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A biography of the queens and royal bedfellows of the 6th to the 11th centuries, providing an assessment of their political importance and the many factors that affected their personal lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Facinating yet confusing
Stafford presents an facinating view of women in the early middle ages, presenting their power as well as limitations. However, the book is rather confusing when it comes to keeping track of who is who. The genealogical tables at the back of the book are less than helpful. Stafford asserts that a good part of the power of these women was based on family relations and connections, but this was difficult to follow. Still, the work does present some very interesting ideas and is worth reading.

A classic in medieval women's history
This book has been foundational in determining how we understand early medieval women's history and the role of marriage and marital politics in the period.I recommend it highly. ... Read more

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1929. The story of the Sun King, one of the most powerful rulers in Western history, whose court and reign was riddled with intrigue, passion, jealousy, and political skullduggery. Contents: God-Given; The Red Dawn of a Reign; Revolutionary Rumblings; The Barricades; Coronation; First Love; Kingship; Fouquet and Colbert; Louise de La Valliere; The Dignity of France; La Montespan; Madame Se Meurt...; Passage of the Rhine; War with Holland; Passion, Poison, and Sudden Death; The Summit of Power; The Secret Marriage; The Fatal Revocation; Europe Against the King; An Illustrious Age; The Succession of Spain; and A Sad Sun-setting. ... Read more

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(The additional work here is the history of the House of Valois from its earliest days.) ... Read more

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Today, when many are asking if it's time to end the 400-year-old union and look increasingly to a united Europe, this books prompts a greater understanding of the warts-and-all origins of Scotland's ancestral legacy. Did the Scots really cower in the shadow of their powerful, aggressive English neighbour? This book reveals a very different picture. Scottish armies repeatedly invaded English-held territory, defying generations of Anglo-Norman kings, and it took many centuries to finally decide the fluid Border frontier. The author spells out the financial and military factors that helped to ensure Scotland's independence from the time of the Romans in Britain through Saxon, Norse and Norman invasions, the ravages of Edward Longshanks and the savagery of Henry VIII's "rough wooing". How did the English people react to the Union of Crowns? Were the Scots incorporated against their will? This book explodes the myth that the crowns of England and Scotland were united in some sort of constitutional coincidence. It uncovers associations between many Scots and the English court and its secret service - lifting the lid on a murky underworld of collaborators, spies and assassins.Did the French love the Scots as much as they hated the English? The author reveals the implications of the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France, and the legacy of England's foreign wars. The mutually sacrificial and loveless marriage of England and Scotland, arranged by Protestant pragmatists, secured independence for both countries which might otherwise have become Catholic dominions of France or Spain. Who gained most from Britain's independence? Britain was just a small corner in a huge power struggle raging throughout Europe. The author reveals the ruthless, secular and political nature of religions that tortured and massacred men, women and children in their hundreds of thousands. Divided they might have fallen or been pushed into obscurity, but united the two countries stood as Europe's foremost independent Protestant state, the seat of democratic government and the foundation stone of much social and legal reform. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (9)

Interesting, but poorly written
There are interesting stories in here, but on the whole this could have been better edited into an article. I really did enjoy the information about what an equerry really does and did find it surprising that such a young man got on as well as he did in the ultimate old folks home! But he gets bogged down--especially discussing he ex-wife's fight against Prince Charles in an employment dispute. It was 100% refreshing to read someone describe the late Princess of Wales as less than sane--so too was it nice to see the finger pointed at her for many of the leaks about Prince Charles. I do think he missed the obvious though when he related that Lady in Waiting Margaret Rhodes was in from Rhodesia. As he should have known, she is the Queen Mother's niece and that was the reason she was a lady in waiting!! Still, I would pass this on to anyone who enjoys reading about royalty.

Monotonous
That book is not what I have expected. A phrase here and there from the Queen mother and that's about all we learn from her. Very disappointing.

Behind Palace Doors: My Service As the Queen Mother's Equerry
This book is a fun read if you have an interest in the Royal Family.It did get bogged down at times with some details but not so much that I wanted to stop reading.

