Christina, Queen of Sweden: The Restless Life of a European Eccentric

Great read! I really enjoyed this!

Wow, a superb and scholarly biography. Contrary to current styles of biography the author disdains to preface her work with an exculpatory psychological assessment of Christina that would soften our judgement of her. Christina appears to be a deficient personality profoundly lacking in self-esteem but deluded as to her weak nature due to her royal status. She liked to think of herself as being a worldclass dissembler and manipulator. But more often than not she was blind and self-deluded. In my opinion, her lesbianism, rejection by her mother and her probable genital deformity--all things that would cause excrutiating humiliation and self-loathing (at that epoch) contributed to her blithe self-deception and admiration for dissemblers. As more than one person wrote-(I paraphrase)- the queen was very blustery but was in truth a timorous person. Her vanity was insatiable. She flattered herself that her's was a naturally queenly and magnificent nature. But it most certainly was not. The grotesque incident in the salon aux Cerfs tells us all about her and taints her for all eternity (although she would argue otherwise). The author is merciless! Uncomfortably, I couldn't help but see my pretentious younger self in Christina which made the book a little more involving for me. I've read other books on Christina years ago but don't remember finding her so pathetic so you should read other books on Christina for a more balanced view. The book us really well written and left me wanting more. I highly recommend this book and will look for any other works by this author. I bought this book on kindle but then purchased a hardcover version to add to my collection.

A first book for this author. I give it a 2 star - fair rating.It was difficult to get into reading this story. I kept putting the book down. It's dry. Many of the sentences run on and on. No one speaks like this in normal conversation. Also, it seemed like a Thesaurus was used to make things sound more impressive, but all that did was make the story's flow all choppy. Before purchasing the book, download a sample. This way you will know for yourself if you will be able to get through the book.This book is suited for research or for someone who just wants to know everything about Queen Christina. It's not suited for casual reading.Here are a couple of extracts:"The Princess , a young lady of generous circumference but, it seems, no great perspicacity, failed to recognize her prospective suitor. She mistook his interested approach for impertinence, declaring to her sister, in imperious French, ‘What intrusive people these Swedes are!’ Alas, among the eleven languages understood by the clever King, French was not the least.""It prevented her, too, from building up her collections in any systematic way. Though she did request specific books, to match her developing intellectual interests, her agents scouting for antiquities and works of art bought more or less at their own discretion, often sending back things that were not to Christina’s taste; ten paintings by Gerrit Dou, for instance, bought at considerable cost by her agent Silfvercrona in Holland, were soon passed on to Silfvercrona’s family. The Prague cornucopia did not change her approach to the northern schools of painting, though it contained many eloquent examples of it, but it did provide a concrete elaboration of the Renaissance ideas which had framed the minds of her own teachers. It was largely within that tradition that Christina was now forming her own view of the world."

Ms Buckley has researched the Queen and portrays her in her conflicted state. As a genetic progeny of the Hapsburg dynasty, Christina demonstrates mental and personality confusion. Ascending the throne of Sweden at age 6, she needed the "old men" that her Father had put into place to govern until she was of age. Christina turned her hate and narcissism towards her Father's friend and governor, Axel Oxenstierna. Christina's erratic behavior destroyed herself in her abdication and religious conversion, and cost Sweden a great deal. Christina hated being a woman and encouraged rumors of Hermaphroditism and lesbian behavior to avoid marriage.In adulthood, the Queen, in extravagance and without a throne, finally found a deep and companionate love with a Cardinal, close to the Pope. At last she desired to be a woman but refused the submissive sexuality of a woman.At the end she is to be hated for irresponsible and narcissistic behavior, but pitied as a fragile, unloved child of a mentally unstable Queen Eleonora of Hapsburg, and the grand Vasa King, Gustaf Adolph, with whom she only imagined equality.

Christina's story was morbidly fascinating, like watching a train-wreck. The author was clearly torn between wanting to be as sympathetic as possible, and wanting to wag her finger at the numerous self-defeating things Christina did. Christina isn't a likeable character. She's not laudable or clever or diplomatic, or any of the other saintly character traits she claims for herself. She's a deeply flawed person who, by dint of her birth, was given a platform she probably never should have had in the first place. At several points in the narrative I felt as though I was peeking in on something I shouldn't be seeing - as though revealing Christina's many flaws was somehow doing her a disservice. It's a testament to the author that I did feel that way, I suppose. Calling her 'eccentric' is a bit too kind, I feel...

Very drawn out hard to.get to grips withNothing was proved as her actions were no recorded

Well written about a most unpredictable lady, totally unsuited to any crown, especially Sweden.

Like Georgina Masson in a previous book, Buckley reveals the psychology of Christina, not just restless and eccentric, but so ahead of her times in some ways yet so with her times in others. Impulsive, emotional and passionate, spending beyond her means, in the end she overestimated her shrewdness and scheming in the treacherous political arena of the 17th century. Absorbing.

As described in add - but says property of Brighton Jubilee Library. I sure hope it isnt stolen.

Excellente biographie qui est celle qui domine le mieux le sujet assez ardu de l'érudition de la reine de Suède(qu'en était-il réellement dans le contexte de l'érudition européenne de l'époque, etc ?) Le portrait de Christine lui-même est assez critique : on souligne beaucoup ses défauts, politique peu fine, brutalité, vanité. Le plus intéressant de l'ouvrage est de remettre à jour un sujet classique, même un peu rebattu mais toujours d'actualité par son contexte européen.