Secrets of the Gotha

by Ghislain de Diesbach

For this witty account of the European nobility, Ghislain de Diesbach has taken as his inspiration that most illustrious of social registers: the Almanch de Gotha, first published in 1764 and still on the shelves of all who look back with nostalgia upon "that happy period.when the monarchic principle was so firmly anchored in people's minds that it seemed impossible for a country to exist unless there was a sovereign, emperor, king, prince, or grand duke at its head."

The author, himself the scion of a princely family, has inherited a clear perspective of the main thoroughfares of history, and a great knowledge of its byways. He approaches his subject with a light touch, even at times with irreverence.

Genres: Nonfiction

392 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Ghislain de Diesbach, né au Havre, salué comme un des meilleurs biographes actuels, est l'auteur chez Perrin de L'Histoire de l'émigration, Madame de Staël, Necker, La Princesse Bibesco, La Double Vie de la duchesse Colonna, Un esthète aux enfers : Philippe Jullian. Son Proust a obtenu le Grand Prix de la biographie de l'Académie française.

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad reference book, though any information post-1950 is quite dated now. Wish there was a bibliography. I did not read all sections, but the ones I did read were very good. The book has very little to do with the Almanach itself

[Jenni Wiltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kept running into this book when I browsed the bibliographies of other books. I ignored it the first few times – the title sounds pretty gossipy, right?

But my curiosity got the better of me. Running short of reading material during the COVID-19 outbreak, I found a cheap used copy online and ordered it. And you know what? I’m really glad I did. Even though you need to take everything here with a grain of salt, this is a fast, fun overview of the royal families of Europe, told in a brisk, matter-of-fact style without all the boring parts.

This book had some of the most concise and easy-to-understand introductions to particular countries and territories I've ever seen. Ever been confused by a description of the Holy Roman Empire? Ever wondered how the hell the Brunswick and Hanover families got so intertwined? Confused about Mecklenburg-Schwerin versus Mecklenburg-Strelitz? Read the first bits of their chapters. Diesbach actually makes it easy to understand complicated multi-hundred-year histories in a few sentences or, in the case of the Holy Roman Empire, paragraphs. Major kudos.

The main drawback with this book is the lack of description about what the author ferreted out from the Gotha as opposed to information that was already published. In the first chapter, there’s a great quote about why such a dry, tedious genealogical tome is valuable: “Between the lines, beneath the dry catalogue of names, titles and dates, are hints of endless tales of mystery, tragedy and scandal, which throw new light on the Olympus where these demi-gods reigned, and prove that they were far less conventional than the court painters let us think” (18). But nowhere in the book does Diesbach say which scandals we can see between those lines. I would have liked to see an example of this in action – comparing birth and marriage dates to see who got it on before marriage or who was a really early preemie, or something like that. But there’s no mention of how Gotha entries actually inform the stories he gives us. Seems like a missed opportunity.

I won't say too much more since I did a write-up with my favorite tidbits exclusively for TheGirlInTheTiara's Patreon supporters.

If you can find an inexpensive used copy, this is definitely worth adding to your collection.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of the German overclass in the 19th century. Explains how the Gotha works (and what it doesn’t do), summarizes many lines, and includes twenty-two fold-out tables and many illustrations. The author thoroughly humanizes the subject and the scattered anecdotes are often wildly funny. My favorite opening line of almost any book: " ‘For me, mankind begins with barons,’ Prince Metternich used to remark benevolently."