{"product_id":"9781780726304","title":"The Lives and Deaths of the Princesses of Hesse","description":"Author: Frances Welch\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781780726304\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Octopus\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 12 Nov 2024\u003cbr\u003ePages: 288\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTHE TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BOOK OF THE WEEK\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNamed one of The Telegraph's \u003cb\u003e'Best Biographies of the Year 2024'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eQueen Victoria had forty-two grandchildren but the four Princesses of Hesse were held in her particular favour. After the sudden death of her daughter Alice, Queen Victoria took an obsessive interest in the marriage prospects of the four girls their mother had left behind, hoping this might secure for them a happy future. And each of the young women did indeed marry into a European dynasty: the Romanovs and the Hohenzollerns of Germany. However no one could have foreseen how the maelstrom of the twentieth century would bring tragedy and heartache to each one of them in turn. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on hundreds of previously unseen letters from the sisters as well as from their grandmother Queen Victoria, \u003ci\u003eThe Princesses of Hesse \u003c\/i\u003etakes us on a sweeping journey across the tumultuous landscape of the turn of the century - from the dramas of the Russian Court to the Russian Revolution, and through both World Wars in which the sisters often found themselves on opposing sides.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eBoth intimate and epic in scope, Frances Welch's biography sheds new light on the four sisters' lives, illuminating a remarkable period of history in the process.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'full of passions, royal peculiarities and misspelt letters...compellingly told' \u003cb\u003eChristopher Howse, \u003ci\u003eThe Daily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'Welch does a wonderful job of marshalling the different strands of this story, drawing on the sisters' chatty, gossipy correspondence, some of which has never been published. It grips you until the very last page' \u003cb\u003eThe Mail on Sunday \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'Frances Welch's elegant and intimate group biography returns us to the start of the 20th century, when Queen Victoria's favourite grand-daughters were scattered between Germany, England and Russia' \u003cb\u003eFrances Wilson, \u003ci\u003eThe Daily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'eye-opening' and 'harrowing' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Daily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'Welch brings the four princesses vividly to life' and 'will delight those who enjoy reading about the lives of royals' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'brings them vividly to life...a tonic...a gripping read' \u003cb\u003eHugo Vickers, \u003ci\u003eThe Oldie\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'Frances Welch has a gift for bringing royal figures to life, making us care about them and showing us how their stories interweave...this is both a deeply affecting story of four sisters and an informative bit of history' \u003cb\u003eYsenda Maxtone Graham, \u003ci\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'splendid', 'a fascinating family portrait', 'Welch creates a tenderly intimate portrait of the last, doomed Tsarina and her three German-born sisters' \u003cb\u003eMiranda Seymour, \u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'excellent, fascinating' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJane Ridley, Times L\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46720672661662,"sku":"ADS-9781780726304","price":34.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9781780726304.jpg?v=1776216513","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9781780726304","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}