Royal Pains: A Rogues' Gallery of Brats, Brutes, and Bad Seeds

by Leslie Carroll

The author of Notorious Royal Marriages presents some of history's boldest, baddest, and bawdiest royals.

The bad seeds on the family trees of the most powerful royal houses of Europe often became the most rotten of apples: uber-violent autocrats Vlad the Impaler and Ivan the Terrible literally reigned in blood. Lettice Knollys strove to mimic the appearance of her cousin Elizabeth I and even stole her man. And Pauline Bonaparte scandalized her brother Napoleon by having a golden goblet fashioned in the shape of her breast.

Chock-full of shocking scenes, titillating tales, and wildly wicked nobles, Royal Pains is a rollicking compendium of the most infamous, capricious, and insatiable bluebloods of Europe.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Royalty, Historical, European History, Tudor Period

416 pages, Paperback

First published February 4, 2011

About the author

I used to tell people that I was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx; but the truth is that apart from the stellar education I received at the Fieldston School in Riverdale, much of who I am was shaped by my two grandmothers, who encouraged me to follow my bliss long before it became the sort of catchphrase you find on tee-shirts and new-age tchotchkes. My East Side grandmother took me to FAO Schwarz, the New York City Ballet, and afternoon tea at the Plaza Hotel, where I dreamed of becoming another Eloise. My West Side grandmother took me to the Central Park carousel and the zoo and treated me to colorful paper parasols and gummy, lukewarm pretzels from the vendors whose wares my East Side grandmother deemed too "dirty" for human consumption.

There are writers on both sides of my family, and although I always loved to write, I never anticipated that it would become my profession. I had wanted to be a ballerina; and though my club feet were corrected at birth (from the stilettos I adore now, you'd never know) and my short Achilles tendons made my toes turn in (corrected at the age of 9), I was never going to end up en pointe.

About a year later, I decided to become an actress when (if?) I grew up, and I never looked back. I majored in Theatre at Cornell University, worked in summer stock, and took classes with a couple of acknowledged masters. I performed a lot of Shakespeare and other classics in New York parks, basements, church choir lofts, and the occasional Off-Broadway theatre; then founded and ran my own nonprofit theatre company for several years. And when things got slow, and I found myself working three survival jobs simultaneously (one of them as a journalist and editor), I decided it was time to pursue an additional creative avenue.

Fast forward a decade. I'm now a multi-published author in three genres, as well as a freelance journalist. And I've also adapted a number of classic texts (Ivanhoe; The Prisoner of Zenda; The Scarlet Pimpernel; Mark Twain's The Diaries of Adam and Eve) for the stage. I began writing women's fiction and historical fiction simultaneously, but my first published novel was the urban romantic comedy Miss Match in 2002. In 2005, as I continued to write about feisty female New Yorkers, my first historical novel was published under the pen name Amanda Elyot. While keeping those literary plates spinning I made my historical nonfiction debut in the spring of 2008.

In what I laughingly refer to as my spare time, I'm still a professional actress, working when the scripts and the roles excite me.

I'm such a native New Yorker that I still don't have a driver's license, "Big Sky Country" means Central Park, and the farthest I've ever been from the Upper West Side for any great length of time was my four-year stint upstate in Ithaca, at Cornell, known for its rigorous academics and its equally harsh permafrost.

My birthday falls on the same day as two of my heroes—F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jim Henson. So I reread The Great Gatsby every year and number Miss Piggy among the great actresses of her generation. My favorite color is deep hydrangea blue, and it just kills me that it doesn't look good with red hair.

I live in Manhattan with my husband Scott—who is my hero and everything I ever dreamed of. For the past couple of years we've been considering an addition to the family in the form of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Reviews

[Lucy Bertoldi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me ask you something...how important is it for you to learn about historical figures when reading history? Are you one of those people who strictly wants timelines with just a mere mention of names- OR- do you mostly crave facts and details on people of the past? If you tend to lean on the latter, Leslie Carroll’s books are perfect for you!

