Messages

1

The Russian Revolution / Re: Aristocrats living in the Soviet Union

« on: June 17, 2010, 02:34:27 PM »

  I just read "Memoirs of a Survivor" by Sergei Golitsyn which covers the experiences of a range of "former people" (nobility) after the Revolution.  It is a good translation and I found it to be a gripping read.  I believe it was published in Russia in the early 1990s and just translated into English.

2

Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: Twenty-five Chapters of my Life

« on: May 26, 2010, 03:38:29 PM »

  If anyone outside of UK is still looking for this book, I just ordered it from bookdepository.com for about $15.60 with free shipping internationally.  I think this is the best option for an American address.  I have used this site before and been satisfied but I was surprised and pleased to see that I could order this book from them.  It usually takes about a week or so to reach me.  I am excited!

3

Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: Meriel Buchanan's books

« on: October 01, 2009, 01:23:35 PM »

  I found Queen Victoria's Relations on Alibris for only $ 1.99 ( about $ 6.00 with shipping).   Hurrah!  It is on its way...

4

Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: Royals and the Reich

« on: July 02, 2006, 05:03:20 PM »

 Thanks very much! I found the other 4 page thread. I should have thought to look in the Hesse section.

5

Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Royals and the Reich

« on: July 02, 2006, 04:01:26 PM »

I just saw this on Amazon. Has anyone here read it?  It sounds interesting -though a bit gloomy.  


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195161335/sr=8-1/qid=1151873978/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-9395896-3763945?ie=UTF8

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The Hesse-Darmstadts (Hesse and by Rhine) / Re: Books on the Hesse Royals

« on: July 02, 2006, 03:57:26 PM »

  I just ordered a copy of this book from Alibris; it was $34.95 which is much better than I have seen it.  (Of course, the copy for a pound was truly incredible!). This is a good bit for me still but I have looked for an affordable copy for years it seems. It was a U.S vendor also so I hope it will be here soon. It's my Independence day gift to me (rationalization supreme!).  

Hurrah!  Now, if I could just find an inexpensive copy of "Family of Kings." (sigh!)

7

Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / These are so expensive!  I wonder why....

« on: June 26, 2006, 08:34:01 PM »

  Like most of you, I have a house full of books about 19th and 20th century royalty. I noticed these books by John Rohl about  Kaiser Wilhelm on Amazon a year or so ago..  They got good reviews and look interesting. However, the prices remain too rich for my blood. I could only imagine university libraries or well-heeled scholars investing in them right now. Has anyone read them or has an idea as to why they are priced so high?

"Young Wilhelm":

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521497523/sr=8-7/qid=1151371843/ref=sr_1_7/104-9395896-3763945?ie=UTF8

"Wilhelm II: The Kaiser's Personal Monarchy":

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521819202/sr=8-4/qid=1151371905/ref=sr_1_4/104-9395896-3763945?ie=UTF8

Thus far, the books cover up to 1900-so I anticipate he will carry on until the Kaiser's death.

8

Films and TV shows about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: Fall of Eagles on DVD

« on: June 24, 2006, 08:08:42 AM »

  I finished viewing this series and I thought it was very well-done. I believe that Barry Foster as Wilhelm II stole the show; he was the best thing in it-very true to the historical record. I thought the actress who played Vicky was also excellent. A great deal of time was devoted to the Russian scene and I thought it was done well for the most part, but for some reason the actors in the German segments were the stand-outs for me. Bismarck was also incredibly good.  I think I will watch this periodically for years to come.


Recommended!!!

9

The Hohenzollern / Re: Kaiserin Augusta Viktoria (Dona)

« on: May 27, 2006, 01:22:58 PM »

In re: to the dissension between Dona and Vicky: in my opinon, it was just an echo of the conflict between Willy and Vicky. Dona was singularly lacking in imagination and independent thought and she seems to have taken up (or tried to) all of Wilhelm's prejudices and enthusiasms. She was his "fan club of one" so to speak and many books hinted that Willy's excessive travelling also helped him to escape this claustrophobic admiration and find refuge in his all male jaunts with plenty of raucous practical jokes and loud laughter presided over by the All Highest, of course.

