John Van der Kiste

So many typos that several sentences are indecipherable. Van der Kiste's researching abilities don't help. He seems to feel the need to throw everything he's learned at the reader with no coherent synthesis, so in one paragraph he'll tell you that, universally, adult Alfred was hated, then prove it by quoting someone who says child Alfred was often petulant, prove it further by quoting someone who says young man Alfred seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, and finish the paragraph by show more quoting someone saying Alfred was really quite an okay guy. Thesis proven?

But if you're like me and you're hungry for all the stories of Victoria's family, all the complicated dynamics, all the traipsing from Balmoral to Osborne to Windsor, then this is a rare source on Affie that contains some good stuff. Don't read it as your only biography of Victoria's children, but it's pretty fun as a supplement after you've read two or three others (one of them should be Hannah Pakula's incredible biography of eldest daughter Vicky, "An Uncommon Woman"). show less

Entertaining romp through the villains of the early 18th century. Jonathan Wild was Britain's most notorious thief-taker, basically a habitual criminal who decided it was more profitable to play honest-broker and return stolen property (for a modest fee) to the victim even though it was his gang that had stolen it in the first place. He also had a secondary line in selling out his fellow criminals and even his own gang members to the authorities for a reward, and was apparently responsible show more for the hanging of up to 120 men. His gang included some of the elite of London's underworld, including Jack Sheppard, Nathaniel Hawes and William Burridge, all of whom ended up on the gallows. That fate eventually and inevitably fell to Wild as well, losing favour with his adoring public, he was arrested on a minor charge, sentenced to death, and after a failed suicide attempt went to the gallows at Tyburn being abused and pelted with filth by the crowds along the way. A short book, but highly entertaining, well worth the read if you are into crime of the days when simply stealing a handkerchief could see you dance the Tyburn hornpipe. show less

An interesting overview of the final days of the German Imperial monarchy. John van der Kiste takes us very briefly through the beginning of Kaiser Wilhelm II's reign, and swiftly gets to the meat of this book: the beginning of World War I and the beginning of the end for the Kaiser. The book follows the Kaiser as he makes the decisions that ultimately lead to his abdication and exile from his country. It's sad to read about the Kaiser's life in Holland after his abdication. Sadder still is show more the belief that he would one day return to his country as Emperor. show less

A good view of the lives of the trouble-making sister of Kaiser Wilhelm II and her daughter. Princess Charlotte of Prussia, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen, was a schemer who embedded herself within the Prussian society. She caused endless difficulties for her family and had a strained relationship with her brother, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and also a very strained relationship with her daughter. Feodora lived a tragic life. Both she and her mother were sufferers of porphyria.

Van der Kiste has done a show more good job at giving us a brief overview of the lives of these two German princesses. show less