Royal Gatherings: Who is in the Picture, Volume 1: 1859-1914

[Eurohistory]

Advance copies of Royal Gatherings arrived at my office last night and this morning they all were shipped to buyers. The bulk of the print run is being delivered on Tuesday and we will continue fulfilling orders so byers get the book before XMAS!

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPORT!

For more information...

http://erhj.blogspot.com/2012/11/royalty-book-royal-gatherings-volume-1.html


http://erhj.blogspot.com/2012/10/royal-gatherings-who-is-in-picture.html


Kind regards, Arturo Beéche (and Ilana Miller)

[Eurohistory]

The book Ilana Miller and I recently published began shipping last week!

http://erhj.blogspot.com/2012/12/royal-gatherings-volume-1-shipping.html


It is also available through AMAZON:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0985460318

[Eurohistory]

Here are some page samples from the book Ilana and I just published...enjoy!

http://erhj.blogspot.com/2012/12/royal-gatherings-signing-party.html

[grandduchessella]

My copy was awaiting me upon my return last night from my holiday vacation. Needless to say, despite a 9 hr drive and needing to unpack, I still dropped everything to at least begin to go through it! I thumbed through the entire book and then made it through reading half of it already.

It's really wonderful. The book is thicker than I had anticipated--the format is the same as Art's earlier Dear Ellen book--and full of great photos. There have been a few typos so far, but they are minor and easy to figure out (ie Alexandra of Greece and Russia being labeled as her sister Marie) and don't impact ones enjoyment of the book.

I am particularly loving the fact that it isn't just the 'big' families (Queen Victoria's, the Romanovs, etc..) who are covered. They are there but so are fascinating photos and tidbits of lesser known royals like the extended Hohenlohe-Langenberg/Reuss/Leiningen clan. And you just don't get the picture being covered, there are at least 2 additional photos (and usually many more) illustrating each of the people shown in the main photo. Obviously there is some repetition as many royals are featured in more than one photo (ie Victoria of Hesse) but this is to be expected and doesn't adversely impact the flow of the book.

Some of the photos are well known but I am seeing a lot that are unknown, at least to me--and after 25 years of devouring royal photos I've seen a lot of them!

I would definitely give the book a good solid A--the facts are interesting, the pictures are great, the layout is appealing. All in all, a great end of year treat! Congratulations, Art and Ilana!

[Eurohistory]

Thanks for the nice words ... I just saw the typo you mention. That's my fault...a mental hiccup, mea culpa!

What we find amazing is that every book we publish gets seen by five sets of eyes, other man mine and stilla couple of things get by. In Dear Ellen I meant to type Alexander II under a photo caption, but erroneously type III instead. Goodness gracious, I know the difference between them!

In Royal Gatherings the same happened with a photo of Alix Greece, which I identified as her sister. By the time we realized the typo, it was too late to stop printing. Deep gulp...

In The Other Grand Dukes I caught a typo just before sending the book to print, I mean minutes before the presses started churning out pages...and managed to correct it, even though it further delayed printing by a full day...at least we caught it!

Typos, much as we dislike them, happen. We are not a Divine Being and do not consider ourselves either perfect or infallible. By no means! :-)

Even in books from bigger publishing houses one finds mistakes and typos. I've found a few in Former People, an otherwise wonderful read so far!

Our goal is to be better with each book...we strive for perfection, kn owing full well that not even God produces perfection 100% of the time. In fact, I always leave one mistake in each of our books just to remind us that nothing in life is perfect.

Ilana, who is about to meet me, and I are deeply humbled by your words of support!

Best wishes for 2013,

Arturo

[grandduchessella]

The words are all true, Art. I am loving the book. As for the typos, as I said, they are very minor and don't interrupt the flow of the book nor cause any serious confusion--the photo of Alix was in the context of a photo of the older Greek royal children so it would obviously be Alix and not Marie. I almost didn't even notice the caption because Alix was the only female being spoken of. They should in no way deter anyone from the book.  Given the undertaking and the small number of people working on the books, it's a testament that there aren't more typos! As you said, they are found in almost every book--including ones which pass through dozens of hands. Can't wait for the next volume! I strongly encourage anyone looking for a book chock full of photos and interesting tidbits to pick this book up--the price isn't bad either for such a book!  

I think I have almost all the Eurohistory books and have enjoyed them all. The ones I don't have (the 2 Grand Dukes books) I'm planning on getting this year.  I'm loving the increased output and usage of your deep photo archives. Between your books and Rosvall's, I've been a very happy customer this year.

And anyone looking to get this volume--it is available through Amazon (where I ordered it) and Ilana's a quick shipper.

[Eurohistory]

Dear Courtney,

Indeed...we are trying to get at least 6 books per year, plus six issues of Eurohistory...without fail.

In late January I expect The Other Grand Dukes delivered here.

Then in mid to late February I expect Russia and Europe – Dynastic Ties and by April The Sisters from Luxembourg. By June I should have The Gotha II: The German Empire, Part A.

Ilana and I will have Volume Two of Royal Gatherings by late Summer...while Galina Korneva and I may do a Romanov book for October 2013.

I have 11 book manuscripts here to choose from...plus 9 other titles in the works...so I expect a busy year that will keep me, yet again, from returning to teaching, but will allow me to continue being a stay-at-home Dad to our two (soon to be three) sons.

So...wish me well!

PS: Here is the AMAZON link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0985460318

[grandduchessella]

All the best wishes, Art! I am looking forward to all the books you just named.   Being a frustrated wanna-be author myself, I envy you despite all the work. I will be leaving my libraryyl job either in June or September to prepare for our next move--hopefully, back to Europe--in January. During that time I hope to finally make some of my long-held dreams a reality. I have dozens of ideas for articles and books that I'd like to do--and thousands of photos (either photos, postcards or magazine images) I've collected over the decades. I'm going to use you as an inspiration. Even if the books are only self-published and I get only my friends to buy them, it would still be a dream come true.

