Customer Reviews

Kings of the Hellenes: The Greek Kings 1863-1974

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This book provides an excellent overview of the history of the Greek monarchy.

How exactly did the Greek people come to be reigned over by a Danish prince and his heirs? Did a King of Greece really die from a monkey attack? The story of the Greek monarchy has a good mixture of everything that intrigues the typical royal-watcher, and Van Der Kiste tells it well.

You might find it refreshing that, in the chapters dealing with World War One, Van Der Kiste doesn't take a typical (jingoistic) pro-Allied stance. He presents the Hellenic involvement in that war from a Greek royalist perspective.

If the book is lacking, it's in the final chapters. As the author points out, a historian can only do so much justice to a topic as fresh as the royal family's current standing. The subject of the Greek monarchy in the past 60 years could fill another book.

Overall, this is a fine addition to Van Der Kiste's body of work, and a good starting point for anyone researching the subject.

A nice little book about the history of the Greek Royal Family. Throughout many books about the Balkans, WWI, and WWII, I have read about all seven Greek kings. It was a pleasure to finally read about why Constantine and Paul ruled during several breaks. The Greeks threw out their kings regularly, and the two above ruled several times.

This also clears up how the Greeks were persuaded to fight in WWI. The Allies made them an offer they couldn't refuse. The Allies, particularly Greaat Britain fought Germany because of the guarantee for Belgium's borders. Well, the Allies violated Greek borders by landing troops on the coastline without the consent of the legal Greek government and then overthrew the king. They interfered with the Greek's government neutrality.

I wish the book would have went into the reign of Otto, the Bavarian first king of Greece. I also wished it would have gone into more depth on the end of the Constantine II's reign. This would have cleared up more on Greek history for me. Otherwise, this was a nice written book.

This is a wonderful work. I am very interested in Royalty and I find Mr. Van Der Kiste's work very informative.

As a 1st generation greek-american I was initially very excited to read this, but found it very difficult to get through. I waited chapter after chapter, hoping it would flow better but found it difficult to get through. It's such a shame as I've got every reason to read it.