Editorial Review

She was an Oscar-winning Hollywood actress; he the scion of Europe's longest reigning monarchy. The marriage of movie star Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier Grimaldi of Monaco (a romance ironically spawned by a chance, MGM publicity-driven photo op) was one of the 20th century's most enchanting fables come to life. Yet, in veteran Hollywood biographer J. Randy Taraborelli's retelling, (the first comprehensive chronicle of the royal couple's romance and quarter-century reign) their day-to-day struggle with romantic inertia and a legacy of familial dysfunction cast their fairy tale existence in a bittersweet light long before the 1982 automobile accident that took Grace's life. Read more

Reviews (28)

This book is better than 3.5 stars.
This book gets 5 stars for research, 5 stars for presentation (simply a photo of Grace in THAT wedding dress justifies a book existing) and 4 stars for a good read;It's not that it could have been any better, it's just that the story is ultimately sad. However, I think the subject matter was taken very seriously by the author, and unlike other reviewers here, I consider the thoughts expressed to be well thought out and supported by the material that was uncovered in the process, including that from interviews. What other material is ever likely to be uncovered on this subject?? This book is better than 3.5 stars.

The American Aristocrat who Became a European Princess
Like Jackie Kennedy, Grace Kelly was born to a very privileged life in Philadelphia and was a debutant before she was a Hollywood Star. Cool, poised, aloof, and classy she was the blonde counterpart to Kennedy's dark mysterious allure. But her fairytale life had no happy ending and despite its glamour was all too human.

princess grace
anyone interested in the life of grace kelly or the principality
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Subjects:  1. 1929-1982    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    7. Family    8. Grace,    9. Historical - General    10. Monaco    11. Motion picture actors and actresses    12. Princes    13. Princess, consort of Rainier I    14. Princesses    15. Rainier    16. Royalty    17. Systems Of Government    18. United States    19. Western Europe - History +    20. Biography & Autobiography / Historical   

Reviews (13)

Comme ci, comme ca
This is a very interesting book to read, what with the glitz and the glitter that the author presents.
Pretty good and fair-minded biography
While some "revelations" in this book should probably be taken with a grain of salt, overall, this is better than many Grimaldi biographies in that it is neither a hagiography nor a hatchet job. Glatt doesn't portray, say, Princess Grace as a saint, nor does he portray, say, Princess Stephanie as a monster. Glatt, though he clearly feels a measure of annoyance, even disgust, for some of the antics of the Grimaldi family, he also has compassion for them. For instance, when recounting one of the most salacious scandals to plague the family -- the videotape and photographs which showed Stephanie's husband making love to a Belgian stripper -- Glatt clearly feels bad for Stephanie (despite her appalling lack of judgement in latching on to the creep in the first place); she had really loved him and was genuinely hurt and humiliated by his betrayal.
"Royals" without the lies
John Glatt pens a more truthful version of "The Royals," with less favoritism and more fact. Admittedly this isn't the British royal family (who have provided us with entertainment for many years) but a lesser-known (and no less juicy) dynasty, the Grimaldi's of Monaco.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1923-    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Grimaldi family    7. Historical - General    8. History    9. III,    10. Monaco    11. Prince of Monaco,    12. Princes    13. Princesses    14. Rainier    15. Rich & Famous    16. Royalty    17. Western Europe - History    18. Biography & Autobiography / Royalty    19. Biography: royalty    20. Europe    21. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    22. Family    23. South East Asia   

Reviews (1)

Monte Carlo is more than a casino
The author has previously published works on Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, and Countess Tolstoy -- but also on Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, Ronald Reagan, and P.T. Barnum, so the reader may be forgiven for unfounded suspicions of tabloidism. The second half of this workmanlike narrative does, in fact, concern itself mostly with the lively affairs of the current younger generation but the reader may ignore all that (or the reader may try).Read more

Subjects:  1. 1923-    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Genealogy    6. General    7. Great Britain    8. Grimaldi family    9. III,    10. Monaco    11. Prince of Monaco,    12. Princes    13. Princesses    14. Rainier    15. Western Europe - History    16. Family    17. Grace   

Reviews (2)

Microstates deserve more analysis of this kind
This fascinating compendium fills an important gap in the area of political and cultural geography.One hopes for a further augmented second edition that covers in more detail the Order of Malta (a sovereign entity), the Channel Islands (which are personal dependencies of the British Crown, not part of the UK and EU - and beyond the jurisdiction of the UK Parliament) and perhaps such unusual European enclaves as Campione d'Italia (a piece of Italy within Switzerland that functions as a quasi-Swiss jurisdiction).
A Masterful Geographical and Historical Work
In researching sources for information on Malta for a forthcoming excursion after the Universala Kongreso de Esperanto next year, I came across Tom Eccardt's "Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe."I not only found everything I needed to know about Malta, but was fascinated by his treatment of the other six small states. This is an excellently researched work, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in geography or history.
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Subjects:  1. Europe    2. Europe - General    3. Guidebooks    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. States, Small    8. Western Europe - General    9. World - General    10. Andorra    11. European studies    12. Liechtenstein    13. Luxembourg    14. Malta    15. Monaco    16. San Marino    17. Vatican   

Subjects:  1. 14th century    2. 15th century    3. Art    4. Art & Art Instruction    5. Christian art and symbolism    6. Europe - Italy    7. Florence    8. History - Medieval    9. Italy    10. Medieval, 500-1500    11. Painting, Italian    12. Techniques - Painting    13. Medieval art    14. Painting & paintings    15. c 1000 CE to c 1500   