After finishing Royal Pains, I felt completely satiated- a definite history fill that I am still raving about. Royal Pains is history bliss for anyone wanting to know up to the very last detail on notorious historical figures. EXCEPT that this time Carrol focuses on the brutes of history.

Yep, Royal Pains is filled with royals that were decadent, unbelievably brutal, carnal and destructive in every way. Some parts were incredibly gruesome to read but nonetheless; this is the history. It’s still unbelievable to me that some of those brutal acts were either condoned or extremely difficult to prosecute! Although I was shocked to learn about some of these historical monsters, I have to admit that some of their behaviours were so astonishing that I had to keep on reading with the hope that they would have somehow redeemed themselves. But no! Brutes till the very end!

The absolute worst for me was Erzsebet (The blood countess). This woman from a young girl was Evil incarnated. I can’t possibly think of anyone (in any time in history!) that compares to her- an absolute monster! Catching up to her is the runner-up Mr. Cruel himself, Ivan The Terrible; he actually ties with Vlad the Impaler...Are you getting the picture here? Royal Pains had me in a trance. I’ve never read so much detailed history written this way-I was captured from the beginning!

And, for a bit of respite from the barbarians found in Royal Pains, the crème de la crème of narcissists are presented. Two of my favourites being: Lettice Knollys and Pauline Bonaparte...oh the joy! If these two didn’t make the cut for brutality, they certainly aced the part of blatantly immoral. Just when you think you’ve read all that there is to read on these ladies...surprise, surprise- there’s more! And then the list of brutes and pains goes on. (The ‘good old days’ does not apply).

Royal Pains is a fascinating read- a one-of-a kind history book that will feed you details by the ton. I love reading about historical figures but I can never get enough info on these. It’s not the case with Leslie Carroll’s books! This author knows her history and brings the characters to life as she tells their story. I’ve found her style to be just as captivating and true to the figures in all her nonfiction works: Royal affairs, Notorious Royal Marriages and now, Royal Pains.

History’s people are Leslie Carroll’s expertise- She’s definitely my favourite historian author. Get the book- you’ll be SHOCKED.

Excellent!

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm all for breezy non-fiction works; I applaud popularizing historical works. But I'm afraid I can't really countenance phrases like "BFF" in a work of non-fiction, particularly in a section about Ivan the Terrible! This book goes too far in the breezy, popularizing direction and isn't helped by insufficient documentation. You don't want to clutter up a work of popular history with a ton of footnotes, I understand that. But if you're going to say things like "Her aunt Klara was a bisexual sadomasochist with a specific talent for flagellation", I, for one, would like some indication of where you got that singular piece of information. The bibliography is scanty--32 books to cover 11 people. There's an additional section for "articles", but since every article listed came from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, it would have been more honest just to list that source once in the book section. It's too bad, because there's some interesting information here (though the relative lack of documentation makes me doubt the accuracy of some of it) and some interesting, lesser-known--at least to me--subjects. On the whole, disappointing.

[V · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I'm sure it is completely intentional, the conversational tone of this book and (especially) the use of modern terminology and colloquialisms are a real turn off for me. I'm not saying that histories need to be written in stilted language, but this degree of informality undermines a work of nonfiction. Why should I believe that the author is doing a fair job in her analysis and summary of historical works if her writing sounds like a teenager's history term paper? The storytelling also seems somewhat disjointed within each chapter.

Apart from these stylistic elements (that I am sure would appeal to some people) the book is moderately informative and is a pretty quick read. It should have probably had a narrower focus, though. The gruesome exploits of the likes of Vlad the Impaler do not belong in the same book as tales of bitchiness and promiscuity in the 20th century, regardless of the fact that they both qualify as "notorious bad behavior among royal people."

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled onto this book somehow and after reading the Kindle sample I had to have it.

Some other reviews have criticized the 'chatty' and modern language in the book but I found it enjoyable; this isn't a history tome it is a chatty, gossipy books about Royals misbehaving. So pour yourself a cup of tea, or other beverage and settle in for a bit of Royal gossip with your new BFF.