Definitely keep us updated on the individual threads and the Upcoming Books thread as you get more information. It's never too early to start beating the drum! There are definitely eager royal readers here looking forward to new titles.

[Ilana]

Hey, Kori, can I just say thanks, too, for your wonderful support?  Last summer little did I know I'd have another book out so soon, it really is a dream come true  I'm also really deeply touched that you like it.  I encourage you to get cracking with the writing.  As you see, there are points of view about all of the royals, events and issues and that is what I'm loving about doing the Royal Gathering volumes (and also being able to insert my sense of humor in spots!)  Happily, it seems that people enjoy that angle as well.

Anyhow, I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday and a very Happy New Year!!!! OXXOXOXOXOXOX

[Eurohistory]

All the best wishes, Art! I am looking forward to all the books you just named.   Being a frustrated wanna-be author myself, I envy you despite all the work. I will be leaving my libraryyl job either in June or September to prepare for our next move--hopefully, back to Europe--in January. During that time I hope to finally make some of my long-held dreams a reality. I have dozens of ideas for articles and books that I'd like to do--and thousands of photos (either photos, postcards or magazine images) I've collected over the decades. I'm going to use you as an inspiration. Even if the books are only self-published and I get only my friends to buy them, it would still be a dream come true.

Definitely keep us updated on the individual threads and the Upcoming Books thread as you get more information. It's never too early to start beating the drum! There are definitely eager royal readers here looking forward to new titles.

You should just buckle down and start writing!

I am constantly encouraging those who contact me with article and bok ideas. Just sit and do it...get a rough draft, send it over...get it done!

Ilana and I always take a bit to get started...but once we do, there is no stopping us!

I am already looking forward to Royal Gatherings, Volume 2 and can begin to sense the delivery of The Other Grand Dukes – Sons and Grandsons of Russia's Tsars...just weeks, just weeks...but I have already made space for the boxes in my office and am relieved that the book is finished!

Arturo Beéche

[grandduchessella]

Thanks for the encouragement.   I think I am going to kick it into high gear after I leave my job. Being a single parent (my hubby is in DC during the week and will be deployed for a year starting in a few weeks), working full time and all-- it just seems there's never any time for a lot of things. I don't know whether I'll look for another job right away when we move--this may become my employment. If we go to Europe, I'm definitely not working--I want plenty of free time to travel.  

[Eurohistory]

With Royal Gatherings Ilana and I worked diligently to get the writing done in a reasonable time. I think we kept our schedule and were only about 3-4 days late, which was amazing!

Editing took a few weeks as we checked each other's work and then we passed the various chapters to others to read, annotate and comment. Choosing the photos was done prior to writing, but as I laid the text into the publishing program I made some last minute changes so the book would include even more rarer images than initially planned.

[Svetabel]

I have dozens of ideas for articles and books that I'd like to do--and thousands of photos (either photos, postcards or magazine images) I've collected over the decades. I'm going to use you as an inspiration. Even if the books are only self-published and I get only my friends to buy them, it would still be a dream come true.

I am definitely one of those who will buy any of your books : ).  And I can understand that state of "Frustrated wanna-be author" as I am in the same boat ))...I hope next years my dream about my own books (photoalbums and some researches) comes true.

[grandduchessella]

Thanks, Svetabel. Oh, I would definitely line up for any of yours.   Being there in Russia, near the archives--you would have access to things I can only dream of. We'll have to start a 'frustrated authors' group here on the AP. If you ever need help, just let me know.

On a related note, I finished RGs. It leaves off in 1914 with a photo of Franz Ferdinand & Sophie right before their assassination. The book didn't disappoint from my earlier satisfaction at the midway point. I really enjoyed it from start to finish. As I said, there were a lot of unusual photos there as well as an appreciated focus on less widely covered royals--including the Reuss, Saxe-Weimar and Brazilians. I really enjoyed this aspect and it's inspired me to start doing more research into some of the personages mentioned. I love the husband-swapping with the Reuss clan. Quelle scandale!

[Eurohistory]

I'm glad to hear it!

I like paying attention to lesser-known royals...I think that we, the English-speaking readership, pay far too much attention to the Romanovs, English, Scandinavians, Greeks and Prussians. The trade-off is that lesser-known royal dynasties (which are just as interesting) get set aside, ignored and become unknown to the general royalty reading public.

From the beginning of Eurohistory we have tried our best to cover every European royal family, not just the "popular" ones. I have always felt it to be part of our educational mission to expand the knowledge of our readership beyond the square into which majuor publishing houses have pigeon-holed us into.

Whether in our books or in the pages of Eurohistory, we (Ilana, Coryne Hall, Marlene Koenig, John van der Kiste, Rick Hutto, Lucas Szkopinski, David McIntosh, Greg King, Penny Wilson, Ricardo Mateos, Sabrina and Kassandra Pollock, Katie Tice, Charles Stewart, and many, many others) have written on the lesser-known royals of yesteryear and today. Since 1997, when Eurohistory was born, we have compilated an amazing treasure trove of historiography on all these families. One day, when I have time, I plan on making an index of the material inside the 90 issues (nearly 3,600 pages) of Eurohistory.

The books we have in the pipeline this year are also following on this road, bringing to life for our readership the lives and histories of lesser-known royals. "The people in the background," as a royal friend described it to me.

Royal Gatherings, I believe, succeeded in providing us staging point to continue on this path and I am very happy that the book so far has managed to impress its readers. Thanks for supporting our work!

Arturo Beéche