Books on Danish royalty

[Prince_Lieven]

Didn't Theo Aronson, author of 'Grandmama of Europe' write a book about Christian IX's family? Anyone read it? I can't find it anywhere.  :-/

[Robert_Hall]

A FAMILY OF KINGS The descendants of King Christian IX of Denmark. 1976 isbn 030429603
It is one of my favourite books of his.

[bluetoria]

Oh thank you for writing of this, Prince Lieven  ! I hadn't heard of it before, but anything by Theo Aronson is bound to be wonderful!

Have you read his "Heart of a Queen" and "Crowns in Conflict" - they are, I think, two of the most wonderful books I've ever read!!  

[Prince_Lieven]

I'm glad you like the thread Bluetoria! Sadly, I've only read 'Grandmama of Europe' which was of course wonderful, and it had a page 'also by this author' where I found out about 'A Family of Kings'. I'm guessing that 'Crowns in Conflict' is about royals at war 1914-1918? What's 'Heart of a Queen' about?

[bluetoria]

Yes, Crowns in Conflict is about the 1914-18 war and the relationships between the kings. It's very moving and the portrayal of Marie of Roumania is just brilliant.

"Heart of A Queen" is about QV's 'romantic attachments' and it is written so beautifully. It examines her relationship to Napoleon III, Melbourne, Prince Albert, John Brown, Disraeli and the Munshi but it is not in any way salacious...just a really interesting book which shows so much of QV's psychological make up.

(Another great one by Theo Aronson is "The King in Love" about Edward VII's affairs...Again it's all handled beautifully and so well written!!)

What a great shame Mr. Aronson is no longer around to write more wonderful books!

[Agneschen]

I have the book Aronson wrote on the Coburgs of Belgium but did not really like it. I found his portrayal of Princess Stéphanie almost caricatural.

[Prince_Lieven]

Thanks for the tips guys, I have some money to burn at the moment and nothing to read. Well, nothing worth reading - that new Stella Tillyard one is ghastly, and I'm not impressed with van der Kiste's 'William and Mary'. So I'll go hunt around for some of these.  

[Prince_Lieven]

Has anyone read Aronson's "Kings Over the Water: Saga of the Stuart Pretenders"? Is it any good? It gets 3 stars on amazon.co.uk.

[Robert_Hall]

Kins Over the Water is also excellent. Makes the whole Stuart succession easy to understand. Just as Royal Vendetta explains the complexities of the Carlist conflict in Spain. Piccadilly Books [Royalty Digest] has several of Theo's books available in reprints.

[bluetoria]

I have the book Aronson wrote on the Coburgs of Belgium but did not really like it. I found his portrayal of Princess Stéphanie almost caricatural.

Oh, that's a pity. Was it one of his later books? I found his 'treatment' of QV and Edward VII so illuminating and sensitive...Perhaps he was more au fait with the British royalties... :-/

[Eurohistory]

Kins Over the Water is also excellent. Makes the whole Stuart succession easy to understand. Just as Royal Vendetta explains the complexities of the Carlist conflict in Spain. Piccadilly Books [Royalty Digest] has several of Theo's books available in reprints.

Hi Bobby,

Hope you are enjoying the nice weather this weekend!

Theo's passing is a great loss to all of those who knew as a friend or writer.  He was amazingly witty and had interesting takes on some families.

I once asked him during a long car ride why he had never written about the Romanovs.  "Ghastly people, Jew haters, excessive," was his reaction to them.  I had hoped he would regale us with a Romanov book in the guise of Grandmama of Europe or A Family of Kings.  He just could not bring himself to writing about them.

Arturo Beéche

[Prince_Lieven]

Hey, I was in a used bookshop today and bought Aronson's 'Victoria and Disraeli' for only four euros. Is it any good, does anyone know?

[Kimberly]

I have read A Family of Kings several times and it is wonderful. It is very similar in form to Grandmamma of Europe

[Prince_Lieven]

That sounds good!

[Eurohistory]

Theo Aronson had a wonderful style that just simply flowed...when one reads his work one is automatically transported into the era.  He was indeed brilliant!

Arturo Beéche