ROYAL DIARIES:KRISTINA

Kristina of Sweden received the 14th Royal Diary, the third written by Carolyn Meyer after Isabel and Anastasia. Kristina is a very interesting character, because she's an intellectual rather like Elizabeth I, but unlike Elizabeth, she is raised to be king, not queen. She learns masculine things like fencing and warfare, and once she tries it, she won't stop riding astride instead of sidesaddle.

Kristina's book and character are both quite interesting and I recommend giving this a read.

I don't have any talking points about the book itself, but rather about a comment Meyer makes in the epilogue. She says "Historians argue that, although she is the most discussed of all queens in history, second only to Cleopatra, Kristina actually achieved very little during her brief reign." There are three major problems I have with this. First, the entire point of the book was that Kristina was not a queen, but a king. Second, Cleopatra was not a queen either. She was Pharaoh. Third, I find it hard to believe that Kristina, no matter how interesting she actually was, is more discussed than everyone but Cleopatra. Um, Elizabeth I, anyone? I have had an interest in history since I was young and I had never heard of Kristina until I read this book. Granted, I aimed more at ancient history, but still, you come across plenty of big names even in basic studies and hers was not one of them. Very interesting woman, yes, but more discussed than everyone but Cleopatra? I think not.