Customer Reviews
Similarities,& differences in the lives of Grandmama Europe's granddaughters - By: Klaus Meyer, 23 Mar 2007 
I was first sceptical as I always found compilations of biographies disappointing. They always seem to promise a lot &in the end give little. I should not have been.
I believe it is a marvelous book, very well written & entertaining. Mrs. Gerlardi manage to bring these 5 lives together which seems to be merely connected by the fact that all hadin common "Grandma Queen" Queen Victoria. Julia Gerlardi showing similarities, differences & how intertwined the lives of these 5 princesses were.
But who are these women, all granddaughters of Queen Victoria?
- Alexandra Feodorovn, the last Empress of Russia, the most famous & most tragic
- Marie, Queen of Romania, the most flamboyant, the most heroic, the most political
- Victoria Eugenia, Queen of Spain, the most dignified but the most elusive
- Sophie, Queen of the Hellenes, the most unknown and
- Maud, Queen of Norway, the most shy & the most successful of all.
Julia Gelardi adopts the technique of showing the livesin parallels which is interesting & rather helpful. Mrs. Gerladi paints a pretty good picture of the five ladies, giving how they viewed themselves & how the outside world viewed them. Of course, there is much stuff open for discussion. The political role of the Greec Royal Family & why they lost their thronein regular intervals remains a bit flimsy but the effects on Queen Sophie's life are well described.
I found it interesting to see that while all having the same grandmother the differences come into the play through their different mothers. Empress Alexandra & Queen Marie were daughthers of strong mothers (Princess Alice & Grandduchess Marie of Russia respectively), women whoin a man's world managed to controll men, like Queen Victoria did. Not to that extent but it still seems to apply to Queen Sophie, as daughter of the Empress Frederick. Queen Victoria Eugenia & Queen Maud were daughters of weaker woman (Princess Beatrice & Queen Alexandra) & that showed. Maud however might have led the most undramatic of lives, was shy person & a rather reluctant Queen, butin the end she was the most successful as the the Norway's monarchy survived while all others lost their thrones. Interesting to see that while being consorts of various different monarchs all were very English & remained it hrough their lives.
Gerladi is a very talentated author & her very first book is an excellent start for her writing career. However, I believe she could & should pay a bit more attention to details. Just a little example: she constantly refers to the Emperor & Empress of Germany. While this might be finein casual conversationsin a book on roylaty it is not. The Head of the German Empire was H.M The German Emperor, King of Prussia. And there is much behind this very title. Details od this kind are of importance as they were of importance especially to the royal person.
One last remark: what I did not understand why Mrs. Gilardi did not include the six grandaughter who became consort of a monarch, actually twice first as wife of the granduke of Hesse & later to to Grandduke Cyril of Russia, the Emperor without a throne. Actually a very interesting destiny whch should have been included.
However, allin all it is a book I enjoyed very much.
Not too bad worth a read 3 1/2 stars - By: Pendleton Girl, 05 Jan 2007 
This book did not disappoint me because I saw that it was the author's first book so I sort of knew what to expect & that said, it is not too bad well worth a read if you are interestedin this sort of thing. The least interesting bits for me were the parts about Alexandra because I have already read several books about herin detail,in a way it is a shame she had to be included. I enjoyed reading about the other four princesses more because by comparison very little has been written about them & consequently I know comparatively little about them; I especially enjoyed reading about Ena of Spain & most of all Marie of Romania an incredible person whose character seemed to leap off the page at you. What this book has inspired me to do is read more about princesses Ena & Marie so it has been a useful springboardin that respect.
I didn't mind the book going backwards & forwards between the different princesses because it stopped me getting 'fed up' with any particular one although as I have already said I was tried to get through the Alexandra bits as quickly as possible but that is not the author's fault.
I would be interested to see what Julia Gelardi's next book is about & were it on a similar topic I would probably give it a try.
I would give this book 3 1/2 stars.
Well researched but let down by poor editing - By: Ms. L. J. Gosling, 29 May 2006 I was looking forward to Gelardi's book on Queen Victoria's five granddaughters; & to give the author credit, she had a decent crack at interweaving what are essentially five very different personal, social & political histories. The premise is interesting, butin reality seems to hold back the author. In an effort to keep reminding us that this is a book about five people, not one, Gelardi often awkwardly does a "compare & contrast" exercise which means the book loses the mature, self-assured fluency a superior work would have. Most annoying are the countless cliffhangers the author seems to feel obliged to put at the end of paragraphs & chapters, e.g. "Little did she know..." or "...was none other than..." school of writing. It patronises the reader & detracts from what is otherwise an enthusiastic & fact-packed ride through one of the most exciting periods of history. For those just embarking on reading a Royal biographies then this is a good all-rounder, but go for individual biographies if you're a level or two beyond that.
5 Queens, 5 cousins, 5 women - - By: Klaus Meyer, 24 Oct 2005 When I saw "Born to Rule" by Julia Gelardi first I was sceptical as I always found compilations of biographies disappointing. They always seem to promise a lot &in the end give little. So I was rather reluctant to buy this very book, especially as I have read quite extensively about Empress Alexandra of Russia & Queen Marie of Romania & a little less about Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain. I should not have been.
I believe it is a marvelous book, very well written & entertaining. Mrs. Gerlardi manage to bring these 5 lives together which seems to be merely connected by the fact that all hadin common "Grandma Queen" Queen Victoria. Julia Gerlardi showing similarities, differences & how intertwined the lives of these 5 princesses were.
