Sex with Kings: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge (P.S.)
by Eleanor Herman
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 535)
I picked up this book a few years ago because of an article in the magazine Mental Floss , and enjoyed it as a light and somewhat fluff read. I just reread it and remember that there are some large problems with it. The organization is really awful, the chapters pretend to be about large categories but are conversational and don't seem to be held together much. The author skips from anecdotes about one mistress to anecdotes about a mistress from hundreds of years previously, in fact, all...more
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Though I was looking forward to reading this book, I have to confess that I found it a bit tedious after the first fifty pages or so. It's not that it wasn't fun to learn about the scandals that rocked European courts or the crazy tactics some mistresses employed to keep kings under their spells, including black magic in one instance. Those were all quite fascinating and unexpected, to say the least. However, much of the book felt repetitive to me. I honestly didn't care about what fine furs or ...more
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Read in March, 2008
I love historical biographies and period pieces but this author is so random with narration. This is a very interesting book and would absorb you into the lives of kings and queens of history if the author would have subdivided the chapters and told each king's stories separately and continuously but instead it is a very muddled narration of the sex lives of several royal mistresses and I am having a hard time remembering who belongs to whom. It is difficult to follow various names and their ass...more
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Read in March, 2006
The silly title and even sillier author photo nearly obscure the rather interesting bit of women’s history inside. It was not a surprise to learn that most (if not all) kings married for political alliances rather than looks or love. Neither was it a surprise to learn that most of them had mistresses. But it was interesting to find out just how much power some of these mistresses possessed. Many of them continued to serve as advisors and companions long after the sexual relationship with t...more
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Read in June, 2008
I am sad to let this one go; I had fun reading it and learned a lot.
Unlike other reviewers, I did not mind the author's jumping from mistress to mistress in her narration. It livened up the read considerably and prevented the book from reading like a biography. Furthermore, I enjoyed leaving one relationship for a while and returning later for more. All in all I feel that this technique creates a sense of connection between all of these mistresses and that the reader is invited to compare...more
Unlike other reviewers, I did not mind the author's jumping from mistress to mistress in her narration. It livened up the read considerably and prevented the book from reading like a biography. Furthermore, I enjoyed leaving one relationship for a while and returning later for more. All in all I feel that this technique creates a sense of connection between all of these mistresses and that the reader is invited to compare...more
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Read in December, 2007
Self-indulgent, ridiculously repetitive and very muddled. I read her second book, Sex With Queens, first, which was much better. This one seemed like it would be in chronological order through the centuries, as the other was, but it was in no real order at all. Each randomly themed chapter, she kept talking about the same six mistresses over and over again, adding in parts of their stories she didn't tell you the first time around. She makes it very confusing and difficult to keep track of the c...more
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Read in January, 2006
Although the topic was very interesting, the organization of this book completely killed it. Herman jumps around from one royal mistress to the next, and it became very difficult to follow who was who - I found myself flipping back to earlier chapters to see who she was talking about. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I couldn't even finish it. With a good editor and some chronological organization, it has potential to be really interesting stuff. As it is, it's only poorly written, un...more
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Read in September, 2007
For whatever reason, this is an excellent book to read aloud to a friend (or, i suppose, to yourself). What I learned was that, back in the day, the fundamental order of operations, in terms of position went a little something like this:
pope
king
mistress at her peak
...
bastard son of king
legit son of king
...
sack of shit
...
mistress at all other times
queen
sack of shit on fire
pope
king
mistress at her peak
...
bastard son of king
legit son of king
...
sack of shit
...
mistress at all other times
queen
sack of shit on fire
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Read in May, 2007
This book is a great overview of mistresses and courtesans: their lives, their goals, their attitudes, and what made them successful. So why do I give it only two stars? Because it felt very superficial. The main reason I read books about these women is to understand them: their personalities, their private lives, what made them tick, what made them interesting. And while this book talks about the lives of many women, I don't feel that I know any of them.
