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Product Description
Mary (1662-94), daughter of James, Duke of York, heir to the English throne, then 15, is said to have wept for a day and a half when she was told she was to marry her cousin, William (1650-1702), son of William II of Orange (1626-50), Stadtholder of the Dutch republic, and Mary, eldest daughter of Charles I of England, who was eleven years older than her. In November 1677, on William's 27th birthday, they married in a private ceremony at St James's Palace. William was solemn, James gloomy, Mary in tears, and only King Charles appeared cheerful. This dual biography deals with both the 'life and times' of the monarchs, and with England's place in Europe. Interests of the subjects, outside the constitutional, are dealt with, as well as their personal relationships: William's rumoured homosexuality and Mary's hinted-at lesbianism; Mary's troubled personal relations with her father, James II; and the relationship between Mary and her sister and husband's successor Anne. The book also examines the personal and political relations between William and his uncle Charles II, and between William and Mary and Charles' illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth.
About the Author
John Van der Kiste has been writing for Sutton for many years, and his other books include A Divided Kingdom, The Romanovs, Once a Grand Duchess: Xenia, Childhood at Court, and Emperor Francis Joseph.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although theirs wasn't a very eventful reign in the big adventure sense, there was plenty going on and this book details it. Unfortunately, it was mostly wars against the French.
The book gives a very good insight into the personalities of the joint monarchs and their relationship. Relations between Mary and her father, James II, are explored in some detail and this is useful when compared to the same area covered in Maureen Waller's "Ungrateful Daughters". The latter makes more speculation, but the two books in conjunction illustrate a complex web of feeling.
In passing, the references to Queen Anne are also interestingly revealing for the same reason.
If you're interested in the period and its theatre, as I am, this is excellent research material that fills in some of the contemporary public perceptions.
The book did leave me with the feeling that there was more material to be explored in terms of the general social history of this reign and left me wanting just that bit more.
The book gives a very good insight into the personalities of the joint monarchs and their relationship. Relations between Mary and her father, James II, are explored in some detail and this is useful when compared to the same area covered in Maureen Waller's "Ungrateful Daughters". The latter makes more speculation, but the two books in conjunction illustrate a complex web of feeling.
In passing, the references to Queen Anne are also interestingly revealing for the same reason.
If you're interested in the period and its theatre, as I am, this is excellent research material that fills in some of the contemporary public perceptions.
The book did leave me with the feeling that there was more material to be explored in terms of the general social history of this reign and left me wanting just that bit more.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
William III was a rare superhero. His dad, infamous for his whoring & for a nasty coup-d'etat, died in 1650 when William was not even born. His mother did not care much for him, and the powers that be in the Netherlands grabbed their chance in robbing William of his hereditary 'Stadhouder'ship. A bad start in life if ever there was one. Fastforward to 1672. Louis XIV's 100 000+ strong army has blitzkrieged its way into the soft core of the Netherlands. The elite is clueless, the people rebel. William, an introverted young man without the slightest military or political experience, does not hesitate to claim leadership of not just the army (or what was left of it) but of the country at large. Rather than capitulating, he counterattacks, walking his army from Holland to Charleroi which he besieges. Admittedly, the siege was unsuccesful (arguably the whole offensive was madness) and the war would drag on for another 6 years, but William has shown what he is made of.
Fastforward to 1688. Again, Louis is poised to attack the Netherlands, again with help from England where the catholic James II rules. Rather than preventively flooding the Dutch water line & hiding behind the dikes, William borrows money from a rich jewish financier in Amsterdam, equips the largest fleet his country has ever assembled, embarks an elite army and invades England, kicking out James and patiently explaining the English how their true interest lies in allying with the Netherlands against the French - under his leadership. This first (and only) succesful invasion since 1066 is yet another example of William's incredible boldness.
William's impact on history is clearly enormous: he taught the English key skills like banking (which later helped them to outspend the French in any war), he stopped the French expansion and last but not least, he contributed materially to the demise of his own country of birth, The Netherlands, which simply was a size too small to participate in the European power struggle.
It is really a pity that so little is known about William the person. Unfortunately, this book does not help all that much. Both William and his wife Mary appear somewhat dull - I think in his case because he was such a closed person, and in her case most likely because she really was a bit dull.
