Books
Reviews Repository
You are viewing the book reviews repository page. The short reviews found here are from the blog's sidebar.
Christina Queen of Sweden
Veronica Buckley
Rating
Christina lived and died under her father's shadow. She was a clever woman who did not have the patience to cultivate her mind further. Her dependable chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna, came under her immature attacks on his judgement; her country floundered under the weight of her spending and selective generosity. She ordered the cold-blooded murder of her master of the horse - a particularly gruesome episode described stoically by the author. The long and short of it is that she was different from other women in Europe and swaggered around freely, spouting bombastic, naive nonsense simply because she could. She was a royal from the house of Vasa and did not have to fear overmuch the censure of men. And even though she could be and was exasperating, she secured for herself a place in history in a decidedly singular manner. Long live Christina, iconoclast extraordinaire!