The story that sucked me in was the Story of King John, brother of King Richard, son of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Damn he was evil...
I didn't love every individual story but they are all interesting.

Standard NF disclaimer: I didn't read the book in one sitting but instead would dip in and out around my other reading

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The scope of the book is pretty wide - you've got people like Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Báthory in the same volume as Pauline Bonaparte and Princess Margaret. Perhaps if the author hadn't put them in chronological order (which leads to some chapters being positively underwhelming after a particularly shitty royal was just discussed), and instead organized the biographies in a "crescendo of awfulness", it would have been better. Still, a fun read for people who like gossip and royal ~scandals.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering the generality of much of the information and the fact Carroll attributes sources in text, I didn’t really have a problem with a lack of foot or endnotes.

I know this history lite, a step remove from general reference, yet it very much felt like a cliff note version or a summary of other works. For instance, the chapter on Pauline Bonaparte is heavily drawn from Flora Fraser’s book. There isn’t anything wrong with it, after all Carroll attributes it, but it still feels like reading the Cliff notes. It’s good for Fraser too because I now want to read her book. It just feels, somewhat, as an easy way out if not for the writer, than for the reader.
I also am somewhat disappointed in the fact that several sources in the selected, and short, bibliography are general references sources. That really isn’t too much research.

But then this is history lite and I actually enjoy Carroll’s tone and chatty voice. So if you are trying to get someone interested in history this might work.

[Redsteve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak. This is one of those sensationalistic popular history books with a collection of fairly brief biographies of royal (not always reigning) figures with varying degrees of disreputable habits. The author's use of modern slang is more off-putting than humorous, and, in some cases I feel like her grasp of historical context is either weak, or she's deliberately dumbing things down to an unnecessary degree. Covering a span of around 900 years, Royal Pains only covers a dozen historical personages, and with that there is an extremely wide range of awfulness (from mass murderers like Vlad Tepes and Erzsebet Bathory, to usurpers and would-be usurpers, like Richard III and John I, to ones who are merely tragic, indiscrete, or kind of jerks). I get the feeling that the author just picked a dozen historical characters who seemed interesting to her. If you want a book of this type that is done well, I would suggest Johnson and Turner's The Bedside Book of Bastards. 2 stars.

[Deborah Pickstone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have known better, really; it is what it says on the tin. But nothing more! This book was written to sell, not for love of writing; a gimmick. It's quite well written - that is, readable, even enjoyably so - but it regurgitates every single bit of historical gossip on each of the nominated subjects and presents them as fact: this happened and that happened, not this was said to have happened etc. The only one who gets a break is poor Prince Eddie (Prince Albert Victor), who is included only because of rumours that he may have been Jack the Ripper and possibly homosexual. The other annoying aspect is that these 'royal' bad seeds are not all royal and are plucked from all over the place: Vlad the Impaler???? Clearly the book has been padded out with people from outside Britain with Prince Eddie, Princess Margaret and Ivan the Terrible all of similar ilk, apparently? Tsk.

I didn't read consecutively, I began with poor Prince Eddie (wondering what he did that was so bad) and found all the gossip but the author insisted he was a good guy, really. So, lulled into a false sense of security, I went to the beginning and found King John getting a right royal thrashing (along with everyone else in that story). I am pretty conversant with that era, so it was obvious to me that there was no research at all involved, just repeated rumours.

Published in 2011 the author can be forgiven for getting the physical details of Richard III wrong - but not for ignoring historical fact because it got in the way of her narrative; there is no mention of Titulus Regius, which act ratifies the declaration of the lords and the members of the House of Commons that Edward IV's children were illegitimate. That is, he didn't 'seize' the crown, it was consultative. Clarence, on the other hand - who would bother to defend him? He surely was a 'bad seed'. But where is Edward IV in all this? He DID seize the crown!

