John Van der Kiste

Alexander II of Russia and his family

The Romanovs, 1818-1959

This fascinating and poignant book evokes the childhood of world of a long vanished age.

Childhood at Court, 1819-1914

Queen Victoria and Albert, the Prince Consort, had nine children who despite their very different characters, remained a close-knit family. This is not only the story of their lives in terms of world impact, but also of personal achievements in their own right.

Queen Victoria's Children

Coryne Hall

This biography of Xenia, sister of Nicholas II gives a new angle on the Romanov story and provides new information on relationships within the family after the Revolution. Important new letters and photographs are also included.

Xenia, Sister of Nicholas II

Once a Grand Duchess

Mary (1662-94), daughter of James, Duke of York, heir to the English throne, then 15, is said to have wept for a day and a half when she was told she was to marry her cousin, William (1650-1702), son of William II of Orange (1626-50), Stadtholder of the Dutch republic, and Mary, eldest daughter of Charles I of England, who was eleven years older than her. In November 1677, on William's 27th birthday, they married in a private ceremony at St James's Palace. William was solemn, James gloomy, Mary in tears, and only King Charles appeared cheerful. This dual biography deals with both the 'life and times' of the monarchs, and with England's place in Europe. Interests of the subjects, outside the constitutional, are dealt with, as well as their personal relationships: William's rumoured homosexuality and Mary's hinted-at lesbianism; Mary's troubled personal relations with her father, James II; and the relationship between Mary and her sister and husband's successor Anne. The book also examines the personal and political relations between William and his uncle Charles II, and between William and Mary and Charles' illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth.

Heroes of the Glorious Revolution

William and Mary

Formed in 1969 as a traditional folk group, they gradually moved into folk-rock territory, with their disdain for the more purist elements, and a love of mixing original material with traditional songs and ambitious musical arrangements. This biography examines the music, line-up changes, highs and lows, and periods of their commercial success.

The Steeleye Span Story

All Around My Hat

In 1914 Grand Duchess Olga of Russia, the nineteen-year-old eldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra of Russia, sails to England to meet her cousin Edward, Prince of Wales, generally known as David, as a possible husband. She arrives just as war is about to break out between England and Germany, and is unable to return to her family. Is there any alternative to her destiny as the bride of the future King of England?

Olga and David

In 1848, 28-year-old Francis Joseph became King of Hungary and Emperor of Austria. He would reign for almost 68 years, the longest of any modern European monarch. Focusing on the life of Emperor Francis Joseph and his family, this book examines their personal relationships against the turbulent background of the 19th century.

Life, Death and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire

Emperor Francis Joseph

In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist when Francis II became Emperor of Austria. 112 years later, the Habsburg empire collapsed after the First World War after surviving many tribulations. During the year of revolutions in 1848 the much-loved but incompetent Emperor Ferdinand had abdicated in favour of his young nephew Francis Joseph. His long reign was marked by defeat in several wars, family tragedies and scandals including the execution of his brother Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, the suicide of his son Crown Prince Rudolf, and the assassinations of his wife Empress Elizabeth, and nephew Francis Ferdinand. He was succeeded in 1916 by the succession of his great-nephew Charles, who abdicated in 1918 and died after two unsuccessful attempts to regain the throne of Hungary, but his eldest son Otto remained head of the family and Member of the European Parliament for twenty years. This book looks at the final chapter of the Habsburgs, from the Napoleonic era to the age of the dictators and post-war Europe.

The Decline and Fall of the Austrian Monarchy

The End of the Habsburgs

Nicola Sly

This chilling follow-up to "Cornish Murders" brings together more murderous tales that shocked not only the county but made headline news throughout the nation. They include the brutal slaying of Elizabeth Seaman in Penzance in 1845, the murder in the course of a robbery of Robert Drew near Launceston in 1862, the slaughter of the entire Mortimer family in Saltash in 1901, and the suspicious death of a farmer near Liskeard in 1952, which was initially believed to be a tragic suicide until the results of the post-mortem examination were received. Some of the murderers were undoubtedly insane at the time of their crimes, such as John Stickland, who killed his daughter at Hayle in 1868. Others, like the killer of Jessie Rickard at Castle an Dinas in 1904, committed suicide rather than face the inevitable consequences of their acts. Some crimes, such as the 1958 murder of a holidaymaker in Newquay, remain unsolved, in spite of the best efforts of the police. John Van der Kiste and Nicola Sly's well-illustrated and enthralling text will appeal to everyone interested in true-crime history and the shadier side of Cornwall's past.

