Penny Wilson

"Absent documentation, history can only speculate about what happened between Rudolf and Mary at that isolated lodge" (p. 249). This is the most important thing to keep in mind about the incident at Mayerling.

The book is arranged so: Part 1 covers Rudolph's life and Mary's life up to January 28th 1889, which gives us the context and background for the incident; Part 2 is about what happened at Mayerling; Part 3 is about all the theories concerning the incident at Mayerling; and Part 4 is a summary of the first three parts stripped down to the essentials and mixed all together. Frankly I was irritated by the fourth part because 98% of it was a repeat of what came before, but at the same time one can't really skip it due to that new, interesting 2%. They would have done better weaving the good into the previous sections, keeping the Epilogue, and eliminating the rest of Part 4.

My other problem with this book concerns source material. The authors make it very clear that primary source material is scarce, due to the Emperor ordering basically everything about the incident destroyed or suppressed. Furthermore, everything that we do have, primary source or not, is of dubious truth because everyone - everyone - had reasons for lying about what happened at Mayerling; even Rudolph and Mary's letters are not to be trusted. And yet these same dubious materials are what the authors use as the basis for their book. It is hard for me to read that the memoir of so-and-so is filled with lies about Mayerling in order to protect their own skin, and then a few pages later read something presented as fact but whose source is that same lie-filled memoir.

Overall I'm conflicted about this book. On the one hand the first two parts were informative and exciting, but that final part was nothing short of tedious and left a bad impression behind.… (more)

This work of 'narrative history' about the Maylering incident is not without merit, but is best regarded as simply an introduction to what happened in 1889. The first half, setting out the events leading up to the double death, seems largely lifted from other sources, especially Morton's 'A Nervous Splendor'. The latter half of the book is given over to sifting through the various theories and rumours about the deaths, but this is done in a confusing and repetitive way, with some of the authors' own speculations thrown in for good measure. Ultimately rather disappointing. Some good photographs, and information on events in subsequent years.… (more)

This book chronicles the last voyage of the ill-fated Lusitania, a luxurious ocean liner that sailed into a war zone and was _targeted by a German U-boat. A few years ago, I read Dead Wake by Erik Larson, which covers much of the same ground as this book. In the case of this book, I wish the author had done more to connect the sinking of the Lusitania to World War I, which felt like important context which was skimmed over in this history. Overall, a decent history of the Lusitania, although I would recommend Larson's Dead Wake over this book.… (more)

This was a look at a much overlooked branch of the Russian Imperial Family. Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaievitch and his wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, presided over a very colorful bunch of characters. Their eldest son was accused of stealing valuable diamonds from his mother and declared insane, another son became his father's heir and was a brilliant poet in his own right, a daughter became Queen of Greece, and another daughter was sent away to relatives in Germany because of her difficult behavior and illness.

It's a fascinating look at the Konstantinovichi family. The book's main drawback is its editing mistakes. However, lovers of Romanov history will definitely enjoy it.… (more)