This is not to say that this book is dull too - it is not. On the other hand, it could have been written a bit faster & more furiously. Still, recommended reading for anyone who wants to know more about this fascinating figure and his times.
Fastforward to 1688. Again, Louis is poised to attack the Netherlands, again with help from England where the catholic James II rules. Rather than preventively flooding the Dutch water line & hiding behind the dikes, William borrows money from a rich jewish financier in Amsterdam, equips the largest fleet his country has ever assembled, embarks an elite army and invades England, kicking out James and patiently explaining the English how their true interest lies in allying with the Netherlands against the French - under his leadership. This first (and only) succesful invasion since 1066 is yet another example of William's incredible boldness.
William's impact on history is clearly enormous: he taught the English key skills like banking (which later helped them to outspend the French in any war), he stopped the French expansion and last but not least, he contributed materially to the demise of his own country of birth, The Netherlands, which simply was a size too small to participate in the European power struggle.
It is really a pity that so little is known about William the person. Unfortunately, this book does not help all that much. Both William and his wife Mary appear somewhat dull - I think in his case because he was such a closed person, and in her case most likely because she really was a bit dull.
This is not to say that this book is dull too - it is not. On the other hand, it could have been written a bit faster & more furiously. Still, recommended reading for anyone who wants to know more about this fascinating figure and his times.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
My title comes from the blurb on the cover of this joint biography of William III and Mary II. It's basically accurate although I would recommend William & Mary by Tony Claydon and W. A. Speck as a better summary. Part of my problem with this joint biography is that not only had I previously read the 150 page joint biography by Claydon and Speck, I'd also read the 483 page joint biography by the van der Zees and biographies of William by Baxter, Robb, Troost and Claydon. Not surprisingly I didn't discover any new insights from Van der Kiste's joint biography. In addition, I was irritated by how little attention he paid to the Year of Disaster and its impact on William, which was enormous. Not only did it catapult the Prince of Orange into political power in the role of stadholder, which the Party of True Liberty had abolished only a few years earlier, it was responsible for William becoming what Winston Churchill described as a being "created for resisting the domination of France and the Great King." The desire to prevent another Year of Disaster was the primary motivation for William to invade England in 1688. As he told the States-General in 1691, he accepted the English crown "that he might be the better enabled more powerfully to assist his Allies, and more particularly this State, against the enterprise of France." Van der Kiste devotes only a few pages to this seminal event, and then spends almost as many pages going back and forth on William's sexual preference only to conclude "that even his closest friends were not sure of the truth." He could have spent one paragraph stating that there is no clear evidence as to whether William was heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual and then discussed how the rumors about his alleged homosexual affair with Arnold Joost van Keppel affected his reputation.
The concluding paragraph of this joint biography is what I like best: "Perhaps the final word should go to G. M. Trevelyan, who observed that unlike his wife the King `never sought the love of contemporaries or of posterity, and he has not obtained it; but he sought their welfare and freedom, and these he achieved.' . . . Industrious, wise and courageous, he was much more capable than his predecessors, was by far the most able monarch of the house of Stuart and was considerably underestimated as a sovereign. The achievements of his self-effacing yet intelligent and cultured Queen should likewise be duly recognized, and all credit accorded her for the influence she brought to bear on his character and the way in which he discharged his duties as King of England."
William and Mary: Heroes of the Glorious Revolution: The Heroes of the Glorious Revolution
The concluding paragraph of this joint biography is what I like best: "Perhaps the final word should go to G. M. Trevelyan, who observed that unlike his wife the King `never sought the love of contemporaries or of posterity, and he has not obtained it; but he sought their welfare and freedom, and these he achieved.' . . . Industrious, wise and courageous, he was much more capable than his predecessors, was by far the most able monarch of the house of Stuart and was considerably underestimated as a sovereign. The achievements of his self-effacing yet intelligent and cultured Queen should likewise be duly recognized, and all credit accorded her for the influence she brought to bear on his character and the way in which he discharged his duties as King of England."
William and Mary: Heroes of the Glorious Revolution: The Heroes of the Glorious Revolution
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