Again, great introductory book...more
Again, great introductory book...more
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An interesting look into the royal European boudoir, for sure! From foot fetishes to satanic rituals, boring beauties to enchanting ugliness...oh, and smallpox scars, this book covered the extent of courtly romance. Some parts were hilarious, and other parts left me fully aware of the hardships that women have faced throughout time as we are always and forever harnessed to our bodies. From an historical point of view, this book was an eye-opener into the true souls of some of the world's most...more
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Read in February, 2007
recommends it for:
Those Who Find Penthouse Letter Overly Ribald
I found this book on top of a garbage can in San Fran, and the title caught my eye. Though the premise is good - an expose on royalties sexual daliences throughout time - the delivery falls flat. The author's thorough research overpowers her ability to spin a tale as letter after letter is quoted verbatim. The book also lacks structure, and by a few chapters in you realize it's just going to be one random tale about a king's mistress after another. Kings did it with a lot of women and society wa...more
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This was an entertaining read while I was on the beach! While many of us think of King's mistress, and think of Anne Boelyn, this book focuses on the many mistresses of European kings, all through history, up to Camilla. The way the book is organized is a little odd, instead of telling a story of each mistress, each chapter has a theme (how they get along with the queen, their political power, etc) and gives examples. The book is more a study of the position, than of the misstresses themselve...more
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Read in February, 2007
The stories are fascinating and (occasionally) titillating, and all the better because they're true. But the organization of the book killed me. If she had gone chronologically or geographically, it would have made much more sense. Instead, she went by vague themes, which meant that many royal consorts (the one that comes to mind is Madame Pompadour) popped up all over the book, and far enough apart that it was easy to forget what I'd already learned about them. Otherwise, a very good book.
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Read in April, 2008
This is a fun, juicy, book about kings' mistresses over the centuries. It's like reading US Weekly... but educational! It was fascinating to learn about the lives and habits of some of the most famous mistresses, such as Madame Pompadour, as well as more obscure mistresses who died quickly. My only complaint is that the book is organized by topic, jumping around from mistress to mistress, instead of focusing on each mistress in depth, which would have been better for relating to these women.
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
Nobody
Please see my review at Amazon.com Grace's "Sex with Kings" Review
Please click that the review was helpful to you at Amazon so that my rating continues to climb! Thanks!
Helpful for the bibliography and the information on Madame de Pompadour and Nell Gwynn, but not much else. A poor effort, and though there is a sequel regarding sleeping with the Queen, the writing style has mor
Please click that the review was helpful to you at Amazon so that my rating continues to climb! Thanks!
Helpful for the bibliography and the information on Madame de Pompadour and Nell Gwynn, but not much else. A poor effort, and though there is a sequel regarding sleeping with the Queen, the writing style has mor
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Read in June, 2008
Don't get too excited; despite the title "Sex With Kings" this book is more social history than Penthouse Forum. And wow, is it fascinating. Palace intrigues and political maneuvering were as much a part of being a king's mistress as the sex itself. A juicy read from cover to cover. What you didn't learn in history class probably did as much to shape Europe as we know it today than what you did learn. A juicy read from cover to cover. Can't wait to read "Sex With Queens."
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I've told many people about this book. Such a fun read. It's like a good gossip, but you can feel virtuous, because it's history. (OK, so that sounds shallow - but this book is fun!) Follows various mistresses from medieval time to the present. It is thematically ordered, not chronologically. This can be confusing as the different mistresses pop up in different places in the book, but the tradeoff is being able to understand their stories in comparison to the others.
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This book was nothing like how I thought it would be. It was filled with all sorts of facts and figures, mainly about the mistresses that the kings never married, although a little was mentioned of those he did. Book did mention two current European princes that married for love and of course, Prince Charles was mentioned and Camilla. Parts were a little dry, but in the end I feel a lot better informed about life as a King's mistress and how society viewed it.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in June, 2008
Very interesting... made me want to pick up some other books specifically about some of these ladies. The organization was tough--maybe chapters devoted to a specific time period, king, or mistress would have been a little easier to read. The writing did get a little odd on occasion: one mistress "catapulted" children into the world while another "launched" children into the world. A great mental image but an odd word choice. A relaxing historical read.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone interested in some ancient kingly gossip
heard good things.
stories of courtesans over the years and their royal "interests".
lots of dates; a little difficult to keep timelines in order, since the author does not follow a timeline per se, but rather focuses on topics of courtly love affairs over time. so there is a lot of reference to different reigns in different countries over huge timespan.
the author's voice and opinion is very clear, sometimes to much so.
still a good read.
stories of courtesans over the years and their royal "interests".
lots of dates; a little difficult to keep timelines in order, since the author does not follow a timeline per se, but rather focuses on topics of courtly love affairs over time. so there is a lot of reference to different reigns in different countries over huge timespan.
the author's voice and opinion is very clear, sometimes to much so.
still a good read.
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