Reviews (1)

All About Grace...A Very Intimate Notebook
Sakol and Latham's "notebook", on the late Princess Grace of Monaco, is a fun checklist of the events that occured in Grace Kelly's remarkable life. The subjects revolving around and occuring in Grace's lifeare alphabetized, and rare pictures of the Hollywood Queen are a funaddition."Did you know-s?..." spice the book up and add to itsappeal.Overall it is a very appealing and stylish little trifle. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1929-1982    2. Acting & Auditioning    3. Actors    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. General    8. Grace,    9. Monaco    10. Motion picture actors and actr    11. Motion picture actors and actresses    12. Post World War II History    13. Princess of Monaco,    14. Princesses    15. United States    16. Biography: general    17. Grace    18. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000   

Subjects:  1. 1929-1982    2. 1949-    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Family    7. Grace,    8. Historical - General    9. Massy, Christian de,    10. Princes and princesses    11. Princess of Monaco,    12. baron,   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Europe - France    3. General    4. Individual Photographers And Their Work    5. Martha's Vineyard (Mass.)    6. Photography    7. Pictorial works    8. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    9. Monaco   

Subjects:  1. History    2. Monaco    3. Postage stamps   

Subjects:  1. 1923-    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Family    6. General    7. Grimaldi family    8. III,    9. Monaco    10. Prince of Monaco,    11. Princes    12. Princesses    13. Rainier    14. Western Europe - History    15. Grace   

Subjects:  1. History    2. Monaco   

Subjects:  1. 1954-    2. Americans    3. Customs & Traditions    4. Europe - Western    5. Homes and haunts    6. Monaco    7. Social History    8. Social life and customs    9. Sociology    10. Travel - Foreign    11. Western Europe - General    12. Westgate, Robert,    13. Westgate, Robert   

Subjects:  1. 1370 or 71-1425    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Catalogues raisonnes    5. Catalogues raisonnâes    6. Criticism and interpretation    7. History - General    8. Individual Painters And Their Work    9. Lorenzo,    10. Monaco,    11. Catalogues raisonnés    12. History Of Art / Art & Design Styles    13. Lorenzo    14. Painting & paintings   

Subjects:  1. Environmental Economics    2. General    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS   

Reviews (1)

Grace of Monaco A Living Legacy
This is by far the best book I have ever read about Grace Kelly, Princess Grace of Monaco. Steven Englund did a remarkable job in bringing humanity and depth to Princess Grace, from her acting days, to her marriage to the Prince of Monaco. What I found poignantly touching was how much Grace missed her acting days, and how she was not able to continue acting due to her role as Princess of Monaco. Grace was the epitome of a gem of a soul who sought to help the sick, the poor, and the downtrodden. She did so through charities she created, and set an example of the power of giving. If you are interested in reading a biography that is in depth, genuine, and filled with examples to follow, I highly recommend this book. Outstanding!Read more

Subjects:  1. 1929-1982    2. Biography    3. Children: Grades 1-2    4. Grace,    5. Monaco    6. Motion Picture Acting    7. Motion picture actors and actresses    8. Princess of Monaco,    9. Princesses    10. United States    11. Western Europe - History    12. Grace   

Reviews (5)

Boring text!
No I didn?t buy this book becourse of the boring text. Where are the emotions for a so emotionally place and racing!!! The photos are very nice.

F1 photography doesn't get any better than this
Rainer Schlegelmilch has covered Grand Prix racing since the early sixties and probably now has one of the biggest photo archives on the sport available. What distinguishes him from many of his colleagues is that he has always striven to capture the passion and the human side of a sport that is by nature highly technical. The Monaco Grand Prix is the last true road race that is left in the current Grand Prix calendar and its location, history and flair give it an air and mystique like no other race in the world. Schlegelmilch captures past and present, triumph and tragedy that make up the story of this most famous race in Formula One. The quality of the printed photos is outstanding and the book has a good balance of black and white and color images. The accompanying 3-language captions are short but informative. The book also includes full race statistics of all races up to 1998.

Only photos
Iy you like to read about MOnaco GP, this is not the book. If you wanna see great photos about Monaco GP, this is the book. There is one unforgivable flaw in this book: if it is a book about Monaco GP only, whythe author didn�t include absolutely nothing about the traditional MonacoF-3 Grand Prix also? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automotive - History    2. Motor Sports    3. Sports & Recreation    4. Transportation    5. Car racing    6. Monaco   

Subjects:  1. History    2. Monaco    3. Postage stamps   

Reviews (1)

MONTE CARLO - PLAYGROUND FOR THE RICH AND WANNABE
Just the name Monte Carlo brings images to our minds - James Bondian wins in the Casino (after all, how many casinos are bookended by Chanel and Cartier?), glamorous women, sunny clime, and, of course, money.To many it's a gambler's den or a shopper's paradise.Whatever the case, Monaco, really a tiny principality,continues to fascinate.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Architecture    3. Casinos    4. Celebrities    5. Collections Of Photographs    6. Europe - France    7. History    8. Monaco    9. Monte-Carlo    10. Monte-Carlo (Monaco)    11. Photography    12. Pictorial works    13. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Europe    14. Art / General   

Subjects:  1. History    2. Kings and rulers    3. Monaco   

Subjects:  1. France    2. France - History    3. History    4. History: World    5. Rural conditions    6. Social conditions    7. Var    8. Var (France)    9. Working class    10. European history: c 1500 to c 1750    11. History / Europe / General    12. Monaco    13. c 1700 to c 1800    14. c 1800 to c 1900