Michael von Griechenland (1939–2024)

I grabbed this book because I wanted to read something on the "spooky" side during the Halloween season. Had this been just a description of eleven houses and the ghosts they contain, it would have fit the bill.

However, the author, Prince Michael of Greece, travels to the houses and communes with the ghosts. He believes that he can feel their presence and that they can speak with him. So, for all eleven tales, there are eleven ghosts who spill their guts in astonishing detail to the author. The author, with no note taking equipment of any kind, writes whole sections in the voice of the ghost, quite lengthy sections. To my mind, keeping one of the stories in all its detail straight would have been a challenge, let alone eleven.

This was a huge drawback. The book could have done without the ghost narrations. At one point, the author even conjures up the ghost of Empress Marie Feodorovna, wife of Paul I of Russia. Another drawback was the total absence of notes or any source material. There is just an acknowledgements section at the end of the book where he thanks the people whose houses he visited. Nothing academic that indicates any research or bibliography for follow-up reading for those interested. Also, the pictures are extremely subpar, which is ironic because he brought along a professional photographer to each house.

It seems the author traded on his royal name to sell this inconsequential book. I've given it two stars because I did enjoy the information about the actual houses, their current occupants, and what THEY had to say about the ghosts who haunted them.… (more)

When I started watching the Crown on Netflix, I was intrigued by the flash and sparkled of the crown jewels. I purchased 3 books - [Crown Jewels: The Official Illustrated History] which showed all of Great Britain's crown jewels, [The Jewels of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Personal Collection], and this book. I wanted to see how the British collection stood up to the rest of Europe. Europe lost. Some of the pieces from the Danish, Swedish, and Belgian were gorgeous, and the pictures in this book were so much better - more close up so that you could see the details - however, the variety and volume of Queen Elizabeth II's collection as well as the British Crown Jewels made this collection far superior to any other. I'm not sure why, maybe because of the extent of the British empire of Queen Victoria (who received much of the collection) or the acquisitions of the Russian Tsar's family jewels my Queen Mary.

Whatever the reason, if you want to see some really sparkly jewels, Great Britain has them hands down.… (more)

This collection of mostly informal photographs of Russia's last royal family is pretty astonishing. Apparently most of these are snapshots taken by members of the family, and are revelatory on several levels. As always, the camera loves the Grand Duchesses, but the real star here is Czar Nicholas himself. We see him riding piggyback on some of his royal relatives, get a good look at his tongue, and, astonishingly, he's even nude, as is his son Alexei. His daughters usually play it a little closer to the vest, but family clown Anastasia also shows off her tongue, and pretends to levitate and be a weightlifter. An introduction and the captions, by a distant royal relative, are informative both as to the people in the photos and as photography criticism; for once in a photography book, they don't get in the way at all.… (more)