to be a tempestuous and passionate love-hate relationship that would end in marriage and span a lifetime. She would give birth to their numerous sons and daughters, two of whom would go on to reign over England, Richard the Lionhearted and John Lackland.

Narrated in the first person, as are all the books in this Queens of England series, Eleanor tells the reader of her adventurous and exciting life, set against a backdrop of medieval politics, intrigues, and strife. A woman who brooked little interference in her life, she decribes what it was like to have experienced and gone on a crusade. She tells of her long years as prisoner of her philandering husband, Henry II. She relates the triumphs and disappointments of her long and singular life. In doing so, she weaves a memorable tapestry of love, passion, betrayal, and heartbreak. It is an account that will keep the reader turning the pages of this unforgettable, though somewhat romanticized, account of a life lived to the fullest.

This book has helped me on more than one occasion, to sort out Queen Victoria's huge family. The book only rates four stars, because I dislike the way it is organized. But the information, as well as the detailed lineage is wonderful. Many of Mr. Aronson's books are out of print, but I find them quite frequently at the Strand in NYC or other used bookstores.

This is another well-written work of historical fiction by the doyenne of historical novels, Jean Plaidy. Here, she focuses on the Stuarts, in particular, sisters Mary and Anne, the pampered, beloved daughters of King James II of England, who would die in exile and become known as the "king across the water".

When King Charles II of England died, his brother James, the Duke of York, became King James II. He was, however, an avowed catholic, so sentiment against his reign ran high, as there was the ever present fear of papists, a lingering residual fear left over from the reign of catholic Mary Tudor, who was known as "Bloody Mary" for her excesses against England's protestants.

The two daughters of James II, however, had been raised as protestants, in accordance with the wishes of the people of England . Mary had married the protestant William of Orange, while Anne had married the protestant George of Denmark. William of Orange, knowing that the people of England were strongly against a catholic king and having always coveted the crown of England, decided to wrest the crown of England from King James II.

To the great sorrow of James II, both Mary and Anne supported the usurper, and King James II was forced to flee from England. Mary was governed by her desire to please her husband, William, while Anne was governed by her desire to please her childhood friend, Sarah Churchill, an ambitious woman for whom power was everything.

This is a story of a father forsaken by his daughters and of sisters who could not be reconciled to one another. This is the story of a country that would rather be ruled by a protestant Dutchman rather than by a catholic Englishman. This is a story in which plots, intrigues, and political machinations run rife.

Once again, Jean Plaidy takes historical events and personages and weaves a magical tapestry that holds the reader spellbound.

I found this book to be absolutely wonderful in the way they displayed the clothes and accessories so beautifully. You can see the true elegance, pomp, and magnificence in which the royal family dressed, yet also see how normal they were in that they wore common clothes just like the commonfolk. I highly reccomend this book.

This book is the third in Plaidy's Tudor series. It is painful to read of Queen Katharine's heartbreak over her inability to produce a son and heir for the increasingly tyrannical Henry. Plaidy's simple writing style is necessary to help readers follow the complex "tangled web" of court intrigues. Read Antonia Fraser's _The Wives of Henry VIII_ for the straight history, then Plaidy's novels for the fictional "inside scoop!"

Jean Plaidy, also known to her legion of fans as Victoria Holt, was a prolific writer of historical fiction. In this, her ninth volume in her "Queens of England" series of books, she relates the first person narrative of a little known Queen, Catherine of Braganza, who married Charles II of England. Together, they led England during the restoration of the monarchy, after the death of Oliver Cromwell saw the end of Puritan rule in England.

The marriage of Catherine of Braganza, who was from Portugal, to the newly restored King of England, Charles II, was a purely political alliance. Catherine was the daughter of King Juan IV of Portugal, who had previously been known as the Duke of Braganza, a vassal of Spain, as Spain had invaded Portugal in his father's time. When Catherine was five, after sixty years under Spanish rule, her father drove out the Spaniards and assumed his rightful role. His rule was a tenuous one, however, as the only foreign countries who recognized Juan IV as King of Portugal were France and England, who were enemies of Spain, at the time. The Pope, however, under the thumb of the Spaniards, did not, and other countries followed suit.

When Catherine, the Infanta of Portugal, was about eighteen years of age, her father died, leaving her mother, Donna Luiza, Queen Regent, of Portugal, as her brother, Alfonso, was only thirteen years old. Shortly thereafter, in the year 1658, Cromwell died, and within two years, Charles II of England was restored to his throne. Donna Luiza sought the marriage of her daughter, Catherine, to Charles II, as a way of being able to shore up her defenses against the ever pervasive threat of Spanish subjugation. By the time Catherine was twenty two, she was married to the thirty year old King of England.

Catherine was a Catholic Queen in a Protestant England that had never forgotten the cruelties of their last Catholic ruler, Mary Tudor, also known as "Blody Mary", for her excesses againt those of the Protestant faith. Consequently, the English were cool in their reception of Catherine. Moreover, she was married to a King who was a natural philanderer and whose amorous escapades with the beautiful, though notorious, Lady Castlemaine, as well as with the cockney actress, Nell Gwynne, among others, would cause her much heartache.

When Catherine failed to produce an heir, and it became clear that she was barren, there was much political intrigue in hopes that Charles II would divorce her and marry someone with whom he could beget an heir. That the King was capable of doing so was evident from the number of children he begat with his mistresses. Still, this merry monarch, much beloved by his people who viewed his amorous escapades with amusement, refused to discard his faithful and loyal wife, despite the fact that the public reviled her.

The author weaves a compelling, first person narrative of a Queen whose personal travails are little known. Against a backdrop of historical events, political intrigues, and well known personages, her story artfully unfolds, capturing the imagination of the reader. Hers is a story all too familiar. It is the story of a young noblewoman whose personal happines is subjugated to matters of state. Well written, it is a somewhat romaticized account of a life lived in the shadow of political expediency, and its pathos will keep the reader turning the pages.

The survival of the British monarchy as a popular institution owes a lot to its queens who were, more often than not, more intelligent than their husbands. Caroline of Ansbach is such a queen. Well-educated and from one of the poorer German principalities, Caroline married into the boorish House of Hanover. It isn't long before she discovered she's caught between a loathsome, vindictive father-in-law, George I, and her not-too-bright and domineering husband, the future George II.

The House of Hanover, newly ascended to the English throne, would not have survived on the personal popularity of its kings. It took the cleverness of Caroline coupled with that of Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister, to keep things in balance. Jean Plaidy tells the tale of the reign of George I through the personal trauma of this most remarkable of English Queens.

Alice in Wonderland is my favorite book, and this book I enjoyed reading. For those other Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland lovers,this book is one you should read. The Continental History Society (CHS) has given a twist on what influenced the Alice stories. The reader does not only get to know more about Victoria, but in an annotated style the CHS shows what they believe to be parallels between the Alice adventures and Victoria's life. Some of the parallels are quite interesting!