This was a really good book. It was recommended to me by a World War II page that I follow. I learned more about bullfighting from this book than I imagined I would. I also learned a lot about the spy operation during World War II. This was a really good book, and I also have another book about a female spy buy this same author. I am really looking forward to read that one. 

 I ordered this book after binge watching The Crown on Netflix, because I was eager to learn more about Princess Margaret. I had never really learned anything about her, though I have several books on Queen Elizabeth II. I think Margaret had a really difficult time. She seemed far less diplomatic than her sister, but she seemed exuberant, and like she could really command the room. I was very interested in her relationships, because of the show, and I felt terrible for her after reading about her struggles there. I also felt terrible for her living in the shadow of her sister. I can't imagine what it would be like to be a royal, and also be the sibling of a monarch. I was very pleased with this book. 

 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowden was the youngest daughter of King George VI, and the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II. She was born in Scotland at Glamis Castle on August 21, 1930. Her name at birth was Princess Margaret Rose of York. She was six years old when her father took the throne, forcing her into a more public life than she had previously known. Princess Margaret was a character. She enjoyed riding horses, learning new things, having parties and high profile romances. One of her most famous romances was with Group Captain Peter Townsend, which most people are now aware of thanks to The Crown. She eventually married Antony Armstrong-Jones, probably because she learned that Peter Townsend was engaged to someone else. She had met Armstrong-Jones at a dinner party, and they went on to marry and have children. Both were guilty of extramarital affairs, and the marriage eventually ended in divorce. In her later years, she was a patron of several charities, including ballet and music ones. I learned a lot more about her illnesses from this book, which I appreciated. Most people know that she had issues with her lungs from smoking, but I personally was not aware that she had a nervous breakdown or that she was treated for depression.

This book was well researched. Theo Aronson's works have been mentioned in several bibliographies that I have skimmed over, and referenced on a couple of history podcasts that I listen to. I would like to get some more of his work and read it. This was a really informative book, and fans of The Crown or Princess Margaret should check it out. 

 Edward V and Richard, Duke of York were the only sons of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville that were alive at the time of the death of Edward IV. Edward V was 12. Richard was 9. Their uncle, a shady character and the future Richard III, deposed Edward V and locked both boys in the Tower of London. He did this under the guise that he was preparing Edward V for his coronation...but in the meantime, he declared their mother's marriage invalid and the children illegitimate. All it boiled down two was he was a sour, shady man who wanted to be king. After they were incarcerated, they were seen playing together in the courtyard, but no more sighting were reported after 1483. There is no direct evidence that the boys were, in fact, murdered. Likely murders were Richard III, future brother in law Henry VII, or uncle Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham. It is also possible that they died from illness, as conditions inside the Tower were not the best for long living. Two bodies were found inside the Tower and people automatically assumed they were the bodies of these boys, though DNA testing has never been allowed to confirm their identity. There were also reports that they escaped somehow and survived. I would say that Richard III knew exactly what happened to the boys. If they escaped, he would have been told. If they were ill and died from illness, he would have been told. If they were murdered and he did not do it with his own two hands, he would have ordered someone to do it and probably had them killed to shut them up. I have no doubt that he knew exactly where they were and what was done with them at all times.

Alison Weir is one of my favorite female historians that I came across by accident. I generally enjoy her work and research skills. Her books are always readable, and I genuinely learn plenty from what she writes. That being said, this is probably my least favorite book that I have read thus far by her. The fact of the matter is, there is no definitive proof that has been uncovered to this date about what happened to those boys. She is staunchly against Richard III, (I cannot say that I am very impressed with him either), and makes a strong case based on rumor that he was behind the murders of these two boys. That may be the most likely cause of their deaths, but there is no proof to say that for sure. I did not like the bias that this book had that was not based on concrete evidence. If you wanted a conspiracy theory book, this would be a good one for that. 

 I have briefly read about this in another book, but not to this extent. Ben Novack was born into a hotel family, who were the owners of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami. Ben had married a former stripper, called Narcy. Ben had not divorced Narcy, but they were estranged. He was having a relationship with an adult film star, called Rebecca Bliss at the time of his death. Ben was found dead in the Penthouse Suite at the Hilton in New York. He was found just a few months after his mother had died, later revealed to be a homicide. This was a really interesting case, and it put me in mind of The House of Gucci book that I read not long ago. I appreciated that John Glatt didn't put every single detail about the trial in there, as it gets so dull when you are reading what is essentially a trial transcript. There was enough history of the building and family to grab my attention, and the crime itself was fairly brutal. This was a good book, and I like this author. 

 Twelve books into this series, and I have never been as annoyed as I am not. There were certain events in the last book that made me really irritated, but I won't get into those because of spoilers for those who have not read it yet. This book made me madder than the last one. I could have thrown it! We are back to dealing with Amel in this book, and I am not really impressed with that. I don't care for Amel or any of those characters. It was nice to see some of the vampires from throughout the series. I just don't really have a lot to say about this book, other than I did not care for it. 

 This book takes place about ten years after the events of Blood Canticle. Blood Canticle was meant to be the end of the series, so this gap was large. The vampire world is in chaos and Lestat finds himself trying to sort out mysteries and problems. Lestat is transitioning from his role of troublemaker to leader, so that is interesting to see. Throughout the series, he hasn't really been a leader. He has been getting into shenanagins. David and Gabrielle return in this book, so it was nice to see them. Louis, Armand, Marius, and Pandora also come back in this book. It was great to have some of the characters that were missed from the last couple of books. There were some things that happened in this book that made me very cross, but it wasn't the worst book. 

 This book was published in the 1990s, so clearly a lot of things have occured since the first publication date. Women have been the victims of repressive religious rules, repressive social norms, repressive partners, repressive family members, and repressive politics. This is certainly a male dominated society, and I am sure some women are fine living the way they do, but others are miserable. Not all places in the Islamic World have extremely strict rules, and it was interesting to see the differences throughout the region. I would like a more updated version of this book to compare how much has changed, or what changed and then reverted back recently. This makes me appreciate living where I do, even though it is full of white men that think they should control everything and Christian conservatives. 

 This book covers the relationship between President Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Despite their stark differences, such as race, upbringing, and life experiences, they shared a lot of similarities. Both men were disliked by a vast number of people for their views on politics and the abolition of slavery. Both men were subjected to harsh words and plots against them by dissenters. I had no idea that these two people ever met and had a conversation, so this whole book was basically news to me. I really love when I learn new things, which is one reason that I read. I also knew very little about Frederick Douglass until I read this book, so that was certainly worth the trip to the library for a book that they didn't have in. Time well spent.

I have read a few other books by Brian Kilmeade, and I have enjoyed them all. United States history is not my strong suit, and I always found it extremely boring (and whitewashed) in school. Because of that, I majored in a completely different path of history. I really love finding authors that can make one of my least favorite historical genres into something that is dramatic and educational. I hope that there are more books by this author to come. If you have not read any of his work, I would strongly suggest it. This book is a really good choice if you are interested in the Civil War era. 

 The Holocaust Museum is such an important place, and one that I have always wanted to visit. I ran across this book, and I was very excited to learn about the process of getting this museum started. I was very interested in learning how the items in the museum were acquired and what they were. I really wanted to love this book and be extremely interested in it. I just wasn't. I could not get into it. Maybe it was something going on in my life that kept me from really getting into it and enjoying it, so I don't want to be negative about it. The facts were great, but I just couldn't get into it.