An Unusual Journey Through Royal History I & II: Volumes I & II

This is not your typical royal history book. The table of contents reads more like a menu at a good restaurant, where there's something for everyone's taste. Each chapter tells a unique story about an overlooked or unusual aspect of royal history, spanning centuries and countries, but in no particular order. In few - if any - other books will you find the British Monarchy compared to London's sewer system, or read of the challenges of finding a suitable husband for a 200-plus pound Victorian princess who was nonetheless a "remarkably light dancer." Rarely are the lives of historic and modern royals from Queen Victoria and Catherine the Great to Prince Charles and Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark "illustrated" not by paintings but by tattoos. In short (much like the Court dwarfs you'll read about), this book will leave you with a sense that you not only know royal history - and enjoy it - but that you have also journeyed through it and know the royals personally, from who exterminates their palaces right down to their infamous last words.