More Cornish Murders

Berkshire Murders is an examination of some of the county's most notorious and shocking cases. They include Hannah Carey, beaten to death by her husband at Warfield in 1851; young Hannah Gould, whose throat was cut by her father in a frenzied attack at Windsor in 1861; Nell Woodridge, murdered by her husband in 1896 and later immortalised in Oscar Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol; Annie Davis, killed by her lover in 1912; and Minnie Freeman Lee, whose body was discovered in a trunk in 1940. John Van der Kiste's carefully researched, well-illustrated and enthralling text will appeal to all those interested in the darker side of Berkshire.

Berkshire Murders

While they may not be associated with Christmas to the same degree as Charles Dickens, Gilbert and Sullivan have become part of the Christmas season. The former began his career as a dramatist writing Christmas stories and children's plays, while the latter's prolific output as a composer included music for several carols. The two dominated English culture for much of the Victorian age.

Gilbert & Sullivan's Christmas

A study of relations between Britain and Austria as seen through personal and political connections between the families of Queen Victoria and Emperor Francis Joseph.

The British and Austrian Reigning Houses, 1848-1922

Windsor and Habsburg

The six children of George V (1865-1936) and Mary of Teck (1867-1953) all lived to maturity except the youngest, Prince John. The eldest son, David (1894-1972), became King Edward VIII and ruled for less than a year when he abdicated the throne to marry Mrs. Simpson, an American divorcee. The royal crisis caused by the abdication of the formally popular king caused a rift within the royal family that never really healed. David's younger brother, Albert (1895-1952), was crowned King George VI and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1900- ), Duchess of York, became the Queen Consort. George VI was known as a hard-working, concientious king. Their two daughters were Princess Margaret (1930- ) and her elder sister, Elizabeth (1926- ). In 1947 Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten (1921- ), Duke of Edinburgh. In 1952 George VI died and his daughter, Elizabeth was crowned as Elizabeth I of the House of Windsor, Queen of England.

George V's Children

A biography of the British royal couple, who reigned for over 30 years, 1727-60, but have received little attention, probably because they left the business of government to the period's very able ministers, including Robert Walpole and William Pitt. Also explores the couple's relationship with their sons. Distributed by Books International. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

King George II and Queen Caroline

From his early days as guitarist with Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders, Roy Wood was always a major figure on the Birmingham music scene. In 1965 he helped to form The Move, who weathered several line-up changes over the next few years while enjoying a spectacular run of hit singles, notably Flowers In The Rain, the first record ever played on Radio 1, and the No. 1 Blackberry Way. Keen to progress beyond the limitations of a conventional group, he became the co-founder and joint leader of the Electric Light Orchestra with Jeff Lynne. Leaving the band in 1972, he formed the very successful if comparatively shortlived Wizzard, remembered for their No. 1 hit See My Baby Jive and the perennial seasonal favourite I Wish It Could be Christmas Everyday. After they disbanded he maintained a solo career while forming subsequent groups for live performances. The first book to examine his career in detail, it includes a Foreword by Ray Dorset of Mungo Jerry, plus an extensive discography and select bibliography.

The Move, Wizzard and Beyond

Roy Wood

This work tells the love story of the royal couple against the changing background of 19th-century Germany. It looks at the differing political sympathies of the couple, revealed through letters, and re-examines the prevailing view that the domineering Vicky never bothered to conceal her distaste for everything Prussian and flaunting her sense of British superiority. In many ways ahead of her time, she was something of a pioneer feminist, refusing to accept the oft-accepted maxim that women were second-class citizens. Insufficient consideration has been given to her health and the possibility that her judgement and reason may sometimes have been affected, albeit mildly, by the family's inheritance of porphyria that led to the 'madness' of her great-grandfather George III.

John Van der Kiste

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