Download PDF Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, by Julia P. Gelardi
This is why we recommend you to always see this resource when you need such book Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi, every book. By online, you could not getting guide establishment in your city. By this on-line collection, you can discover the book that you truly want to check out after for long period of time. This Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi, as one of the suggested readings, tends to be in soft file, as all of book collections here. So, you may additionally not wait for few days later on to obtain and also read the book Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi.
Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, by Julia P. Gelardi
Download PDF Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, by Julia P. Gelardi
Book Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi is one of the priceless worth that will make you always abundant. It will not indicate as rich as the money offer you. When some individuals have absence to face the life, people with numerous e-books in some cases will be smarter in doing the life. Why must be publication Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi It is really not indicated that e-book Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi will certainly provide you power to get to everything. Guide is to check out as well as just what we suggested is the e-book that is reviewed. You can likewise view exactly how guide qualifies Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi and also varieties of book collections are offering right here.
Reviewing book Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi, nowadays, will certainly not force you to consistently buy in the shop off-line. There is a terrific area to purchase guide Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi by on the internet. This site is the most effective site with whole lots numbers of book collections. As this Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi will remain in this publication, all books that you need will correct here, also. Just search for the name or title of guide Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi You could discover just what you are looking for.
So, even you require responsibility from the firm, you could not be perplexed anymore because publications Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi will consistently help you. If this Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi is your ideal partner today to cover your work or work, you could when feasible get this book. How? As we have informed recently, merely visit the web link that our company offer below. The conclusion is not just the book Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi that you look for; it is how you will certainly obtain numerous publications to assist your skill as well as ability to have piece de resistance.
We will certainly reveal you the most effective as well as most convenient way to get publication Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi in this world. Lots of compilations that will support your duty will certainly be here. It will certainly make you feel so best to be part of this website. Becoming the member to consistently see what up-to-date from this book Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi site will make you feel right to hunt for the books. So, recently, and also below, get this Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters Of Queen Victoria, By Julia P. Gelardi to download and install as well as wait for your valuable deserving.
Julia Gelardi's Born to Rule is an historical tour de force that weaves together the powerful and moving stories of the five royal granddaughters of Queen Victoria. These five women were all married to reigning European monarchs during the early part of the 20th century, and it was their reaction to the First World War that shaped the fate of a continent and the future of the modern world.
Here are the stories of Alexandra, whose enduring love story, controversial faith in Rasputin, and tragic end have become the stuff of legend; Marie, the flamboyant and eccentric queen who battled her way through a life of intrigues and was also the mother of two Balkan queens and of the scandalous Carol II of Romania; Victoria Eugenie, Spain's very English queen who, like Alexandra, introduced hemophilia into her husband's family-with devastating consequences for her marriage; Maud, King Edward VII's daughter, who was independent Norway's reluctant queen; and Sophie, Kaiser Wilhelm II's much maligned sister, daughter of an Emperor and herself the mother of no less than three kings and a queen, who ended her days in bitter exile.
Born to Rule evokes a world of luxury, wealth, and power in a bygone era, while also recounting the ordeals suffered by a unique group of royal women who at times faced poverty, exile, and death. Praised in their lifetimes for their legendary beauty, many of these women were also lauded-and reviled-for their political influence. Using never before published letters, memoirs, diplomatic documents, secondary sources, and interviews with descendents of the subjects, Julia Gelardi's Born to Rule is an astonishing and memorable work of popular history.
- Sales Rank: #1036864 in Books
- Published on: 2005-02-23
- Released on: 2005-02-24
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.50" h x 1.50" w x 6.38" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 480 pages
From Publishers Weekly
This lively page-turner covers the 100-year period between the birth of Queen Maud of Norway in 1869 and the death of Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain in 1969. Suffering only from the inevitable repetition and melodramatic foreshadowing caused by the five-in-one setup of this biography, Gelardi's book features liberal quotations from fascinating correspondence and diaries that reveal both the intimate and the public faces of the women featured. Tales of the girls' romances and weddings spice up the early pages, followed by descriptions of marital relationships, childbirths and the early seeds of conflict-both personal and political. World War I and the Bolshevik revolution dominate the third part of the book, after which Gelardi describes the poignant twilight years of the four granddaughters who lived past the end of the Great War. Lurking behind these stories is the legacy of Queen Victoria, the cruelty of Kaiser Wilhelm in Germany and the specter of hemophilia. It is Marie, "Missy," who plays the favorite in the book, just as she did as Queen of Romania. More than the others, she inherited her grandmother's will, charisma, generosity and political acumen, along with the ability to adapt to changing times and circumstances. The granddaughters were "raised in an era where responsibility, commitment, sacrifice and duty before self were elevated as the highest ideals and embodied admirably by their grandmother," but the era that encompassed their rule would see the decline in monarchy throughout Europe as citizens of various countries came to believe that it was not the divine will of God that appointed their leaders, but the will-wise or foolish-of the people.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Five cousins. Five fascinating lives. Julia Gelardi writes about her subjects with verve and passion."
- Dr. Amanda Foreman, author of Georgina: Duchess of Devonshire
"This fascinating story of five princesses ends with one murdered, two in exile, one in distress, and one content. They all made sacrifices to fulfill dynastic demands, and unlike Ambassadors who move about, they were committed for life."
- Hugo Vickers, author of the critically acclaimed biography Alice and The Unexpurgated Beaton
"Julia Gelardi has mastered well the complex craft-within-craft of writing dynastic history. Her multi-stranded story moves smoothly, presenting vivid pictures not only of the momentous and tragic lives of five women, but also of the extraordinary privileged but confined world of doomed European monarchy."
