HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking…
Loading...

A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors (edition 2001)

by Michael Farquhar

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,0212120,197 (3.77)16
From Nero's nagging mother (whom he found especially annoying after taking her as his lover) to Catherine's stable of studs (not of the equine variety), here is a wickedly delightful look at the most scandalous royal doings you never learned about in history class. Gleeful, naughty, sometimes perverted-like so many of the crowned heads themselves-A Treasury of Royal Scandals presents the best (the worst?) of royal misbehavior through the ages. From ancient Rome to Edwardian England, from the lavish rooms of Versailles to the dankest corners of the Bastille, the great royals of Europe have excelled at savage parenting, deadly rivalry, pathological lust, and meeting death with the utmost indignity-or just very bad luck.… (more)
Member:greeneyed_ives
Title:A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors
Authors:Michael Farquhar
Info:Penguin (Non-Classics) (2001), Paperback, 352 pages
Collections:Read but unowned
Rating:***
Tags:European history, Royalty, Scandal, Humor

Work Information

A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors by Michael Farquhar

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 16 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 21 (next | show all)
There was a lot of interesting trivia. I had already read about some of the historical figures in other books. It was entertaining, but the tone was a little distracting. It seemed like the author kept commenting on how fat, stupid, etc., some of the rulers were. I would have enjoyed it a bit more if the author had let the facts speak for themselves. ( )
  marymatus | Jan 12, 2022 |
Farquhar is a former writer at the Washington Post, where his column entertained with stories from history. In this book he digs into the private lives of European royalty, from The Normans in 1066 through The House of Saxe-Colburg-Gotha to Windsor. The titles of the shorts were funny enough: "The Lust Emperors, Six Royals Sinning, Mom was a monster, Pop was a Weasel" You get the idea.

It was not as entertaining as I hoped and that was probably because I have read of these families and their "nasties" before. Yet there were still a few surprises I was not aware of.


( )
  JBroda | Sep 24, 2021 |
Quick easy to read chapters. Witty comments on the bad behavior of the royals and popes through history. It includes family trees and timelines to help see where things fit in time. ( )
  nx74defiant | Nov 25, 2018 |
really good till we got to popes. found the popes quite sickening.
another reader said this was like the national enquirer. yes! ( )
  mahallett | Nov 10, 2018 |
Those naughty, naughty, naughty royals! I always knew that rank excess was a recipe for disaster, but these little vinettes have been a real eye-opener. At the end, I realized that I am very, very glad never to have been born a royal. My life-expectancy would have been severely diminished.......thanks mostly to my own family.

A very enjoyable little book; I am looking forward to reading more of its ilk from the same author (this was his first one). No history knowledge is necessary for enjoyment, yet to will conclude the book with some of it. ( )
  ThothJ | Dec 4, 2015 |
Showing 1-5 of 21 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
All I say is, kings is kings and you got to make allowances. --Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Dedication
This book is dedicated with love to my grandmother, Claire O'Donnell Donahue Courtney. What a life!
First words
Introduction: The twentieth century was a slaughterhouse for European monarchy.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC
From Nero's nagging mother (whom he found especially annoying after taking her as his lover) to Catherine's stable of studs (not of the equine variety), here is a wickedly delightful look at the most scandalous royal doings you never learned about in history class. Gleeful, naughty, sometimes perverted-like so many of the crowned heads themselves-A Treasury of Royal Scandals presents the best (the worst?) of royal misbehavior through the ages. From ancient Rome to Edwardian England, from the lavish rooms of Versailles to the dankest corners of the Bastille, the great royals of Europe have excelled at savage parenting, deadly rivalry, pathological lust, and meeting death with the utmost indignity-or just very bad luck.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.77)
0.5
1 2
1.5
2 9
2.5 7
3 51
3.5 18
4 76
4.5 5
5 44

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 204,712,111 books! | Top bar: Always visible