Dark History of the Kings and Queens of Europe

‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.’ William Shakespeare‘I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.’ Catherine the Great To many, Europe has been the pinnacle of world sophistication and culture. Yet beneath the power, the glamour, and the splendour there has also been scandal, mystery and skullduggery. Kings & Queens of Europe: A Dark History peels away the glory and the glitz to take a wry look at what has really gone on in the corridors, bedrooms and dungeons of European power from the fourteenth century up to the present day. Including Vlad the Impaler’s stakes, Elizabeth Bathory’s razor blades, Philip IV’s starvation of the Knights Templars, the man in the iron mask, many mad monarchs from Juana I the Mad of Spain to Ludwig II of Bavaria, zand the troubled life of Princess Grace of Monaco, Kings & Queens of Europe: A Dark History, is illustrated throughout and offers a lively, highly varied portrait of continental European monarchy. 'Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.' - William Shakespeare 'I shall be an autocrat: that's my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that's his.' - Catherine the Great To many, Europe has been the pinnacle of world sophistication and culture. Yet beneath the power, the glamour, and the splendour there has also been scandal, mystery and skullduggery. Kings & Queens of Europe: A Dark History peels away the glory and the glitz to take a wry look at what has really gone on in the corridors, bedrooms and dungeons of European power from the fourteenth century up to the present day. Including Vlad the Impaler's stakes, Elizabeth Bathory's razor blades, Philip IV's starvation of the Knights Templars, the man in the iron mask, many mad monarchs from Juana I the Mad of Spain to Ludwig II of Bavaria, and the troubled life of Princess Grace of Monaco, Kings & Queens of Europe: A Dark History is illustrated throughout and offers a lively, highly varied portrait of continental European monarchy.

Ron Haflidson places the theology of Augustine in conversation with contemporary authors, who warn of the dangers of abandoning solitude for constant (often technological) connection. Haflidson addresses an essential question that has previously been neglected: What difference does it make to the practice of solitude if one believes that even in the absence of any human company, God is always intimately present? For Augustine, solitude is a moral necessity: he recommends that we regularly retreat from the crowd into the depths of our conscience, where we can dwell alone in the company of God, and enter into dialogue before and with God about who we are and how we love. Throughout this book, Haflidson pairs close readings of Augustine with those of noted cartographers of our inner lives, literary greats including Jane Austen, George Eliot, Marilynne Robinson and George Saunders. This book explores what undiscovered possibilities may lie in solitude.