Pauline Bonaparte was not really a Royal - her crime was promiscuity, her inclusion due to rumours of incest with her brother, Napoleon. Nor was Erzsébet Báthory, who belonged to a Principality - but I guess she was too good to leave out? 'The Blood Countess' was probably insane. Also, the author needed to include some women......obviously? Princess Margaret does not sound to have been a very likable character - but she hardly preyed on young women, gouged them with pincers and froze them to death? Mass murder, spoilt arrogance and promiscuity do not form equal partners. The author seems to have little grasp of what she means by a Royal Pain.

As I said - a gimmick.

[Heather C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leslie Carroll certainly knows how to pick them! The baddies in this book were certainly scandalous, grotesque, or sometimes quite crazy. There were several figures who were very familiar to me and there were a couple that I had never heard of before .Even during the chapters about those who were familiar to me, I still found something new and interesting. They also spanned many different countries – and several were from countries from the former Soviet Union which were very obscure to me.

This is a very readable non-fiction book – it essentially reads like a novel. Leslie infuses her writing with wit and commentary that makes the pages just fly by and makes you sometimes outright laugh. I totally enjoyed reading this book. One thing that can be seen as a positive or as slightly negative (depending on your viewpoint) is the frequent usage of what I will call “thesaurus words”. Sometimes I was so overwhelmed by words that I really didn’t know (and I like to think I have a decent vocabulary). So either prepare yourself with a dictionary on hand or be prepared to just skip over them (or maybe you have a better grip on these words than I do!).

One improvement of this book over her previous release, Notorious Royal Marriages, was that there were fewer figures (chapters) – this lead to longer chapters and more little details about each individual being examined. It gives the reader more of a chance to get to know the royal before moving on to the next.

One small complaint I do have was sometimes it felt like we strayed away from the subject of the chapter to other characters for a little too long. It was important to give historical setting and to create a well rounded feel of the scene. It was also necessary to get to know some of the other important players as well, but sometimes I would find myself asking “where is this going?” One such example is in the Lettice Knollys chapter we spent a lot of time learning about Robert Dudley and his various flings and wives – and although Lettice would eventually fall into one of those categories – I felt like it was more than we needed about Dudley when I would want more about Knollys. It was still great to get the information and I learned a lot none-the-less.

Out of all of the baddies in this book, my favorites to read about were: Archduke Rudolf, Prince Albert Victor and Princess Margaret. Looking at this list, these all are from the more recent of the royals in this book and my choices could have likely been influenced by not being familiar with these more contemporary royals.

A wonderful read!

This book was received for review from the publisher - I was not compensated for my opinions and the above is my honest review.

[Carole Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows the lives of many historical royal pains. Every single one of them was horrid and lived extremely crazy lives. From Vlad the Impaler to Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. This novel gives great detail about these people; not only what they did, but their childhoods and possible reasons why they did what they did. Many had very abnormal and bad childhoods. Some were just psychotic and had something wrong with their mind. Since I'm taking General Psychology right now, I found this book very helpful and a way to place my knowledge of the mind. I made a game of trying to diagnosis those rotten apples.

I loved how Leslie Carroll told each tale. Yes, she seemed to drift a little bit and talk a little too much about other people. However, I think it was necessary to understand what that royal pain had to deal with. I especially loved Leslie Carroll's writing style. She had lots of puns and plenty of wit in every paragraph. This book is a wonderful book about some of the most shady characters of the past. I enjoyed each tale she brought to the table.

Being an honest person, I must tell what I disliked about the novel. I believe she should've had more order about how she placed each story. If I had written this fantastic book, I would've done a count down. Perhaps save the biggest royal pain for last. Or in chronological order. Something like that. Also, I hated how she tended to focus too much on someone other than what the chapter was about. For example, she would spend too much time writing about Vlad's father. I tended to drift off and not focus on the beginning.

