[b]Rating[/b]: 5 out of 5 stars Empress Alexandra by Melanie Clegg was such an interesting and informative read. She draws from Victoria's letters and journals, revealing a mother and grandmother who doted on her family. She was known as Grandmama to her granddaughter's spouses. Clegg tells Alix's story in context of her relationship with her grandmother Queen Victoria. Alix was Queen Victoria's favorite granddaughter. Her mother Alice was the queen's companion and social secretary after the death of Prince Albert. Tragically, Alice died young. The queen took Alice's children under her wing as a surrogate mother. They and their father Prince Louis became even closer to the monarch. Alix was a beautiful child. At an early age, she caught her cousin Nicky's attention. In spite of Queen Victoria's endeavors to arrange a marriage for Alix, she and and her cousin Nicky fell in love. When became Nicholas became Emperor of Russian, and Alix became Empress Alexandra, Victoria worried about her... Read more
NetGalley, Nancy A. Bekofske

An elegant resource that I will be reaching for again and again.
Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author

[b]Rating[/b]: 5 out of 5 stars King George III was certainly having problems – with the Americans, with his wandering brothers and with his mental health. He was of a nervous disposition and he and his Queen Charlotte believed strongly in decorum and tradition. When both of his brothers married secretly without his permission – and to commoners ! - he banished them. He pushed the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 through Parliament in hopes of keeping his many children in line as well as the rest of his siblings. He and Queen Charlotte had fifteen children! And they all survived birth. This book discusses their six daughters. Charlotte, Princess Royal, was not considered to be attractive or pretty, but she was very intelligent. She was quick to anger and had to write out apologies frequently. The princesses were all raised in a closed and insular court, away from their brothers. The years were passing Charlotte by and she still wasn't married. No wonder because the princesses were so overprotected... Read more
NetGalley, Joyce Fox

This was an incredibly fun historical read. I have always been fascinated by the sexual history of the past. What were people really like? What were people’s sex lives ? What were the mores? This book does a great job putting the Stuart era of England into perspectives from the peasants to the merchant class to the royals themselves. It reads like a fun romp through the most exciting parts of history. Definitely give it a read if you love the Stuart era or are interested in learning more about it.
NetGalley, Joanna Pentikis

Genocide is not something that started and ended with the German Nazis and this book is specially welcome because it looks at more recent genocide through the eyes of a British detective who spent time investigating Bosnian war crimes. The break up of Yugoslavia after the death of Josip Bron Tito was inevitable because the centuries of religious and ethnic division. Once the strong man was gone there was no one to hold the fragile union together. – Very Highly Recommended. Read the full review [link=http://reviews.firetrench.com/from-the-flying-squad-to-investigating-war-crimes/]here[/link]
Firetrench