Julia P. Gelardi

This was an enjoyable read about three sets of mothers and daughters who sat on European thrones. Isabella of Castile and Catherine of Aragon are the first profiled. We read of Isabella's iconic reign and her daughter's equally iconic downfall as Queen of England. Next comes Maria Theresa of Austria and Marie Antoinette of France. Here again, we see a daughter's reign eclipsed by the brilliancy of her mother's. And finally, we see Queen Victoria of England and her daughter the Empress Frederick of Germany. Victoria's reign proved to be nothing short of monumental while her daughter's time on the throne is just a footnote in history. All told, the three daughters we read about never achieved the success that their mothers did.

Extremely interesting reading for anyone interested in European royal history.… (mer)

5612. From Splendor to Revolution The Romanov Women, 1847-1928, by Julia P. Gelardi (read 4 Feb 2019) This is a 2011 book by a pretty careful researcher and relates the lives of 4 women who were major figures during the years indicated in the title. These women were Marie Feodorova. a sister of King Edward VII's wife and the wife of Czar Alexander III; Marie Pavlovna, the wife of Czar Alexander III's brother Vladimer; Marie Alexandrovna, a daughter of Czar Alexander II who married Queen Victoria's second son Alfred, and Olga, a daughter of Constantine, (brother of Czar Alexander II)and wife of George I of Greece. Some of the text is about trivial things, since none of the women were sovereigns but all were wives of sovereigns or would-be sovereigns. (Vladimir would have been glad to succeed Alexander III if Nicholas, Alexander III's son had not done so.). There are family trees in the book but they are not excessively clear. And the jumping from one woman to another requires the reader to be alert and frequently refer to the family tables to remain oriented. But there is a lot of interesting history involved so the book at times is exciting. But one could not be excessively sad when the splendor ceased since the splendor was so excessive. The author is friendly to the Romanovs and one can be sympathetic to them when their world changes so drastically in 1917.… (mer)

The history of five of Queen Victoria's granddaughters. Alexandra, the shy and proud queen of Russia; Marie, the dramatic and empathic queen of Romania; Victoria Eugenie, who introduced hemophilia into the heirs of Spain; Maud, the bourgeoisie queen of Norway; and Sophie, who was so maligned as the sister to the hated Kaiser Wilhelm II that she lost her throne in Greece. The book doesn't have much focus, nor does it have a thesis; it's merely a collection of biographies that wouldn't stand alone on their own. Frustratingly, Gelardi switches from one queen to the next in a matter of paragraphs, making it hard to get a feel for each of their personalities. Still, Gelardi has a clear grasp of history and uses quotes from the queens' correspondence to good effect. I came away with a slightly better understanding of each queen and a much better feel for European history after WWI.… (mer)