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26th out of 39 books
—
12 voters
Mad Kings & Queens
This frank and fascinating book ransacks the remarkable history of forty of Europe's most dumb, deluded, and downright dangerous monarchs, to reveal a legion of kings and queens who have sat upon the pedestal of power and abused it in spectacular style.
The respectability of the royal position is well and truly tossed aside by the whimsy and the wanton depravity of generat
...morePaperback, 114 pages
Published
August 11th 2007
by Barnes & Noble Books
(first published 2007)
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From the first few pages, I noticed this book was really vilifying everyone to the extreme, and made them seem like truly horrible people. Aside from all the intense negativity, this book was actually an enjoyable read. Very interesting stuff.
One thing I noticed though, was the egregious error made about Louis XIV of France. They claimed that he married Maria Theresa of Austria (aka Marie Antoinette's mother). Louis XIV actually married Maria Theresa of Spain. Maria Theresa of Austria wasn't ev...more
One thing I noticed though, was the egregious error made about Louis XIV of France. They claimed that he married Maria Theresa of Austria (aka Marie Antoinette's mother). Louis XIV actually married Maria Theresa of Spain. Maria Theresa of Austria wasn't ev...more
I loved Michael Farquhar's "Treasury of Royal Scandals," so I figured that "Mad Kings & Queens: History's Most Famous Raving Royals" would also be an interesting read. It wasn't. There was barely any information on each of the nobles, and some weren't actually insane, but just 'eccentric.' There are many informational mistakes in the book- dates, illustrations with no description, and as mentioned earlier, the labeling of "insane" where behavior was simply just out of place for its time peri...more
I'm an avid reader and love history so when I checked out this book a couple years ago, I blew through it in an evening. I wrote a review on Amazon.com in 2010 for this book that I will include here:
I received a copy of this book from the library. It was a very quick read for me since it is a subject I was interested in. I was not reviewing the grammar but the accuracy of the content was what threw me off. I found one glaring error (which can be found in the entry for Louis XIV on pgs. 78-81). T...more
Apr 07, 2012
Jennifer
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
reference-type-books
Impulse buy from the bargain shelf at B&N.
A very quick read with each monarch getting on average 3-4 pages devoted to him or her. (Some, like Henry VIII or Marie Antoinette, got more pages.)
Don't come into this book expecting anything too detailed on each monarch. The book only hits the high points (ok, actually that should be the low points) or each one's reign, but it is a good introduction to some of the world's more colorful rulers.
A great deal of the people featured were rather distas...more
A very quick read with each monarch getting on average 3-4 pages devoted to him or her. (Some, like Henry VIII or Marie Antoinette, got more pages.)
Don't come into this book expecting anything too detailed on each monarch. The book only hits the high points (ok, actually that should be the low points) or each one's reign, but it is a good introduction to some of the world's more colorful rulers.
A great deal of the people featured were rather distas...more
Jan 04, 2011
Marian Willeke
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
history
This book certainly slows anybody from trying to find royalty in their genealogy, especially the poor Russians. However, I thought that the book was stretching a bit putting sex-crazy people in with old Vlad who impaled his subjects by the tens of thousands. The knowledge of some of the issues these monarchs faced saddened me because some Prozac and good psychologists would have improved many of them to be almost normal...you know...like many of us who are almost normal...we just have drugs. Add...more
A biographical book about the madness and diesease of several European monarchy's. Henry VIII, Catherine the Great, Vlad Dracula, and many more a mentioned in this book. There are many suprising facts on each on them. It also seems in the book that if one person of a royal family has had some sort of madness, another of the same family will be mad too.
I feel this book is good for fifteen years and older. I feel this way because most of the monarchy's problems are whordoms, bloody killings, and a...more
I feel this book is good for fifteen years and older. I feel this way because most of the monarchy's problems are whordoms, bloody killings, and a...more
Mad Kings and Queens was a buy for about $4 from by bookstore's discount section. History fascinates me, and even though this book is really short, I thought it was worthwhile as it'll probably be something that I'll be able to flip through a lot for years to come.
There was one really egregious error - it stated that Louis the XIV of France was married to Maria Theresa of Austria, when he was actually married to the one from Spain. Besides that, some of the sentence structre was quite awkward,...more
There was one really egregious error - it stated that Louis the XIV of France was married to Maria Theresa of Austria, when he was actually married to the one from Spain. Besides that, some of the sentence structre was quite awkward,...more
I love reading about history, and this book was laid out so nicely. Each royal got a page or two about them so you could see what lead up to their demise. Interesting history like this makes me want to continue reading! I could not put it down when I was reading, I just wanted to know everything. It even lead up to me researching the various royals even deeper to learn more about them. It is one of those books I could just read over and over and spout off info learned to my friends.
What an inte...more
What an inte...more
Sweet little book, nice typesetting and illustrations.
Sadly, I was disgusted to find the egregious mistake about Louis XIV (on page 80). It has him marrying Maria Theresa of Austria (Marie Antoinette's mother). It was supposed to be Maria Teresa of Spain. It even posts "Austria's" picture on page 81.
The implications of Marie Antoinette marrying her mother's grandson would be preposterous.
Too bad they didn't check this a little more closely, but I can recognize "Austria's" picture.
Disappointed.
Sadly, I was disgusted to find the egregious mistake about Louis XIV (on page 80). It has him marrying Maria Theresa of Austria (Marie Antoinette's mother). It was supposed to be Maria Teresa of Spain. It even posts "Austria's" picture on page 81.
The implications of Marie Antoinette marrying her mother's grandson would be preposterous.
Too bad they didn't check this a little more closely, but I can recognize "Austria's" picture.
Disappointed.