- Derek Wilson, author of All the King's Women and In the Lion's Court: Power, Ambition, and Sudden Death in the Reign of Henry VIII
"A wonderful story, and an enormously impressive piece of research. Julia Gelardi has drawn together the stories of these five queens and kinswomen to give fresh perspective on the turbulent early decades of the twentieth century."
- Sarah Gristwood, author of the critically acclaimed Arbelia: England's Lost Queen and Perdita
"Gelardi tells a compelling story of five of Queen Victoria's granddaughters who became queens themselves. Alongside the oft-told and tragic story of Alexandra, the last Tsarina of Russia, are skillfully woven the tales of Maud of Norway, Sophie of Greece and Ena of Spain, each of whom led remarkable lives. Most fascinating, though, were the adventures of Marie of Romania, the archetypal romantic royal beauty. The author takes us on a tumultuous and enjoyable journey through the lives of five royal women, as they each in their own way attempted to survive 'the Era of the Fall of Eagles.' "
- Leonie Frieda, author of Catherine de Medici
"Julia Gelardi has brought these 5 queens to vivid life, using much fascinating contemporary material and the voices of the women themselves. At the heart of the convulsions of early 20th century Europe, this interwoven story is a rollercoaster of human tragedy and spirited renewal. All five women repay Gelardi's extensive research and affectionate narrative but Marie of Romania stands out as remarkably heroic; compassionate to the impoverished, diseased and dying, courageous in everything, she was nevertheless determined to fill her own life to the brim with adventure and love."
- Jane Dunn, author of Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens
About the Author
Julia Gelardi was born in Manila, Philippines, and educated in the United States and Canada. An independent historian and author, she lives with her husband and two daughters in Plymouth, Minnesota.
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Some good editing might have helped this book
By JP
This could have been a good read but for a couple issues:
1. There were several quotes in French; however, the notes were not linked to the translations.
2. Said notes were at the end of the book, rather than at the end of each chapter, which means that when I was at 72% of my reading, the book was finished. The notes took up 28% of the book!
3. The author provided many quotes. Rather than provide the quote and provide a note at the end of it, this author chose to correct &/or "sic" each and every abbreviation &/or misspelling within the quote! E.g., if there was a letter that said, "HM went to Viena last August," the author printed it as H[er] M[ajesty] went to Viena [sic] last August." I found that far more distracting than helpful.
67 of 70 people found the following review helpful.
A Nice Glimpse of A Vanished World
By John D. Cofield
Born to Rule is a joint biography of five royal consorts, all first cousins and granddaughters of Queen Victoria, who reigned over their countries during the early to mid twentieth century. Although Maud of Norway (called Harry in the family), Sophie of Greece, Victoria Eugenie of Spain (Ena), Alexandra of Russia (Alix), and Marie of Rumania (Missy) were cousins who knew each other fairly well, their personalities and ultimate fates were very different.
Most readers will be at least somewhat familiar with Alix's story, which has been told and retold many times on paper and on film, but Ena's struggles with the same hereditary disease of hemophilia, which she passed on to at least two of her sons, are less well known than those of her Russian cousin. Similarly, while the story of Alix's overthrow in the 1917 Revolution and her subsequent death with her family has been described at length, few readers will be as familiar with Ena's long exile from Spain and Sophie's on again off again career as Queen of Greece. Harry's great success as the democratically chosen monarch of Norway and Missy's extensive struggles on behalf of Rumania deserve to be remembered as well.
One of the most interesting achievements of this joint biography are the numerous parallels and comparisons that can be drawn between the five women. We can see, for example, how Harry's natural modesty and informality made the Norwegians fall in love with her, and how Missy's beauty and elegance endeared her to the Rumanians. On the other hand, Sophie, Alix, and Ena's shyness and natural reserve were not well received by their husband's subjects and helped lead to the downfalls of the monarchies in their countries. The cousins' origins outside of the countries they eventually ruled were also worthy of comparison. Alix and Sophie's German blood were black marks against them (poor Sophie was on the outs with the Greeks for being German, and with her brother the Kaiser for not being German enough!), as was Ena's English reserve in Spain. As far as homelife goes, Alix seems to have had the only genuine love match among the five, since Sophie and Missy were married off for political considerations (to husbands they eventually came to love or at least respect), Ena for generally the same reasons (to a husband she eventually came to detest), and Harry married her cousin primarily to avoid being an old maid (but had a happy marriage regardless).
Of all these women only Harry has been consistently remembered with love and respect by her adopted country. Alix and Ena have been rehabilitated to a degree by the twists and turns of twentieth century history in their countries, and while Sophie and Missy are practically forgotten in Greece and Rumania today, it is to be hoped that their many contributions will eventually be recalled in Athens and Bucharest.
None of these women were well educated or exceptionally intelligent, but the circumstances of their births and marriages gave them influence at a critical moment in world history. Born to Rule enables us to remember them and to better understand their impact.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Monarchy Fan
By Happy Happy
A facinating history of Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries as seen through the lives of Queen Victoria's 5 grand-daughters who come to reign as queens. It's history written in an easy enjoyable style. Ms Gelardi has made reading history very agreeable.
Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, by Julia P. Gelardi PDF
Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, by Julia P. Gelardi EPub
Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, by Julia P. Gelardi Doc
Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, by Julia P. Gelardi iBooks
Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, by Julia P. Gelardi rtf
Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, by Julia P. Gelardi Mobipocket
Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, by Julia P. Gelardi Kindle
No comments:
Post a Comment