Review: Light reading to send you to sleep!
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 12 26, 2011
I am wondering why I hated this book so much & so many other reviewers loved it. I found the whole reading experience here sultifyingly boring and feel particularly disappointed & misled by these mystifying positive reviews. I gained no knowledge that I would consider in any way worthwhile and feel the need to share my negative reading experience with other unsuspecting prospective purchasers.So, where in particular did this book disappoint? Where to begin?The topics chosen were unimaginative, boring and pretentious enough to make me yawn through most of my reading time. One chapter is devoted to whether any of the royal males were circumcised or not. Words fail me! Of course the ultimate answer is that the author really has no idea & who cares anyway. Another topic was about ships that take their names from royals. A random, disorganised account regarding certain ships and a number of unfunny references to their royal namesakes. Another rambling chapter was pondering whether royalty could inherit a title in another country's royal family. Lots of names, dates, individuals mentioned and the conclusion drawn; "we don't really know". "Don't really care" would have been a lot closer to the mark. Basically there is no history of any note or worth appearing in these pages.The style was chatty, occasionally vaguely amusing, but it read like a book for gossipy ladies (or men I suppose) to enjoy. "Did you hear about such 'n such....". It was like eaves-dropping a meeting of the old time local Women's Institute.Why two stars?One star; for the absence of all typos & grammar mistakes. I am sure this lady could write a good book if she ever got away from such drivel as this for a source.Two stars: for the fact that the book is mercifully short. I will always thank the author for that.If you want amusing, worthwhile history it is certainly out there. This is just a bunch of featherweight observations I would clasify as "fluff;" and I hope this review will prevent others from wasting their time with it.