Daniel Smith (7) (1976–)

This book, expertly edited by Daniel Smith, takes us on a journey through royal love letters. Beginning with Edward II and Isabella of France in 1325, and ending with Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson in 1937, this is a fascinating look at how some of the most well known Kings and Queens communicated with each other.

Each section has a brief biography of the main players, followed by a selection of their letters. It's quite illuminating to bear witness to some of the most interesting matches in show more history, even if some of them were not exactly love matches. Indeed, upon the death of Mary I, her husband, Philip II of Spain, commented to his sister that he "felt a reasonable regret for her death". Well, if that's not true love then I don't know what is!

Of course, one of the most famous royal relationships was that of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She never got over his premature death and it was very moving to read of her agonising cry of "Oh, My dear Darling!" as he passed away.

Perhaps the most intriguing for me were the letters between Edward and Mrs Simpson. History has her pegged as a wicked woman who stole our king but her letters perhaps show us a alternate viewpoint. Either way, I enjoyed reading their missives and the little quirks in the way they addressed and wrote to each other.

Love Letters of Kings and Queens is a real treat for any royalist and anyone who enjoys reading historical letters, and it's the ideal book to dip in and out of. show less

A really fun collection of myths and legends as well as urban legends that really makes you think and introduces you to topics that you might want to take on and research. A good starting point and nothing more, this will be a good guide to this sort of subject but can't be called definitive nor comprehensive. That said, it's written in such a fun way it's impossible not to love it.

Yep, does what it says on the cover - it is indeed a book about 100 places I will never visit. (although I have been thinking about a visit to Chernobyl, as tourists are allowed to visit now and have been for a while). Okay! So 99 Places I will never visit and one I'm considering. And I've been inside Buckingham Palace at one of the Queen's garden parties, although admittedly not in the queen's bedroom... I digress.
This was somehow both a really interesting little coffee table style book, show more and also really dull and a bit repetitive and dragging. The ones in the UK were probably of most interest to me (the US and it's long, long list of assorted secret military bases were probably the least interesting to read about), though I found some of the more unusual things kept my attention. The majority of entries are of the sort the world knows about and are just not permitted in - The Pentagon, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Area 51! and a few more where the location is unknown to everyone. There were a few I've heard about and been interested in before - obviously Chernobyl was one, and Centralia, the US ghost-town (now) whose coal mines are still burning underground decades after they began. I didn't learn anything about these from this book, because I previously read about everything that was mentioned here, but many of the entries were ones I knew nothing about, and a few of them I then went off to research further off my own back. Those were obviously the ones I enjoyed the most!
It didn't go into great depth on any one item, but that is probably for the best as it dragged a bit when reading the entries I didn't enjoy, and I imagine that favourites would vary from person to person. I could really imagine my son would enjoy this as he's 15 and so won't have heard of or know about many of these yet, but I'm sure he'd be fascinated to find out, and learn a little history of the world in the process. Without it appearing to be an 'educational book'!

Overall I'd say it would be a great book for some but your mileage may vary. I quite enjoyed it, and don't regret the few hours it took me to read. Pretty good stuff! 3.5 stars as I'm wavering between 3 or 4... show less

Read: December 2017
Rating: 4/5 stars

100 Things... was an enjoyable book and a good introduction to a myriad of conspiracy theories ranging from the well known; theories about Jack the Ripper or The Mothman, to the ones that were new to me at least; such as Starlite and Lewis Carroll's missing diaries. This book provides an overview of the main points of each conspiracy theory but generally doesn't go into detail, each entry being around two pages long. 100 Things provides the starting point, show more but it is up to the reader to go on and do more research to make up our own minds.
I would definitely recommend this book as a general introduction to the topic of conspiracy theories. show less