European Royalty discussion

*** "MODERN" EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS (1789 - 1918) ***

***ANY COUNTRY, FICTION OR NON-FICTION***

Okay everyone, it's that time of the month - time to nominate! Anyone who would like to nominate ONE book may do so in this thread.

The theme this month is "MODERN" EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS (1789 - 1918) (any country, fiction or non-fiction). There's a lot of flexibility here! The book doesn't have to focus on fighting or anything like that - a book on Marie Antoinette clearly would fit, as would a book on Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary (aka Empress Sissi). It seems if you pick any monarch during this period you'll find national unrest somewhere!

Please try to check amazon or some other site to make sure the book is easily available - the last thing we want is to nominate some great book that no one can get! If you nominate more than ONE book, only the first book listed will make it into the voting thread (so save additional books for the next months!). Also, if the book doesn't fit the theme, I won't add it to this month's voting list, but I will carry it over to the next theme that it does fit under if you would like.

Feel free to nominate one book of your choice in this thread until March 31st, 9pm Eastern.

At around that time, I'll make a voting poll and list all the nominated books in it, and people can vote in the poll until the poll closes (April 4 or 5 - I'm still not sure when it shuts itself down). Discussion can start on April 15th.

Happy Nominating!

I nominate

King, Kaiser, Tsar Three Royal Cousins Who Led the World to War



by Catrine Clay

From goodreads:

"Known among their families as Georgie, Willy, and Nicky, they were, respectively, the royal cousins George V of England, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and Nicholas II of Russia—the first two grandsons of Queen Victoria, the latter her grandson by marriage. In 1914, on the eve of world war, they controlled the destiny of Europe and the fates of millions of their subjects."

"Drawing widely on previously unpublished royal letters and diaries, made public for the first time by Queen Elizabeth II, Catrine Clay chronicles the riveting half century of the royals’ overlapping lives, and their slow, inexorable march into conflict. They met frequently from childhood, on holidays, and at weddings, birthdays, and each others’ coronations. They saw themselves as royal colleagues, a trade union of kings, standing shoulder to shoulder against the rise of socialism, republicanism, and revolution. And yet tensions abounded between them."

One quick question, I have an interesting one I'm going to start shortly but it involves Napoleon so I suspect it doesn't qualify as "revolution"? It might be interesting to all so that's why I'm asking.

Neither here nor there I'll nominate

The Glass-Blowers by Daphne Du Maurier. From Goodreads,

"'Perhaps we shall not see each other again. I will write to you, though, and tell you, as best I can, the story of your family. A glass-blower, remember, breathes life into a vessel, giving it shape and form and sometimes beauty; but he can with that same breath, shatter and destroy it' Faithful to her word, Sophie Duval reveals to her long-lost nephew the tragic story of a family of master craftsmen in eighteenth-century France. The world of the glass-blowers has its own traditions, it's own language - and its own rules. 'If you marry into glass' Pierre Labbe warns his daughter, 'you will say goodbye to everything familiar, and enter a closed world'. But crashing into this world comes the violence and terror of the French Revolution against which, the family struggles to survive. The Glass Blowers is a remarkable achievement - an imaginative and exciting reworking of du Maurier's own family history"

This one shows how the revolution affected the common folk - away from Paris. You'll not only learn about D du M's forbears, but how the name Du Maurier came about in England.

Napoleon's fine. We have read so many medieval/renaissance books that I tried to come up with a theme that would force us to pick something later in time. If you want to nominate your Napoleon book Misfit, that's okay. You can keep your Du Maurier book as well (and if anyone else has two books they really want to nominate, that's fine too).

Perfect, this was one I never heard about until someone dropped a note on one of my recent Amazon reviews.

Desiree by Annemarie Selinko. From Goodreads,

"The passions and intrigues of Napoleon Bonaparte's court are brought vividly to life through an unusual point of view: that of a merchant's young daughter from Marseilles who became Napoleon's fiancée and rose to become queen of Sweden. A massive international bestseller, the film version starred Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons."

I love all these choices. I came up with A Tale of Two Cities; but, we have all read it before. I would love any of the titles offered by Misfit or Sara.

Tale of Two Cities is an excellent recommendation. It's been years since most of us have read it - and what memorable opening and closing paragraphs.

I've never read A Tale of Two Cities! I'd love to!

I'll nominate Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
It's been on my "to read" shelf for ages - since someone here (Misfit?) recommended it. Seems to fit this months theme!

I've read the King, Kaiser book. It's excellent and really provides an understanding of how the 3 cousins' relationship with each other let to the outbreak of WWI.

The other books sound good, too, so I am passing on nominating this time.

I would like to nominate The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B., by Sandra Gulland. It's on my Mt. TBR and looks very interesting.

I've never read A Tale of Two Cities either, so I'll make sure to include it in the voting poll. This read will be fun - lots of interesting options to choose from!

August 1914

or

November 1916:the Red Wheel/Knot II by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (who passed away in 2008)

Summary:
Presents a panoramic look at the world of Imperial Russia in the days just before the cataclysmic Revolution that swept a world away forever.

Mandy wrote: "I've never read A Tale of Two Cities! I'd love to!

I'll nominate [b:Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell|14201|Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell|Susanna Clarke|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I......"

"Jonathan Strange" is on my "to read" list too!

Time to vote! Thanks for all the great nominations!