Royalty in Belgium

Book Categories: History, Leopold I, Leopold II, Albert I, Leopold III, Fiction, Franks, Habsburgs, European Royalty

History and Politics

A Throne in Brussels: Britain, the Saxe-Coburgs and the Belgianisation of Europe by Paul Belien. Looks at the history of Belgium and its royal family, and argues that both Belgium and the European Union are artificial states that could fall apart.

The Dining Nobility: From the Burgundian Dukes to the Belgian Royalty edited by Paul Janssens and Siger Zeischka. Looks at what the Belgian nobility ate from the Middle Ages to modern times. This book is in English and French. The French title is La Noblesse á Table.

Belgium: A History by Bernard A. Cook.

The Low Countries, 1780-1940 (Oxford History of Modern Europe) by E. H. Kossmann. This history of Belgium and the Netherlands is the first major study in English to treat them as nations in their own right, while placing them in a wider European and world context.

Historical Dictionary of Belgium by Robert Staellaerts. Highlights significant people, describes political and social institutions, and touches on Belgian culture.

A House Divided by Carl Strikwerda. Belgian politics before World War I.

King Leopold I

Charlotte & Leopold: The True Story of The Original People's Princess by James Chambers. The tragic true story of the doomed romance between Charlotte, heir to the British throne, and Leopold, first King of the Belgians.

My Dearest Uncle: A Life of Leopold, First King of the Belgians by Joanna Richardson. Biography. Out of print, but sometimes available from AbeBooks.

King Leopold II

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild. King Leopold II did not much care for his native land or his subjects. Even so, he searched the globe to find a colony for Belgium. When he found a suitable location in what would become the Belgian Congo, Leopold established a rule of terror. (This review © Amazon.com.)

King Leopold's Soliloquy: A Defense of His Congo Rule by Mark Twain. Criticism of King Leopold II is nothing new, as this sarcastic 1905 work proves.

The King Incorporated: Leopold the Second and the Congo by Neal Ascherson. Recounts King Leopold's exploitation of the Congolese and his efforts to conceal these atrocities from the rest of the world. Out of print, but available from Alibris.

Leopold II of the Belgians: King of Colonialism by Barbara Emerson. A 1979 biography of the unpopular king. Sometimes available from Alibris.

Leopold the Unloved: King of the Belgians and of Money by Ludwig Bauer. Published in 1934. Sometimes available from Alibris.

More Books About Congo

Children's Books

Leopold II: Butcher of the Congo by Tod Olson. Children's biography of the infamous Belgian king from the "Wicked History" series.

King Albert I

Albert: King of the Belgians by Evelyn Graham. An authorized biography, first published in 1929. Illustrated.

King Leopold III

Outrageous Fortune by Roger Keyes. King Leopold III was accused of treason for surrendering to the Germans in World War II, but Keyes says he was a scapegoat who saved the British from defeat in 1940. Out of print, but available from Alibris.

More Books About Leopold III

Fiction

All for Love by Dan Jacobson. It was a great European scandal: She was Princess Louise, daughter of King Leopold II of the Belgians. Her lover was Second Lieutenant Géza Mattachich. Ahead of them lay assignations, a duel, imprisonment, bankruptcy, madness.