Besides for those two things, I really adored this book! It's hard to write how much I liked it. Yes, it may have been formated as a history book, but it felt like little mini-stories. It's hard to example. If you haven't read this book yet, you should! You'll learn so much about the rotten apples in the past. It really makes you appreciate living in a civilized world where people don't generally do things like that. All-in-all this book has recieved 5 out of 5 stars. ^.^ I plan to read more of Leslie Carroll's books in the future.

[Pylgrym · Rating 4 out of 5]

Royal Pains is a fun, informative read. Biography lite. It can be approached as a series of short essays to spread the fun. It does have a time line, however. Two-thirds of the book consists of rounding up the usual suspects in England and all but one is well known to history buffs. The Europeans are actually even more notorious if possible. Leslie Carroll does an excellent job of sorting out truth from infamy as in the segment on Richard III where some of the more outrageous claims made by the Tudors via Shakespeare to boost their non-existent claim to the throne are debunked. He really didn't need any help in being a villain but politics is politics and the game of defamation was just as popular in its day as it is now. This is a well-written and researched book. If you are not a heavy-duty historian, you are likely to meet some new characters that will encourage you to further reading either through fiction or biography. I would suggest that the faint of heart avoid the chapters about Vlad, Ivan and the Blood Countess. They are way too graphic and disturbing. The English lopped off heads right and left for political gain and to get (or keep) the crown but they were not mass murders per se. Some of the naughtier characters are entertaining if hapless. Carroll is an exceptionally entertaining and irreverent writer.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really interesting, especially if you have an interest in historical fiction. It helps put characters that seem to appear in a lot of these books in a historical context so you can understand them better. The premise of the book was interesting, even if much of the information is almost common knowledge. The book is conversational in tone, which helps to keep if from being dry like a regular history book.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I get older I have found that I am more interested in history than when I was a teen. This was a great book for me since the chapters were focused on just one or two people and not an entire nation or international politics of the time. It was both fascinating and horrifying to read about what people throughout history would do just because they could, or thought they could, get away with it because of their status. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in history.

[한 카트 · Rating 1 out of 5]

For someone used to reading history books, this one was a throw off. Even if you choose to ignore the "slang" language used to describe events of the past, the lack of references is disappointing.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leslie Carroll, along with a few other authors (Michael Farquhar, Eleanor Herman), has this sort of cottage industry of anthologies of interesting historical anecdotes/figures. This one is, well, about the subtitle: brats, brutes, and bad seeds. Carroll has collected a group of famous "bad royals"-- people like Vlad the Impaler, Ivan the Terrible, and even Princess Margaret-- and put together a series of short biographies explaining why each selected person has been considered a royal pain.

The book, while entertainingly written, informative, and easy to read, does have a couple of flaws. Carroll occasionally makes elementary mistakes which make me question the accuracy of the rest of the book (although, to her credit, everything I've previously read about seems accurate). It's European-centric, although, again, Carroll is explicit about this: she's writing only about European royalty and she does not pretend otherwise. Finally, I don't really agree with some of her assessments. For example, I don't think Lettice Knollys exactly counts as royal, nor do I think Richard III was as bad as she's portraying him, particularly in context.

All of that aside, though, this is a very entertaining read, and definitely a good way to pass some time learning about some really rotten people.

[Zoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Briefly interesting entries on royal and loosely-royal "badly behaved" people. The author chose far too wide a category or definition of "bad seed." Vlad the Impaler, Lettice Knollys, and Princess Margaret do not belong in a book together for being difficult royalty.
There were two, maybe three, loosely formed categories: the killers, likely mentally disturbed, and total sadists (King John, Vlad, Ivan the Terrible, Elizabeth Bathory, Archduke Rudolf); the embarrassments, usually for being a disappointment, challenging the social supremacy of a reining monarch, and libertine sexuality (Lettice Knollys, Prince Henry, Pauline Bonaparte, Prince Albert Victor, Princess Margaret); and a subset of embarrassments who tried to take over from their reining relation(s) (King John, George Duke of Clarence).
There's occasional interesting trivia, though I'm somewhat skeptical of some of the facts as nothing was directly cited. As other reviewers point out, the writing is in a modern conversational style, using terms like "BFF." That's a good indicator of just how seriously to take this as a reference - that is, very little. If not for some of the more graphic descriptions of Vlad the Impaler's and Countess Bathory's favored pastimes, I'd say this was geared toward a Young Adult audience.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nymphomania, sibling rivalry, insanity, sadism...Each chapter of this book focuses on a different Royal - exploring in detail how their scandalous behavior shocked (and sometimes killed) their families and subjects.

