Beginning with Matilda of Flanders in the year 1066, and ending with the current monarch, Elizabeth II, this book gives biographies of 47 English queens. The majority of them were given no choice in their marriages and were only pawns in making the alliances between the great powers of Europe. Most of these women were raised knowing that they were of royal lineage and could one day have power over a king and possibly over an entire country. A few of them achieved this goal. Reading about their lives is rich and fascinating.

My favorite is Queen Eleanor who came from Aquitane, a region of SW France. She was very accomplished and exerted great influence throughtout her entire life. Eleanor was born in 1122 and was married to King Louis of France when she was 15 years old. While married to King Louis, Eleanor accompanied him on the Second Crusade to the Holy Land. They had 2 daughters, and (possibly due to the fact that there was no male heir), they later divorced. That same year, 1152, Eleanor married Henry of Anjou who became King Henry II of England. The bride was 12 years older then the groom and both had very strong personalties. Their reign was filled with court intrigue and scandal. The murder of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury Cathedral was attribued to Henry. The monarchs had 7 children together, including the nasty King John from the Robin Hood tales and his crusading brother King Richard the Lion-Hearted. Eleanor and Henry even argued over which of their sons would be the future heir, and this promoted civil war.

Eleanor was such a strong individual that according to her moods signed her letters either: "Eleanor, by the grace of God, humbly Queen of England or Eleanor, by the wrath of God, Queen of England."

I've always read English historical novels and these biographies have served me well over the years as a great source of reference in understanding who were the actual people behind the characters in the books I was reading.

THIS CHRONOLOGY OF ETHIOPIAN KINGS FROM MAKEDA, QUEEN OF SHEBA'S SON MENELIK (1OTH CENTURY B.C)TO THE LAST EMPEROR KNOWN AS THE IMPERIAL MAJESTY EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE 1(1930AD-1974AD) IT INCLUDES A BRIEF BUT DETAILED I-STORY,SOME I-TRAITS AND QUOTES FROM STRONG AND INFLUENTIAL CONTRIBUTORS TO SOCIETY.HE PROVIDES INFORMATION ON DYNASTIES,SUCCESSIVE RELIGIONS AND FAMILY INTERESTS. FINALLY HE GRACES THE READER WITH QUOTES FROM HIS MAJESTY HAILIE SELASSIE I ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS CRUCIAL TO THE SURVIVAL OF HUMANITY AS WE KNOW IT.

All of Mary Dobson's "Smelly Old History" books are an excellent way for elementary students to learn history and take whiffs of the many foul smells along history's timeline. The kids get so excited to smell the next foul smell they forget they are learning historical facts as they go. My first grade boy loves the books, but loves scratching the smells best. Some of the facts are a bit beyond 1st grade and younger, but they will still love the books. Ideal for 3rd-5th graders, who have some knowledge of ancient history and can remember names of people and important events in history. Excellent and fun choice for any elementary age student as a gift or for school.

I have enjoyed reading your book The Royal Switch. I am 12 years old and I would like to read more of your fiction books like The Royal Switch and Bright Lights the characters in this book are very interesting and have kept me spell bound while reading them. I would highly recommend that everyone would read them.

I am looking forward to reading more of Sarah York's books. I am adding them to my library and am excited about the prospect of adding even more to my collection.

VOGUE magazine has long had an affair with royalty, and the photographs herein show ample evidence of that. The title really ought to be amended to read "BRITISH Royalty in Vogue," as the English royals take up by far the majority of the pages, but that's a small quibble.

The photographs certainly are superb--and the reason most folks would be interested in seeing this book--but the text is also marvelously immediate and almost breathless in places. There are firsthand accounts of the rehearsal for George's coronation in 1937, and Cecil Beaton's notes from the abbey regarding Elizabeth's coronation in 1953. These have such a "you are there" flavor that one can almost picture the scene without the aid of the photographs which accompany the text. Beaton writes:

"The massed Peeresses, an inconceivably wonderful sight . . . Their foam-white ermine and dark red velvet looking like a parterre of auricula-eyed Sweet William . . . Their decolletage the palest pampered pink . . . Among them, undoubtedly the most beautiful is the young Duchess of Devonshire, wearing the original eighteenth-century coronation robe belonging to Georgiana, Gainsborough's Duchess . . . "

The photographs themselves are beautiful, of course, but let us remember that this is VOGUE and that beauty in the subjects was also of paramount importance. Princess Marina of Greece and Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott appear in several photographs, looking almost as classically beautiful as Roman busts. Of course there are ample photographs of the lovely Diana, Princess of Wales, and her country-girl-pretty counterpart Sarah Ferguson--in their wedding gowns and in other outfits. And lastly, there are many, many photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor--looking, always, a little tired, very brittle, very wary. It's a fascinating glimpse into a world the vast majority of us know absolutely nothing about.

I picked this up for our daughter at the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Splash Zone exhibit. I had some reservations at first but they were quickly put to rest after my daughter started laughing and quoting facts about penguin behaviour and penguin species (for about 1 hour of our drive home). The book is nicely done with a combination of simple cartoons, jokes, beautiful photographs, and natural science information. I'm hoping that the authors come up with more of this series. I've already put in an order for their other book, "Cat Nap". Nice job folks!

This book is very interesting reading for people who like Brittish Royalty. Very shocking things, like Charles II and his many mistresses. Overall a very good boook, though there are a few mistakes in it.

An absolutely wonderful children's book for the building of self esteem and courage. Wolo, the author, was a refugee from eastern Europe during WWII, and was a family friend when I was a child. The book, as do each of his books, is a story of courage in the face of adversity. It reflects Wolo's escape from Hitler's tyranny. Sir Archibald is a great hero in this book of good and evil.

Solomon was a young prince who lived next to a large forest where he spent every spare moment because he preferred peaceful trees to rancorous humans, and was taught to speak their language by the animals who lived there. When Solomon grew up and became the king, he found himself so busy that he forgot about the forests and his animal friends. Eventually Solomon came to understand the price that must be paid when people don't take proper care of the earth and its blessings. Highly recommended for young readers grades 1-3, and based on a Midrash folktale and Judaic teachings about the earth and the festival cycle, Solomon And The Trees is an outstanding and superbly presented collaboration between author Matt Biers-Airel and illustrator Esti Silverberg-Kiss.

Solomon: Falcon Of Sheba by Ralph Ellis is an exciting and iconoclastic tour of Biblical history, archaeological evidence, and legend. The reader will acquire a significantly broader metaphysical understanding of Egypt's legendary monarchs in an exhaustive and complex study which draws the reader out along an amazing archaeological and historical trail concluding that real story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba is not as we have commonly or traditionally known it. An exciting and breathtaking read, Solomon: Falcon Of Sheba is especially recommended to students of Biblical Archaeology. Also very highly recommended are two earlier works by Ralph Ellis: Jesus, Last Of The Pharaohs ...