I picked this up today at B&N, probably mainly the fault of a long line at the register while getting Hunger Games 2 and 3, a steeply reduced price, and a lack of self control. I'm actually finding most of this remarkably sad thus far.
And I'm done. The use of the word "mad" here is a little deceptive or downright inaccurate in several cases. For example, Marie Antoinette did have only a loose concept of the value of money, and she did age quickly during her imprisonment, and she did also gri...more
And I'm done. The use of the word "mad" here is a little deceptive or downright inaccurate in several cases. For example, Marie Antoinette did have only a loose concept of the value of money, and she did age quickly during her imprisonment, and she did also gri...more
May 30, 2011
Megan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who want an intro to monarchs
Shelves:
read-in-2011,
donated
I few years ago I bought this book at Barnes and Noble in the bargain section. I didn't read it until now because I recently saw I documentary about Catherine the Great. Yes, she's featured in the book.
This is a rather quick book. It features several monarchs, famous and others not well known. Mad Kings & Queens has quick sketches on each monarch. They don't try to write a huge detailed biography on each monarch, it's quick and simple. It gives you a taste of each monarch so you can explore...more
This is a rather quick book. It features several monarchs, famous and others not well known. Mad Kings & Queens has quick sketches on each monarch. They don't try to write a huge detailed biography on each monarch, it's quick and simple. It gives you a taste of each monarch so you can explore...more
This was an interesting look at royalty which today (or in their own times) we might call crazy or insane. In truth, many were simply depressed or in some way mentally unbalanced, and while I don't necessarily think it's right to call some of them "mad," there are definitely a few who deserve the title--Vlad the Impaler, for example. All wording issues aside, I enjoy learning about the monarchies of the past, and this book added some interesting trivia and in some cases, another way to look at t...more
This collection of raving royals includes the head pickling antics of Peter the Great. Juana La loca's coffin canoodling with her husband's rotting corpse. Ivan the Terrible's penchant for cartoon like deaths, he had a giant skillet made to pan fry his enemies to death. And the nymphomania of Catherine the Great, don't worry no horses were really molested in her court.
This collection begs the question, why in the hell would anyone want to marry into a royal family?
This collection begs the question, why in the hell would anyone want to marry into a royal family?
I picked this book up yesterday at my favorite used book store with the thought that I would cut it up for Halloween cards. I loved some of the fonts & pictures. Creepy in a cheeseball kind of way.
Much to my suprise, I actually read it last night. Quick reading with paragraphs subtitled things like "grand-scale debauchery" and "muderous offspring" What's not to love!!
Much to my suprise, I actually read it last night. Quick reading with paragraphs subtitled things like "grand-scale debauchery" and "muderous offspring" What's not to love!!
Very brief overview of the lives of insane monarchs, doesn't get into much detail. Some of the examples given of "insane" behavior are more like the typical behaviors of spoiled brats, but there were some interesting tidbits of information. It served as an appetizer for further research rather than a good source of information. Decent read. Problems with grammar.
Looking at this book, I expected a short, possibly humorous, take on a variety of the monarchs contained therein. Instead, I got a flat tone and several errors. Some of the monarchs focused on couldn't really even be called insane. Marie Antoinette, insane? Um, no. She was many things, but not that.
If you're looking for something fun and entertaining, I recommend you look elsewhere.
If you're looking for something fun and entertaining, I recommend you look elsewhere.
I love this book!!!!! It is really funny and very informative about the different Kings and Queens. I love that probably the reason that they all went a little crazy was because of the weird inbreeding. It is so strange to me that they even lived as long as some of them did with how insane they were.
I think I picked this up for a dollar and a quarter in Barnes and Noble's bargain section. It's a neat little book, not the best, but it's full of facts and details that are entertaining. (If you can call the demise of royals entertaining.) Mad Kings & Queens is worth the quick read.
Short, fun book about various monarchs, major and minor. Not all of the information was correct but I learned a lot about some people I'd never heard of. Price was right. Most annoying thing: the colored paper it was printed on had distracting backgrounds to the text.
OMG! When I read this book, I was so drawn to it that I read it all in one night. I don't think this book should be read in one go because you start to feel a bit crazy afterwards. There's definitely something off with these kings and queens.
Changed my mind a bit on this one. I don't really get the organization--by region would have made lot of sense but what's in this makes a sort of sense that's...not. Also, just because a person is power hungry and likes sex doesn't really make them "mad". Eh. A little too much like National Enquirer than anything historically reliable.
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There were some crazy, crazy people in charge of countries. Fascinating book to pick up and flip through every so often, but not one to read all the way thr...more
_______
There were some crazy, crazy people in charge of countries. Fascinating book to pick up and flip through every so often, but not one to read all the way thr...more
I really liked it, I question whether some should be in and why others aren't but it was a fun read, people really are crazy, and apparently the longer they are in power the crazier they get, think about that when voting.
This book tells of many of the rulers who were mentally unbalanced or otherwise unusual. I was interested in it because I was reading several historical novels and wanted to check some of the facts.
An interesting read that shows the maddness of some of the most depraved rulers in European history, although some of them were just victims of inbreeding and not really mad, just dumb.
This book is a hilarious account of loony rulers of the world. I loved it and my husband did too. Definitely a great break from all the WWII books I've been reading!
Interesting but distressing review of some of the most twisted characters in history. Proof that it is not always good to have friends in high places.
Interesting to read,but I would not endorse this book for children. There were a lot of evil perpetuated by these kings and queens.
Feb 09, 2011
Maia B.
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical,
nonfiction
This is a really delightful book. True, it's about kings, queens, and princes/esses going crazy...but it's really a delightful book!!
Fascinating -- though I wouldn't recommend it as bedtime reading (too many gory, sadistic, evil twisted things happening to sleep well).
Kind of depressing when you read it all at once and it is still fascinating to read these personal stories about royalty
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