Substitute Review #1

I had planned to review Snow by Mikayla Elliot, but I had a couple of mental health days and couldn’t cope with anything much beyond crochet. I’ve also injured my hand with excessive cross-stitch on Sunday. My writing and typing, never exceptionally tidy, is currently an absolute mess, and it hurts to type. You’ll have to excuse any messy spelling. However, I have scheduled a book review today, so a book review you shall have. In the last bundle of books Pen & Sword I received Queens Of Georgian Britain by Catherine Curzon,

Published By: Pen & Sword History

Publication Date: 9th October 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9781473858527

Format: Hardback

Price: £15.99

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb

Once upon a time there were four kings called George who, thanks to a quirk of fate, ruled Great Britain for over a century. Hailing from Germany, these occasionally mad, bad and infamous sovereigns presided over a land in turmoil. Yet what of the remarkable women who were crowned alongside them?

From the forgotten princess locked in a tower to an illustrious regent, a devoted consort and a notorious party girl, the queens of Georgian Britain lived lives of scandal, romance and turbulent drama. Whether dipping into politics or carousing on the shores of Italy, Caroline of Ansbach, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Caroline of Brunswick refused to fade into the background.

Queens of Georgian Britain offers a chance to step back in time and meet the women who ruled alongside the Georgian monarchs, not forgetting Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the passionate princess who never made it as far as the throne. From lonely childhoods to glittering palaces, via family feuds, smallpox, strapping soldiers and plenty of scheming, these are the queens who shaped an era.

My review

This is going to be quick, because even the small amount of typing I’ve done so far has caused far too much pain. 

A comprehensive account of the live of the wives of the four Georges of Hanover and Great Britain. They were all terribly unfortunate in their choice of husband. It’s never a good idea to marry your cousin, especially when all the parents are cousins/siblings too. No, really, it probably explains a lot about the House of Hanover, as well as the Stuarts, Bourbons, Valois and Medici. Unfortunately women didn’t have much choice in the matter, and these ones certainly didn’t. Only George III and Queen Charlotte had anything resembling a happy marriage, right up until the point where his mental health collapsed, and they fell out with their son. It’s all very sad.

Catherine Curzon has an easy-to-read, chatty style of writing, honed in magazine articles and historical fiction, and shares her knowledge freely in this book. I read the 200 page book quickly and found the experience fluent and amusing. The women and their times are covered in enough detail to inform the interested amateur and provides a good start for the student, with an extensive bibliography and footnotes. Images provide extra depth to the written information.

4/5