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"Monarchs : they're just like us. They entertain their friends and eat and worry about money. Henry VIII tripped over his dogs. George II threw his son out of the house. James I had to cut back on the alcohol bills. In Behind the Throne, historian Adrian Tinniswood uncovers the reality of five centuries of life at the English court, taking the reader on a remarkable journey from one Queen Elizabeth to another and exploring life as it was lived by clerks and courtiers and clowns and crowned heads: the power struggles and petty rivalries, the tension between duty and desire, the practicalities of cooking dinner for thousands and of ensuring the king always won when he played a game of tennis. A masterful and witty social history of five centuries of royal life, Behind the Throne offers a grand tour of England's grandest households"--… (more)
User reviews
This book is a disappointment. It is meant to be about life in the royal household since the middle ages, in other words a detailed history of the support mechanism for monarchs – the complex arrangement of servants high and low within the household. Although
Much of the book is taken up with well-known anecdotes about the monarchs themselves – Queen Anne's foibles, George IV's delinquencies, the madness of George III and so on. Further into the book there is far too much about George V's dogs, his stamp collecting, and later still Elizabeth II's coronation (a photograph of a four-year-old Prince Charles looking bored at that event may be amusing, but is hardly relevant). Towards the end, the book descends into a summary of recent scandals affecting the monarchy, albeit with an emphasis on staff who spilt the beans.
The book has some good illustrations and is well-produced, although tighter editing might have removed some of the superficial throwaway comments.