  I don't think anyone could have been a productive  wife for
Wilhelm that WANTED to be his wife if you understand my drift!  That would be a martyrdom or crusade for an intelligent woman. Willy was just too erratic and full of bombast. Dona was dull enough to take him at his own estimate!

  I have to echo everyone's sympathy for Vicky who has always had my empathy. She wasn't the perfect mother , by any means, but I do think she sincerely loved all of her children. The abyss that grew up between her and her three oldest children was a source of grief to her. Plus, her ideals (even if they were quixotic for 19th c. Prussia) appeal to me so much more than Willy's opinions!  I never stop wishing that Fritz's tragic death had not happened when it did.

10

Films and TV shows about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: Fall of Eagles on DVD

« on: May 26, 2006, 07:30:29 PM »

  For those who don't know, this is now available in the US and playable in the US. I just bought a set for about $31.00 from a seller on Amazon. I am on Disc 2 and what a treat it is! It is almost as though they consulted me as to my favorite subject for a miniseries and produced it!   The acting thus far is superb. Vicky and Sissi were just as I imagined.   And for those who are interested in the coming of the Revolution, the series tracks the revolutionaries quite convincingly, as well.

11

Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: Alexandra: The Last Tsarina by Carolly Erickson

« on: May 26, 2006, 07:17:15 PM »

  I was disappointed in this one.  In fact, I gave it away which is quite unusual for me ( I even retain the awful Ducky bio).   It didn't seem factual to me at several points and I have read other books by Erickson with pleasure.

  I do have Greg King's bio and I think it is good. However, I still am most fond of Massie's "Nicholas and Alexandra" though that is not a bio on Alexandra by herself. I have read it so many times since I was a girl and it never fails to capture me again.

12

The Hesse-Darmstadts (Hesse and by Rhine) / Re: Books on the Hesse Royals

« on: December 31, 2005, 06:21:31 PM »

  Teddy, I have this book. I read it years ago from the library and finally acquired it. If you have read the multi-volume series of letters between Queen Victoria and her daughter, Vicky ("Dearest Child," ""Your Dear Letter", etc.), you will have an idea of what to expect here. This book is similar in that it includes correspondence between Victoria and her granddaughter, Victoria of Hesse, with lots of annotations and explanatory notes.  

 This is  absolutely my favorite sort of book-so I loved reading it (and re-reading it). The photos are not particularly unique-but the book is well worth a look and a buy. You can obtain an inexpensive copy on the book sites, I believe. I won my copy on Ebay.  I wish I had more  and morevolumes of Queen Victoria's correspondence with her relations; Drat Princess Beatrice and her censorship once again!  

13

Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: Alexander II

« on: October 30, 2005, 12:33:42 PM »

  I read it also and I am not sorry I purchased it. However, it is primarily political following the sovereign's policies in one thread and the activities of the terrorists on the other.  I took one advanced Russian history course in college and a great deal of the information in the book recalled that class to my mind.  In fact, the passages about the terrorists are really the most vivid in the book.

 

14

The Habsburgs / Re: Archduke Albrecht (1817-95), and his family

« on: August 14, 2005, 02:55:19 PM »

  Unrelated to royalty but similar in incident-- the wife of poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, also died in this tragic manner.

Here is a short excerpt from an internet bio of the poet:

In 1861, the happy life of the family came to an end. Longfellow's wife died of burns she received when packages of her children's curls, which she was sealing with matches and wax, burst into flame. Longfellow faced the bitterest tragedy of his life. He found some solace in the task of translating Dante into English and went to Europe for a change of scene.

Those long skirts were a hazard and caused many a tragic death, I am sure.

15

The Hohenzollern / Re: Kaiserin Augusta Viktoria (Dona)

« on: July 24, 2005, 01:24:30 PM »

 Prince Lieven, you're right. Perhaps, another reason she was so "content" with Wilhelm-who was similarly spiteful and jealous.  Dona was also  very religious in a very narrow and bigoted fashion -and Vicky was quite freethinking in regard to religion (though  a Christian).

 You can see Dona and Wilhelm showing their narrowminded qualities in full force in the fuss they raised over Sophia's conversion to Greek Orthodoxy. I enjoyed Sophie's spirited telegram sent to her mother over the PUBLIC telegram wires that Wilhelm was "mad" when he barred her from Germany.