Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
i had a lot of fun reading about some of the princesses (or the equivalents of one), but i think there was just too much info in a relatively short book. i would've preferred more info about a select few princesses than a bunch of random tidbits about many.
emotional
funny
informative
slow-paced
Starts slow, but turns into a very lengthy and humorous episode of Stuff You Missed in History Class. Definitely recommended for feminist history buffs.
informative
fast-paced
"Well behaved women rarely make history" is a quote that is famous for its misappropriated concept as well as who said it (contrary to many internet sites it does not belong to Eleanor Roosevelt, but a Harvard historian named Laurel Thatcher Ulrich). First, it was used to remark that many of the dutiful puritan women did not have a lot of personalized history because what they were doing was standard behavior for the time; however, it took on its own life as a call to arms of women breaking societal expectations.
This book, "Princesses Behaving Badly" by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, both reaffirms the idea as well as comments on how even extraordinary women sometimes have their legacies buried, famous cases in point Emperor/Empress Wu and Hatsheput whose successors did their best to bury the achievements. It serves as a neat little introduction to many historical women of note, some of whom you may have heard of and many more you haven't. Its chapters are brief and pithy, which can be the book's selling point as well as its major downside depending on who reads it. I found the gossip magazine style of the biographies irritating or subversive at alternating points.
A great point of note is that this book does not limit itself to the insanity that is European royalty, although they would have had more than enough material for a book if they had. The princesses here range from Kublai Kahn's formidable niece, a South American slave turned conquistador's advisor, the tenacious ruler of Ndongo, and more. Likewise, while most of the examples come from the last few hundred years, largely due to earlier records being notoriously hard to compile or verify, and unlike other historical non-fiction, McRobbie is usually careful to detail supposition from fact.
The downside is that McRobbie's magazine article writing style does not often use the practice of citing the provenance of these facts. For example, in the Khutulun chapter, she discusses a theory about the female warriors in Mongolian culture, which comes from Jack Weatherford's "The Secret History of the Mongol Queens" and apparently the finished edition lists it in the bibliography, but I feel it deserved a mention in the text when directly taken from another historian's opinion and first hand research. Also the amount of attention given to said historical people varies from chapter to chapter, with some notable figures being given a few paragraphs to others pages and some princesses grouped in chapters for one arbitrary trait when they could have just as easily been arranged by time or country for all the difference it made.
And that is essentially the dividing opinion of the book. For a reader who is just getting into the subject and wants an encyclopedia-like variety with basic facts, this is a great introduction. It's perfect as a coffee table book, an opener for conversation with "did you know that..." in small talk, or bathroom reader. However, major history nuts will probably just skip to the bibliography section and go straight to the sources that provide a more in depth and historically thorough narrative. In my opinion, I wouldn't have known all of the women described. The ones I had read about were still entertaining and the ones I didn't have sparked a curiosity in me.
And that is really the best reason to recommend it.
This book, "Princesses Behaving Badly" by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, both reaffirms the idea as well as comments on how even extraordinary women sometimes have their legacies buried, famous cases in point Emperor/Empress Wu and Hatsheput whose successors did their best to bury the achievements. It serves as a neat little introduction to many historical women of note, some of whom you may have heard of and many more you haven't. Its chapters are brief and pithy, which can be the book's selling point as well as its major downside depending on who reads it. I found the gossip magazine style of the biographies irritating or subversive at alternating points.
A great point of note is that this book does not limit itself to the insanity that is European royalty, although they would have had more than enough material for a book if they had. The princesses here range from Kublai Kahn's formidable niece, a South American slave turned conquistador's advisor, the tenacious ruler of Ndongo, and more. Likewise, while most of the examples come from the last few hundred years, largely due to earlier records being notoriously hard to compile or verify, and unlike other historical non-fiction, McRobbie is usually careful to detail supposition from fact.
The downside is that McRobbie's magazine article writing style does not often use the practice of citing the provenance of these facts. For example, in the Khutulun chapter, she discusses a theory about the female warriors in Mongolian culture, which comes from Jack Weatherford's "The Secret History of the Mongol Queens" and apparently the finished edition lists it in the bibliography, but I feel it deserved a mention in the text when directly taken from another historian's opinion and first hand research. Also the amount of attention given to said historical people varies from chapter to chapter, with some notable figures being given a few paragraphs to others pages and some princesses grouped in chapters for one arbitrary trait when they could have just as easily been arranged by time or country for all the difference it made.
And that is essentially the dividing opinion of the book. For a reader who is just getting into the subject and wants an encyclopedia-like variety with basic facts, this is a great introduction. It's perfect as a coffee table book, an opener for conversation with "did you know that..." in small talk, or bathroom reader. However, major history nuts will probably just skip to the bibliography section and go straight to the sources that provide a more in depth and historically thorough narrative. In my opinion, I wouldn't have known all of the women described. The ones I had read about were still entertaining and the ones I didn't have sparked a curiosity in me.
And that is really the best reason to recommend it.
This book provides a brief introduction to many interesting royal women throughout history along with some current royals, and royal imposters. I'm pretty sure I would never of heard of most of these women if not for this book (even as someone who reads a lot about history) so I appreciate that.
I felt that the book was too long. I think I would have preferred a book maybe half the people and more in depth looks into each of them. However, like I said, I don't think I would have heard of most of the women if they weren't included in this book, and that would be a shame to miss out on them.
I felt that the book was too long. I think I would have preferred a book maybe half the people and more in depth looks into each of them. However, like I said, I don't think I would have heard of most of the women if they weren't included in this book, and that would be a shame to miss out on them.
A more grown up version of the 'Rebels Girls' books that are growing in popularity, this well laid out book has divided its girls into loose categories. Each category has one or two detailed stories, and a couple of less in depth ones. All in all a fantastic read, probably not one that I'll read cover to cover again but I'll definitely dip in and out of it.
I received an e-book of this one from Quirk Books for Quirksgiving, but opted to listen to it as an audio book and I am glad I did. This book highlights the fascination that society has with the princesses and then recaps stories of those real life princesses that aren’t what we imagined. Some stories were a bit graphic, but all interesting. I enjoyed the concept of this book and the history that went along with it.