Research!

Here's an addictive little book that I've read so many times it's literally fallen apart. Of course, it was cheap, crappy binding to begin with.

Bonuses:

Lots of cool anecdotes about major and minor royalty, from the famous to the obscure, in alphabetical order. If you're looking for a subject to write about, or just like to know more about the antics people get up to when they're held accountable for absolutely nothing, it's worth buying, reading, memorizing, and keeping forever.

Cautions:

1) I've found a number of inaccuracies, and I'm sure there are plenty more. For instance, Randall claims Anne Boleyn was bulemic, purging herself right there at the table during royal banquets. I assume this is his weird interpretation of a contemporary account that describes one of her ladies-in-waiting holding her napkin at the table, in case she wanted to "spit or do otherwise"--more likely blowing her nose or something a bit more benign. Things like people's dates of birth/death and number of children, etc. are also demonstrably wrong in places.

2) Several entries are given a very brief, cursory, even breezy summing up, while others go on and on (at least 3 separate entries divert to Queen Victoria, for whom Randall can be said to have A Thing).

3) Traces of sexism and homophobia. The publication date (1989) cannot excuse this entirely. People knew better even then.

In other words, it's not a scholarly source that can stand on its own, but it's a good place to start. This is where I first met Juana la Loca of Castile, Farouk I of Egypt, Henri III of France, John Brown, and many, many others who have since become my friends.

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