Princesses Behaving Badly, Linda Rodriguez McRobbie
Princesses Behaving Badly, Linda Rodriguez McRobbie
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Princesses Behaving Badly
Real Stories from History Without the Fairy-Tale Endings

Author: Linda Rodriguez McRobbie

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Unabridged: 10 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/19/2013

Synopsis

You think you know her story. You’ve read the Brothers Grimm, you’ve watched the Disney cartoons, you cheered as these virtuous women lived happily ever after. But the lives of real princesses couldn’t be more different. Sure, many were graceful and benevolent leaders—but just as many were ruthless in their quest for power, and all of them had skeletons rattling in their royal closets. Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe was a Nazi spy. Empress Elizabeth of the Austro-Hungarian empire slept wearing a mask of raw veal. Princess Olga of Kiev murdered thousands of men, and Princess Rani Lakshmibai waged war on the battlefield, charging into combat with her toddler son strapped to her back. Princesses Behaving Badly offers minibiographies of all these princesses and dozens more. It’s a fascinating listen for history buffs, feminists, and anyone seeking a different kind of bedtime story.

About The Author

Linda Rodriguez McRobbie has written for the Boston Herald, Christian Science Monitor, CNN Money, US News & World Report, and Mental Floss. She lives in London with her husband, son, and cat.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Miranda

Nevertheless, here are the stories of real princesses and real women.We all know the stories of Ariel, Belle, Cinderella and Snow White...but their fluffy stories aren't nearly close to the truth. What about the Warrior princesses? The Usurpers? The Schemers and the Survivors?What about......more

Goodreads review by Sasha

An interesting premise, but not really all that well executed. First, and most tellingly, a few of the "real" stories are based on mythology or folklore with absolutely no proof of their existence and say as much. Why create a book of real stories and go down that path? It especially irked me in the......more

Goodreads review by Jane

Where I got the book: ARC from LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program. A book club read. First of all, this is not a "serious" history book. I gather some readers have had problems with the lack of academic gravitas so if you're looking for stories of princesses with copious endnotes, stop right now and......more

Goodreads review by Jessica

I received this book for free from the publisher (Quirk Books). I give this book 4.5 stars which rounds up to 5. This was such a fascinating read. It contains mini-biographies of different real life royals (princesses, empresses, sultanas etc.) from around the globe, and throughout history. Some of......more

Goodreads review by Kat

My review is based on two things: 1.) Based on listening to the audio version 2.) The introduction by the author asserted that she wanted to debunk the Disney princess idealism by sharing real stories of real princesses. The structure of the book was disjointed and contradictory. The author grouped t......more

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