Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The United Kingdom of 1897 was a far cry from the realm Victoria had inherited in 1837. By the end of her reign, Victoria was known as the Grandmother of Europe having over thirty living adult grandchildren. #2 Princess Mary’s mother was Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, known in the family as May. Princess May was the eldest child and only daughter of Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge and Francis, Duke of Teck. Francis was the child of a morganatic marriage, meaning that he had no rights of succession to the Kingdom of Württemberg. #3 The family returned to England in 1885, and made their home at White Lodge in Richmond. Princess Mary Adelaide was well known for her kindness towards her neighbors and the poor. She was eager that her children learn an empathy with those less fortunate. #4 The match between Eddy and May was announced in December 1891. May was shy and aloof, but Queen Victoria liked her and thought she was suitable for Eddy. However, Eddy had a dissolute life, and May had misgivings about the match.

Princess Diana is seen as the first member of the British royal family to tear up the rulebook, and the Duchess of Cambridge is modernising the monarchy in strides. But before them was another who paved the way. Princess Mary was born in 1897. Despite her Victorian beginnings, she strove to make a princess's life meaningful, using her position to help those less fortunate and defying gender conventions in the process. As the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, she would live to see not only two of her brothers ascend the throne but also her niece Queen Elizabeth II. She was one of the hardest-working members of the royal family, known for her no-nonsense approach and her determination in the face of adversity. During the First World War she came into her own, launching an appeal to furnish every British troop and sailor with a Christmas gift, and training as a nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital. From her dedication to the war effort, to her role as the family peacemaker during the Abdication Crisis, Mary was the princess who redefined the title for the modern age. In the first biography in decades, Elisabeth Basford offers a fresh appraisal of Mary's full and fascinating life.

This is not a comprehensive study of every sexual quirk, kink and ritual across all cultures throughout time, as that would entail writing an encyclopaedia. Rather, this is a drop in the ocean, a paddle in the shallow end of sex history, but I hope you will get pleasantly wet nonetheless. The act of sex has not changed since people first worked out what went where, but the ways in which society dictates how sex is culturally understood and performed have varied significantly through the ages. Humans are the only creatures that stigmatise particular sexual practices, and sex remains a deeply divisive issue around the world. Attitudes will change and grow – hopefully for the better – but sex will never be free of stigma or shame unless we acknowledge where it has come from. Based on the popular research project Whores of Yore, and written with her distinctive humour and wit, A Curious History of Sex draws upon Dr Kate Lister’s extensive knowledge of sex history. From medieval impotence tests to twentieth-century testicle thefts, from the erotic frescoes of Pompeii, to modern-day sex doll brothels, Kate unashamedly roots around in the pants of history, debunking myths, challenging stereotypes and generally getting her hands dirty. This fascinating book is peppered with surprising and informative historical slang, and illustrated with eye-opening, toe-curling and meticulously sourced images from the past. You will laugh, you will wince and you will wonder just how much has actually changed.

Princess Margaret was one of the most controversial royal figures of the twentieth century. Widely admired as a young woman, she was famous for her beauty and charisma, but also for her sense of loyalty and duty. The charismatic Princess not only brought colour and sex appeal into an otherwise colourless royal family, but did much to help bring the monarchy and its attitudes into the modern world. In recent years, dogged by accidents and ill - health, much of the Princess's youthful vigour and charm, not to mention her hard work, has been forgotten. Following her death on 9 February, in the Queen's golden jubilee year, and poignantly close to the anniversary of George VI's death, the story of her life is once again front pages news. In this fully updated memorial edition of his acclaimed study, originally undertaken with the co - operation of the Princess and many of those closest to her, her authorized biographer Christopher Warwick looks again at the life and work of this enigmatic and individual royal figure, and brings her story to a close with her funeral in Windsor. Written with authority and insight, Princess Margaret - A Life of Contrasts is a fitting tribute to an exceptional, deeply complex woman. - This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Published one year on from her death, this new paperback edition of the acclaimed biography looks at this enigmatic and individual royal figure, and completes the story of her life. Author Christopher Warwick was the only author Princess Margaret ever co - operated with, a personal friend of the Princess and the only biographer to attend her funeral. Written with authority and insight, Princess Margaret - A Life of Contrasts is a fitting memorial tribute to an exceptional, deeply complex woman. One of the most controversial royal figures of the twentieth century, Princess Margaret was admired as well as vilified for most of her adult life. Described by the designer and hotelier Anouska Hemple as Witty, wicked and wonderful', this charismatic Princess not only brought colour and sex appeal into an otherwise colourless royal family, but did much to help bring the monarchy and its attitudes into the modern world. Adored younger daughter of King George VI and only sister of Queen Elizabeth II, Margaret was a pre - war princess whose world was hugely circumscribed by the strictures and protocol of another age, leading to conflict and misunderstanding in both her private and her public life. As one of the acknowledged beauties of her generation, Princess Margaret's appeal was so great that thousands at home and overseas would camp out in the hope of catching a glimpse of her. During the 1950s, her ill - starred love affair with the divorced fighter pilot, Group Captain Peter Townsend, laid the foundation for the Margaret legend'.

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Was the First World War really 'For King and Country'? This is the first full history of the monarchy's role.