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caffeine_books's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Their deaths altered the course of Western Civilization in the 20th century and yet so little is known about them, they are often a footnote in the history books and/or a caricature. This book does a marvelous job of fleshing out who the Archduke really was beyond the caricature of a man - a man who was a devoted father and husband. A man who willing signed away the throne of Austria to his nephew so he could marry his wife. He was seen by those who knew him, as a man who would respected tradition, yet wanted to modernize his country when he ascended the throne. The world will never know what kind of Austria and world we would have had, if he would have lived. Much like JFK assisantion many theories have evolved as to why he was allowed to visit Sarajevo and why there wasn't more protection. A fascinating read.
covertocovergirl's review
5.0
The first victims of World War I.
I always knew that the Archduke's assassination was the catalyst that caused The Great War and the death, violence and destruction that followed. Shockingly I didn't know that his wife was also assassinated...??? Real life star-crossed lovers that's for sure. The cruelty they endured to be together is truly incalculable, even in death, downright disgusting! For shame on so many people, especially on Emperor Franz Josef and Prince Alfred de Montenuovo, the cruelest of the imperial court ringleaders. How it all ended for their children and extended family is heartbreaking but I have great hope in the end justice will be done for their remaining heirs and descendants!
This blurb from the book says it all:
"......but one constant remained: the devotion shared by Franz Ferdinand and Sophie to each other and to their children.
Beneath the cool exteriors the couple were "Franz" and "Soph," two people brought together by forbidden love. Their marriage became a refuge against the cruel court, they lived quietly, this pair of imperial outcasts, finding pleasure in their family. Surrounding their children with love and attention, they tried to atone for the difficulties they faced as morganatic desendants. To the Imperial House of Habsburg, the trio did not exist; to Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, the children became the centre of their increasingly isolated world."
This was a very engaging story made even more so because it truly is a fascinating and tragic but important bit of history that reshaped our world.
I always knew that the Archduke's assassination was the catalyst that caused The Great War and the death, violence and destruction that followed. Shockingly I didn't know that his wife was also assassinated...??? Real life star-crossed lovers that's for sure. The cruelty they endured to be together is truly incalculable, even in death, downright disgusting! For shame on so many people, especially on Emperor Franz Josef and Prince Alfred de Montenuovo, the cruelest of the imperial court ringleaders. How it all ended for their children and extended family is heartbreaking but I have great hope in the end justice will be done for their remaining heirs and descendants!
This blurb from the book says it all:
"......but one constant remained: the devotion shared by Franz Ferdinand and Sophie to each other and to their children.
Beneath the cool exteriors the couple were "Franz" and "Soph," two people brought together by forbidden love. Their marriage became a refuge against the cruel court, they lived quietly, this pair of imperial outcasts, finding pleasure in their family. Surrounding their children with love and attention, they tried to atone for the difficulties they faced as morganatic desendants. To the Imperial House of Habsburg, the trio did not exist; to Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, the children became the centre of their increasingly isolated world."
This was a very engaging story made even more so because it truly is a fascinating and tragic but important bit of history that reshaped our world.
leighannsherwin's review
4.0
Over a hundred years ago the murder of a happily married couple literally changed the course of history. This is the story of thecArchfuke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Their marriage was forbiddenbas Sophie was not of royal blood but simply an aristocrat a former lady in waiting to royalty. But the couple were in love and determined to marry and they finally succeeded in 1900. Despite the happy marriage that produced three children poor Sophie was often humiliated forced to sit at the back of the room walk behind her husband letting others of royal blood take prescident over her. But their love was strong enough to survive. Attitudes did soften toward them toward the end of their lives, but sadly their funeral brought out more pettiness in the royal house. Overall This was a good read. It was a bit dry in places but mostly is a story of a great love between two people, their love of their children and the promise of what might've been had the plot in Sarajevo not succeeded. I have a slightly better understanding of how their deaths led to the war although it's still a bit murky. Most heartbreaking is how the assassinations led not only to the horrific wars and bloodshed of the twentieth century but the tragedy of what happened to their children. The children were kicked out of their beloved family home with next to no mementos of their parents and childhood deemed property of the state even their clothes were searched to ensure they weren't stealing from the government. The two sons were kept in a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War starved and separated out for especially heinous treatment by their captors. Their children forced to join the Hitler youth and to fight for Germany. But all three surviving children emerged stronger than before. The son's lives were cut short due to their treatment at the camps, the daughter lived a long happy life. It was a on amazing story of a loving couple and their children, a well balanced story told with help of those who knew them best despite a few dry parts it was a fascinating look at a time in history and a look at an event that literally changed the world forever.
bookwormmichelle's review
5.0
Fantastic! I was expecting to like it--love Greg King's work and this is a fascinating topic that lots of us know a little about, but not much. This was great--well-written, sympathetic, full of stuff I had NO IDEA about, well-researched, compelling. It had never even occurred to me to wonder what happened to Franz Ferdinand's children. Extremely well done, I could hardly put it down.
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