But who are these women, all granddaughters of Queen Victoria?
- Alexandra Feodorovn, the last Empress of Russia, the most famous & most tragic
- Marie, Queen of Romania, the most flamboyant, the most heroic, the most political
- Victoria Eugenia, Queen of Spain, the most dignified but the most elusive
- Sophie, Queen of the Hellenes, the most unknown and
- Maud, Queen of Norway, the most shy & the most successful of all.
Julia Gelardi adopts the technique of showing the livesin parallels which is interesting & rather helpful. Mrs. Gerladi paints a pretty good picture of the five ladies, giving how they viewed themselves & how the outside world viewed them. Of course, there is much stuff open for discussion. The political role of the Greec Royal Family & why they lost their thronein regular intervals remains a bit flimsy but the effects on Queen Sophie's life are well described.
I found it interesting to see that while all having the same grandmother the differences come into the play through their different mothers. Empress Alexandra & Queen Marie were daughthers of strong mothers (Princess Alice & Grandduchess Marie of Russia respectively), women whoin a man's world managed to controll men, like Queen Victoria did. Not to that extent but it still seems to apply to Queen Sophie, as daughter of the Empress Frederick. Queen Victoria Eugenia & Queen Maud were daughters of weaker woman (Princess Beatrice & Queen Alexandra) & that showed. Maud however might have led the most undramatic of lives, was shy person & a rather reluctant Queen, butin the end she was the most successful as the the Norway's monarchy survived while all others lost their thrones. Interesting to see that while being consorts of various different monarchs all were very English & remained it hrough their lives.
Gerladi is a very talentated author & her very first book is an excellent start for her writing career. However, I believe she could & should pay a bit more attention to details. Just a little example: she constantly refers to the Emperor & Empress of Germany. While this might be finein casual conversationsin a book on roylaty it is not. The Head of the German Empire was H.M The German Emperor, King of Prussia. And there is much behind this very title. Details od this kind are of importance as they were of importance especially to the royal person.
One last remark: what I did not understand why Mrs. Gilardi did not include the six grandaughter who became consort of a monarch, actually twice first as wife of the granduke of Hesse & later to to Grandduke Cyril of Russia, the Emperor without a throne. Actually a very interesting destiny whch should have been included.
However, allin all it is a book I enjoyed very much. 5 stars well deserved. I am looking forward to Mrs. Gilardi's second book.
5 Queens, 5 cousins, 5 women - - By: Klaus Meyer, 20 Oct 2005 When I saw "Born to Rule" by Julia Gelardi first I was sceptical as I always found compilations of biographies disappointing. They always seem to promise a lot &in the end give little. So I was rather reluctant to buy this very book, especially as I have read quite extensively about Empress Alexandra of Russia & Queen Marie of Romania & a little less about Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain. I should not have been.
I believe it is a marvelous book, very well written & entertaining. Mrs. Gerlardi manage to bring these 5 lives together which seems to be merely connected by the fact that all hadin common "Grandma Queen" Queen Victoria. Julia Gerlardi showing similarities, differences & how intertwined the lives of these 5 princesses were.
But who are these women, all granddaughters of Queen Victoria?
- Alexandra Feodorovn, the last Empress of Russia, the most famous & most tragic
- Marie, Queen of Romania, the most flamboyant, the most heroic, the most political
- Victoria Eugenia, Queen of Spain, the most dignified but the most elusive
- Sophie, Queen of the Hellenes, the most unknown and
- Maud, Queen of Norway, the most shy & the most successful of all.
Julia Gelardi adopts the technique of showing the livesin parallels which is interesting & rather helpful. Mrs. Gerladi paints a pretty good picture of the five ladies, giving how they viewed themselves & how the outside world viewed them. Of course, there is much stuff open for discussion. The political role of the Greec Royal Family & why they lost their thronein regular intervals remains a bit flimsy but the effects on Queen Sophie's life are well described.
I found it interesting to see that while all having the same grandmother the differences come into the play through their different mothers. Empress Alexandra & Queen Marie were daughthers of strong mothers (Princess Alice & Grandduchess Marie of Russia respectively), women whoin a man's world managed to controll men, like Queen Victoria did. Not to that extent but it still seems to apply to Queen Sophie, as daughter of the Empress Frederick. Queen Victoria Eugenia & Queen Maud were daughters of weaker woman (Princess Beatrice & Queen Alexandra) & that showed. Maud however might have led the most undramatic of lives, was shy person & a rather reluctant Queen, butin the end she was the most successful as the the Norway's monarchy survived while all others lost their thrones. Interesting to see that while being consorts of various different monarchs all were very English & remained it hrough their lives. And the links continuedin the next generations.
Gerladi is a very talentated author & her very first book is an excellent start for her writing career. However, I believe she could & should pay a bit more attention to details. Just a little example: she constantly refers to the Emperor & Empress of Germany. While this might be finein casual conversationsin a book on roylaty it is not. The Head of the German Empire was H.M The German Emperor, King of Prussia. And there is much behind this very title. Details od this kind are of importance as they were of importance especially to the royal person.
One last remark: what I did not understand why Mrs. Gilardi did not include the six grandaughter who became consort of a monarch, actually twice first as wife of the granduke of Hesse & later to to Grandduke Cyril of Russia, the Emperor without a throne. Actually a very interesting destiny whch should have been included.
However, allin all it is a book I enjoyed very much. 5 stars well deserved. I am looking forward to Mrs. Gilardi's second book.