The book includes:

*A countess whose skin care regimen involved bathing in the blood of virgins (Erzsebet Bathory of Hungary)

*A woman who consistently juggled multiple lovers at one time, including possibly her own brother, to the point that her doctors pleaded with her to practice abstinence to save her own life (Pauline Bonaparte)

*A crown prince who murdered his lover then committed suicide (Archduke Rudolf)

Bill and I kept stealing this book from each other. Rated PG-13 for some truly gruesome details.

I'm a little embarrassed I enjoyed this book so much.

I won this book through Firstreads.

[Jane Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a first reads book that I tackled as soon as I got it and it is a fun read. The first Bad Girl I read was princess Margaret Rose. When I was in college I was aware of her shenanigans but here I get all the details. I then went on to John I, if you don't know your history it can really make your head swim but Leslie Carroll has a way of cutting and arranging everything with wit and style. I have not finished the book but as soon as I do I must get the companion book of royal marriages. This is definately a "good read".

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING! I read it in less than 2 1/2 days! I couldn't put it down. BEST book I've read in forever!
I will be doing a review on my blog sometime this week regarding this book.

http://historicalfictionobsession.blo...

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and well written. Read about some I was familiar with and some I wasn't. And each person was in a small manageable chapter that didn't bog you down with too much unfamiliar history.

[Carolina Casas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, witty, entertaining.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting collection of stories. Unfortunately for me I knew a lot already about half the people in this book and not much new information about them for me. So if you are an avid historical reader, check the list of names below to be sure you're not already familiar with many of them.

There also were some historical interpretations that weren't included in this volume (such as Elizabeth Bathory's reputation being nowhere near as bad as it actually was - not really mentioned; mention of Mad King Leopold - who some historians believe wasn't mad but again maligned so others could take control)

I also wish there had been less focus on England (more than half were from that country) and while other countries were included there were certainly more that were not (Spain, Italy and Germany immediately come to my mind) which would have been nice.

Overall it was well written and I learned about some figures I wasn't as familiar with.

List of figures included:
- King John of England
- Vlad III of Wallachia (Vlad the Impaler)
- George Duke of Clarence and Richard III of England
- Ivan the IV of Russia (Ivan the Terrible)
- Lettice Knollys (cousin of Queen Elizabeth I of England)
-Elizabeth Bathory (Hungary)
- Prince Henry Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn (England)
- Pauline Bonaparte (mostly of France)
- Archduke Rudolf of Austria
- Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (England)
- Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowden (England)

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy Leslie Carroll's witty nonfiction reads. I always learn a new tidbit or two about the historical figures within the books. I am obsessed with all things royalty and her books quench that thirst perfectly. Royal Pains hooked me right from the Foreword. I was so curious to know all the sordid details. Even though I knew many of these figures and their misdeeds from previous readings, I still found that there were more lowdown and dirty deeds to learn about. This volume really did a great job of providing in-depth information in a very entertaining manner. The royals within led fascinating lives and I'm planning some additional readings on a few of them. I really enjoyed the last two entries, as they were more "recent" royals that I had not known as much about. They too were pains in their own ways and I found their stories very interesting. I look forward to reading more about them soon as well.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit, I really like sensationalised poppy history books. Of course, if the information is straight up wrong, I’m not going to like it, but I like it in bite-sized, easy chunks. It makes the topic a lot easier to digest for me, since more times than not, history overwhelms me. It’s too vast, and too complicated. My boyfriend is a whiz when it comes to ancient Rome, for example, but I couldn’t even tell you what Julius Caesar actually did. He was stabbed, or something, and July is named for him, maybe. I don’t know. I liked Royal Pains because it made the history more accessible to me, and while not all the stories interested me, the ones that did grab me were fabulous to read, even when the descriptions of the vicious torture methods had me rolling my eyes and having to Google “puppies and kittens” for a few minutes. My favourite chapters, funnily enough, were the bloodiest ones: Vlad the Impaler, Ivan the Terrible, and Elizabeth Bathory. I also enjoyed the chapter about Princess Margaret, even though she never impaled anyone’s head on a spike.