A Great Story -- Told Poorly
First, the author comes across as one of the nicest people you would ever meet. He had great respect for the person he served and for the position he held; yet he was able to walk away from his appointment after two years without pretense of a lofty place in Britain's still-stratified society.

The editor, however, should be consigned to a job where he says "Do you want fries with that?" There is relentless repetition, sometimes in adjoining paragraphs. In reality, this should be a much shorter book. Perhaps the editor was assigned to do anything to triple the length.

The anecdotes are refreshingly new. If you are an avid reader of things Royal, you have a great deal to enjoy. Thanks to the editor, things to enjoy over and over and over.

The author may have unwittingly made a very strong case for the republican movement in Great Britain. While the Queen Mother made enormous contributions to morale as Queen Consort during World War II, she made absolutely no effort to cut back on her lifestyle as Queen Mother. Enormous sums of money were spent to keep this one person in the style to which she was accustomed. I am hardly the first person to observe that enormous amount of good could have been accomplished with the money spent on the Queen Mother.

However, if you cut through the terrible editing job and look for the core of the story (political considerations aside), it's an excellent and fun read. A better-written book would have gotten five stars from me.

A peek inside palace doors
A fun book and an easy read by the equerry to
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother for two years.
Very little has been written about her private
life so this was interesting.I just wish the
book had been longer! ... Read more

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A soldier and statesman for the ages, the Duke of Wellington is a towering figure in world history. John Severn now offers a fresh look at the man born Arthur Wellesley to show that his career was very much a family affair, a lifelong series of interactions with his brothers and their common Anglo-Irish heritage. The untold story of a great family drama, Architects of Empire paints a new picture of the era through the collective biography of Wellesley and his siblings.

Whereas other historians have minimized the importance of family ties, Severn provides an unusually nuanced understanding of the Duke of Wellington. Architects of Empire casts his career in a new light--one that will surprise those who believe they already know the man. ... Read more

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The Tales of The Wellesley Brothers
Excellent account of the lives of the Welllesley brothers. The great care in which the author took to balance narrating the stories of all the five brothers is much appreciated. The most interesting aspect is the relationship between Arthur, the Duke of Wellington and his eldest brother, Richard, whom he depended on in his earlier years. But later on, after the success in the Peninsular Wars and, of course, Waterloo, the course had been almost completely reverted.And the competitive nature of their relationship, politically andpersonally. Especially other siblings' switching alliance and seeking patronage. The rivalry once stretched far as to siding in opposite directions in the Parliament, and, though accusation not confirmed, poisoning against each other.
All the bothers could not be more different in their views of life and temperament. But they certainly share some characteristic traits, aside from looking remarkably ( and handsomely) alike and the common disproval of the French Revolution; the immodesty, the need to take care and provide for each other in the family, the ambitiousness, etc.

This book is truly remarkable in engaging in the relationships of the brothers toward each other in all aspects ( though the account of their 'personal' lives is left much to be desired ) most importantly, the indispensability of one another, especially of Arthur and for equal measure, of Richard, in helping establishing the successful careers of them all. Doubly remarkably so is the fact that they came from an obscurearistocratic family in Ireland.
One would think their lives could make an interesting drama on TV.


Recommended. 4/5

The Duke and His Brothers...
As John Severn notes in his introduction, the First Duke of Wellington is such a towering figure in British history as to have completely overshadowed his four brothers, at least two of whom were consequential figures in their time.2007's "Architects of Empire" attempts to place Arthur Wellesley in the context of his Anglo-Irish family and document his often mutually benefial interaction with his brothers.

