The Royal Families of Europe

Rating:
Summary: Geoffrey Hindley should be ashamed to have his name on this!
Review: I am quite relieved that I borrowed this book from my local library before deciding whether to purchase it for my own extensive library.

The egregious editing and factual errors (which, in my days in the publishing business, would have led to pink slips!) are unforgiveable.

Avoid this book at all costs!

Rating:
Summary: Useful contemporary resource
Review: It can be difficult for Americans to find reliable information on current and former European royal dynasties. The Windsors dominate the scene, obviously, and we monoglots soon discover that English-language media cover other royal families only sporadically.

Then, once every ten years or so, a book comes out that focuses on once-and-maybe-(or maybe not) future sovereign dynasties, like the Greek, Italian, German, or French royal families. These books, however, seem usually to fall into one of two categories: fawning, or sneering ('Look at these losers who think they're still kings.')

Fortunately, Geoffrey Hindley's useful resource falls into neither of these categories. And that makes it well worth the read.

Hindley is an unabashed monarchist, and takes the position -- sadly rare these days -- that monarchs and their dynasties really do have something useful to offer their nations and their people. In a wide-ranging discussion of currently reigning royals, he shows how the various monarchs relate to the day-to-day business of their nation's governments, and measures their degree of influence, or outright power, both in public and behind the scenes.

His coverage of the pretenders is also thorough and informative. He wrestles with the questions of the Russian and French succession, the constitutional position of the never-abdicated King of the Hellenes (aka Greece) and his family, and reports on what may well turn out to have been the first steps toward restoration in Bulgaria.

As other reviews have noted, there are a few minor errors in history and genealogy. But these are more in the nature of typos, not serious flaws in research or argumentation.

The late Austrian writer Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn wrote of the natural inability of a North American to take monarchy seriously, either as a system or a philosophy. Yet for millions of Europeans (to say nothing of Asians and Africans), monarchy plays a central role in their history, their present, and most likely their future too. This very useful book helps us understand why, and perhaps makes it a little easier for Americans to overcome our natural barrier to something that is, after all, part of our history too.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting gossip, flawed research
Review: This is an excellent summary of the present state of European royals at the beginning of the 3rd millenium. Its nice to have information on which Hapsburg has married which Oldenburg and what the present state of the monarchist cause is in various countries in Eastern Europe. Historically the book is somewhat flawed by some sloppy research and/or editing. For example, the chapter on the Belgian Royal Family is fraught with errors. King Albert I is referred to as Alfred at one point, and there are numerous genealogical mistakes (Albert I was nephew, not son, of Leopold II). I don't regret buying the book for its information on present day royals, but I would not rely on it for research on their predecessors.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting gossip, flawed research
Review: This is an excellent summary of the present state of European royals at the beginning of the 3rd millenium. Its nice to have information on which Hapsburg has married which Oldenburg and what the present state of the monarchist cause is in various countries in Eastern Europe. Historically the book is somewhat flawed by some sloppy research and/or editing. For example, the chapter on the Belgian Royal Family is fraught with errors. King Albert I is referred to as Alfred at one point, and there are numerous genealogical mistakes (Albert I was nephew, not son, of Leopold II). I don't regret buying the book for its information on present day royals, but I would not rely on it for research on their predecessors.