[Katherine Basto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had a winning combination for me: I enjoyed the book and learned a lot! Author Leslie Carroll takes us back to some of the bad seeds in history, beginning with the greedy and cowardly King John, Vlad the Impaler, Ivan the Terrible all the way to Princess Margaret.
This book held my interest and made me want to read more about these individuals. Certainly, the chapter on Napoleon's favorite sister and nympho, Pauline was riveting. Most of the chapters were fascinating and educational.
I like Carroll's writing style. She has a distinctive tongue-in-cheek way of going about the story that works. The one chapter that was hard to get through was the chapter on Vlad the Impaler. It was challenging to follow with all the different countries, duchies, principalities and who was who. It needed perhaps a bit of editing, but this one little issue is not enough to lower the stars. I enjoyed this book immensely and I'm looking forward to reading Carroll's other books. Well done!

[TJL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as with Royal Romances, I loved this book. Interesting history related in a way that makes you want to keep reading, and with a sprinkle of good humor as well. One of the things I've always liked about Leslie Carroll is that she's not afraid to say "we don't actually know how much of this is true or not" and that's something I deeply appreciate whenever I'm reading a history book.

On that note, this book had its fair share of gruesome bits- which is fine, because I'm fascinated by dark/gruesome history. But Jesus, I've done a lot of historical research into some dark shit before and even I was cringing at some of the stuff Dracula and Bathory and the others pulled. My God, they set the standard, man.

[Maneki Neko · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, often quite gruesome, collection of royal misbehavior, from 1215 with King John and the Magna Carta through Princess Margaret's Lolita behavior in the 1940s and 50s. Despite the fact that most of the characters in this book are English royalty, there are plenty of other countries represented here as well, notably Erzebet Bathory and Vlad the Impaler (my two favorite chapters.... man they were both extremely twisted people! Those chapters are really not for the feint of heart). Overall, this book was a lot of fun. While you certainly do have your run of the mill scandals, most of these people got away with actual murder, some dozens of times. I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves juicy scandal, with history that makes you smarter.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I was pretty hooked on this book. The format as a collection of profiles was kind of addictive. Sometimes her definition of “Royal pain” seems a little off but it doesn’t really matter. It’s not like there is some higher cohesive framework to this book- it’s a collection of Royal hot messes. Now from beginning to end the nature of what makes them a hot mess seems to change- I mean Princess Margaret’s affairs hardly seems on par with Countess Erzebet Bathory’s slaughter of peasant girls. All the same this is the kind of book that makes you go “huh- I never know that” and drop “did you knows” as you read. It’s been a while since I read a book that did surface level history that felt “fun” or escapist (okay even the chapters on some pretty sick puppies).

[Elie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a sucker for royal histories, and this was no exception. While I found some of the stories uninteresting, it was more due to my predilection towards the British royal family than anything else. Some of the writing is a bit dry, but the different profiles of each “brat, brute, and bad seed,” was eye-opening and had a detail I hadn’t heard before, even if I was well-acquainted with the subject.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an entertaining read. Although I strongly recommend that you do not read the chapters on Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Bathory while eating. You're welcome.

More seriously, this was an interesting take on royals (and near-royals) who were less than morally upright, and some who may have been as much victim as villain. It's not what I would call scholarly history, but it's a reasonably good read.