Arthur Wellesley was the third of five brothers.The oldest, Richard, who succeeded to his father's title in the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, was supposed to be the annointed one.Brillant, articulate, and ambitious, Richard had a dazzling school career and entered British politics with a promising network of prominent friends.Richard unfortunately was an indifferent politician, his own worst enemy in pursuit of his ambition.He did look out for his brothers, arranging the Army commissions that eventually sent Arthur to India as a lieutenant colonel.Richard followed Arthur to India as the Governor General for the East India Company, superbly suited by temperment and ambition to create Britain's destiny on the Indian subcontinent.By dint of war and negotiation, Richard vastly expanded British power and influence in India.Arthur, Richard's trusted agent but also a highly compentent young officer, found repeated succuess on the battlefield and as an administrator of new territories.The Wellesley's youngest brother Henry came out as Richard's secretary, beginning a long career in diplomacy.

The next great stage for the Wellesleys was in the Iberian Peninsula as it became a cockpit of the Napoleonic Wars.Richard went to Spain as the British Ambassador, there to spend three years trying to keep the Spanish in the fight with France. Richard was succeeded by his brother Henry as ambassador.For Arthur, the Peninsular War was the making of his reputation as a commander.In a five year campaign, Arthur, with astonishing patience and military skill, outgeneraled vastly superior French forces and liberated Portugal and Spain.In 1815, he led one of the two allied armies that combined to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo, winning a permanent place in history.

Richard left Spain in 1812, having laid the groundwork for success and returning for a larger role in government.In the event, Richard seriously misjudged the step to prime minister.He would over the years occupy a number of government posts, but his career had clearly peaked.Ironically, his brother Arthur would become prime minister in 1829 as a result of leadership shuffles.Arthur would last only three years, but would continue to hold various offices and to act as senior statesman for the rest of his long life.Henry would enjoy a long and reasonably successful career in the diplomatic corps.

The two remaining brothers lived quieter and only relatively less successful lives.Second brother William dabbled around the edge of politics for years, but his primary role in the Wellesley saga seems to have been as manager of his brothers' affairs while they were overseas.Fourth brother Gerald was a hardworking and respected cleric in the Church of England, who never played any role in politics.

Severn's book represents a prodigious amount of research.The five brothers Wellesley were by turns competitive and cooperative.Severn establishes how much Arthur's early rapid rise relied upon assistance from Richard, and how Richard, Arthur, and Henry collaborated on the eventual British successes in India and in Iberia."Architects of Empire" documents the very human side of the Wellesleys: their ambition, jeolousy, and endlessly squabbling.

This is a long book at over 500 pages, with some redundancy of coverage and commentary.It isn't clear that two of the brothers played any prominent role in either empire or family building. Nevertheless, this is a very worthwhile read as a family take on the Duke of Wellington and his remarkable career.
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Lucy, Countess of Bedford was one of the richest, most fashionable and influential women in England at the time of Shakespeare.Married to the Earl of Bedford, the Queen's closest friend, cousin to Robert Sidney and patron of John Donne, she existed in a world of gossip, scandal and intrigue at the centre of a glittering world of celebrity.Her fascinating life has never been the subject of a book, until now.

London in the early years of the seventeenth century was home to many outstanding literary figures, including William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and John Donne. At a time when poets were dependent on patronage for support and reward, Lucy, Countess of Bedford was patron to many of the great literary and artistic figures of her time, not least Donne and Jonson and extended to many others; Drayton, Samuel Daniel and Nicholas Stone.Her influence was so great she put on and acted in performances at the royal court.

A highly educated and intelligent woman, Lucy married young and continued her family's ascent in the social order of the court.Her husband's support of the Earl of Essex rebellion against Elizabeth plunged the family into the depths of disfavour, and coupled with their lavish lifestyle lead to financial ruin.But the arrival of James I lead to a revival, with the couple being one of the first to pay homage to the new King.A staunch Calvinist, her life illuminates what life was like for aristocratic women at the time and her deep involvement in both politics and literature demonstrates the active role women could play. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

A Great Primer
I got this when I went to England for the first time. You can pick one up at any souvenir shop around London. Perfect for those who want a breif introduction and synopsis about the English monarchs. It's light, cheap and can be bended to fit in your jacket pocket. I found it essential when going into castles and museums as a quick reference guide and took it with me on subsequent trips. Well worth getting.
... Read more