English Royalty Biographies

Few mixtures are as toxic as absolute power and insanity. When nothing stands between a leader's delusion whims and seeing them carried them out, all sorts of bizarre outcomes are possible. Whatever their background, these rulers show that dynastic politics made sure that a rightful heir always got on the throne - despite that heir's mental condition - and that power can destroy a mind worse than any mental illness.

Queen Elizabeth I was one of England's most influential rulers. Hers was an age when the arts, commerce, and trade flourished. It was the epoch of gallantry and great, enduring literature. It was also an age of wars and military conflicts. In the end, Queen Elizabeth I helped change the entire structure of female leadership and would go on to improve upon Henry VIII's successes.

Queen Mary I ruled England and its territories for only five years, from 1553 to 1558, yet she has been remembered for nearly 500 years as Bloody Mary, the Catholic oppressor of a Protestant country. The truth, as usual, is more complicated than the myth. Mary grew up in a era of religious and political turmoil. Mary's life was shaped by her experience of this, and by the twisted family politics of her father, Henry VIII.

Elizabeth II is within a few years of becoming the longest-reigning British monarch. A personally quiet, modest and dutiful person, she is far better-informed about the lives of her subjects than they often realize. She has known every Prime Minister since Winston Churchill and every American President since Eisenhower. Yet what of the woman behind the crown?

Europe has had no shortage of military heroes, political geniuses, and towering intellects, but no ruler combined all those traits as successfully as King Frederick II of Prussia, whose feats in battle were matched only by his enlightened rule. Growing up with an ear for music and an eye for art, the prince who would have eschewed the art of war, nevertheless became one of the most adept and brilliant military commanders of the 18th century, helping to expand his kingdom's borders, while modernizing the state within.

Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, given the title the "most Catholic monarchs" by the Pope during their reign over Spain, are often blamed for some of the greatest atrocities in history. Remembered primarily for commissioning Christopher Columbus's historical voyage to the New World in 1492, they have been assigned blame for the results of the Spanish Conquest, particularly the catastrophes that befell the Native Americans of the New World.

This compelling book begins on the 2nd of August 1793, the day Marie Antoinette was torn from her family's arms and escorted from the Temple to the Conciergerie, a thick-walled fortress turned prison. It was also known as the "waiting room for the guillotine" because prisoners only spent a day or two here before their conviction and subsequent execution. The ex-queen surely knew her days were numbered, but she could never have known that two and a half months would pass before she would finally stand trial and be convicted.

From a hunchbacked dwarf to a paranoid poet-assassin, a history of Victorian England as seen through the numerous assassination attempts on Queen Victoria while she ruled the British empire. During Queen Victoria’s 64 years on the British throne, no fewer than eight attempts were made on her life. Murphy follows each would-be assassin and the repercussions of their actions, illuminating daily life in Victorian England, the development of the monarchy under Queen Victoria, and the evolution of the attacks in light of changing social issues and technology.

The bar was high after the glorious reign of the Sun King. Louis XV, his successor, had a difficult time driving the country through religious disputes, intellectual shifts and economical hardness. This eventually led to a steep economic decline, which played an important role in the reaction of the French people against the monarchy, and eventually gave way to the French Revolution.

A fresh, witty, accessible life of Queen Victoria. Not since Lytton Strachey has the irony, contradictions and influence of this Queen been treated with such flourish or biographical insight. Reigning over a lifetime, Queen Victoria embodied the spirit of the contradictory era to which she lent her name.

From Henry VIII dispatching his numerous wives to Edward VIII’s unprecedented abdication, Britain’s monarchs have personally been responsible for shaping some of the most dramatic events in the nation’s history. Encompassing murder, civil war, adultery, usurpation and madness, Divorced, Beheaded, Died... relates the extraordinary stories of all of England’s kings and queens, plus some of the less well-known Scots and Welsh rulers.

Understand a crucial part of the history of French monarchy, with this collection of portraits of some of the most spectacular rulers of France. This catalog lists the kings named Louis, from Louis XIII the Just who stood up against political intrigues, to Louis XVIII who reigned during the Restauration of the French Monarchy after the fall of Emperor Napoleon. For each one of these Kings, you will find a detailed description of the style of his reign and his political achievements.

Louis Philippe (1773-1850) is France's first "constitutional monarch", having being properly elected by the National Assembly. He lived through the French Revolution, during which he saw his brother and sister-in-law, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, guillotined by extreme revolutionaries. Then, Napoleon Bonaparte seized the throne, declared himself emperor, and began the conquest of Europe; after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, France welcomed Louis Philippe back as an elected King.

This is Britain's first family and yep, they are not even British. But let's not hold that against them, it may even be a plus! Many truly great people are not even British, but who cares about them? These people know how to throw a party, put on a wedding and without doubt, they have the BEST funerals. Please, Hollywood, do you know how to draw an audience of half the world's population to one of your lame movies? Best box office weekend, six million?

Beleaguered by scandal, betrayed by faithless spouses, bedeviled by ambitious children, the kings and queens of Great Britain have been many things, but they have never been dull. Some sacrificed everything for love, while others met a cruel fate at the edge of an axman's blade. Behind the Palace Doors features stories covering every monarch, from randy Henry VIII to reserved Elizabeth II.

Louis-Charles Bourbon, or the Dauphin, never actually reigned, but became either a symbol of martyrdom or the object of one of the most successful acts of substitution ever performed. He enjoyed a charmed early childhood in the palace of Versailles, as the heir of the most powerful throne in Europe; when the French Revolution unfolded in all its horror, his family was incarcerated, and the orphaned boy-King had to endure the hostility and abuse of a nation.

The story of the worlds best-remembered celebrity couple, set against the political backdrop of their time. Oceans of mythology have grown up around them, all of which Diana Preston explores in her stirring history of the lives and times of a couple whose names more than two millennia later still invoke passion, curiosity, and intrigue.

At the climax of the French Revolution, King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine. When the young Louis XVII, Louis XVI's son, died in prison in June 1795, Louis XVIII succeeded his nephew as titular King. His reign was marked by exile, first because of the Revolution, and then of Napoleon, who set to conquer Europe and become Emperor of the French - before a coalition defeated him and restored Louis XVIII to the throne.

More than two centuries after her death, Marie-Antoinette continues to fascinate historians, writers, and filmmakers. She was born into royalty, and a world of immense privilege and power. At age 14, she married the one who would become Louis XVI, King of France; when he made her a queen, she was universally adored. But afterwards, her extravagant lifestyle turned public opinion against her, eventually participating in the crumbling of the already discredited monarchy into a maelstrom of revolution, disaster and tragedy.

When she got hired to drive for the Saudi royal family vacationing in Beverly Hills, Larson thought she’d been handed the golden ticket. Each day the royal women spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on plastic surgery and mega-shopping sprees on Rodeo Drive. But Driving the Saudis also reveals how Larson grew to understand the complicated nuances of a society whose strict customs remain intact even across.