No comments about Patronymics in Denmark and England (Dorothea Coke Memorial Lectures in Northern Studies).

No comments about Provst Olaus Lund of Agerskov, Svendborg, Denmark, 1859.

No comments about Knowledge into Action: A Genealogy of Public Health Policy in Denmark and the United States 1975-2005.

No comments about A genealogy of Matthew and Suzanna Garrigues, who settled in Philadelphia about the year 1712, and their descendants ; with introductory notes of families ... England, Holland, Germany, and Denmark.

No comments about The families in Denmark and the United States of Christen & Sidsel Marie Madsen of Søonder Omme, Denmark.

No comments about From Denmark to Nebraska: Another Rask story.

No comments about Skals, Viborg, Denmark: A compilation of records : transcription of church records for 1701-1812, 1787 census, and 1801 census with name extractions from some land records.

No comments about Denmark Manor Lutheran and Reformed Churches, 1811-1907: Penn Twp., Westmoreland County, Pa.

No comments about Beyond the prairie wind: History, folklore, and traditions from Denmark, Kansas.

2 comments about A Family of Kings: The Descendants of Christian IX of Denmark.

1. King Christian IX's children went on to illustrious futures from an undistinguished beginning. The eldest daughter, Alexandra, married (the future) King Edward VII of Great Britain. His second daughter, Dagmar, married (the future) Tsar Alexander III of Russia. His oldest son became King Frederick VIII of Denmark. His second son, William, was elected King of Greece and became King George I. Christian's descendants sat on the thrones of England, Denmark, Norway, Russia, Greece and Belgium.

   This book is based entirely on published sources, but Aronson is a skilled writer and has written a smoothly-flowing narrative. The book is intended to focus on all of Christian's children, but ends up devoting most of its attention to Alexandra and Dagmar, who are the best-documented and (in many peoples' eyes) the most interesting. This is understandable, but by the same token it is a shame that more space was not devoted to say, Thyra, the youngest daughter, who gets so little attention. Other than that, the book's main flaw is that it really has no new information or insights to add to what has already been written. But Aronson does a good job of relying on huge numbers of published sources and the book is a good read.




2. Queen Victoria so dominated her time that the epoch is named after her. As monarch of the world's largest economic and military power, it's no surprise that her children and grandchildren married into nearly all the royal families of Europe, affecting history for generations to come.

   What's more surprising is that that the unprepossessing sovereign of a weak and relatively backwater continental kingdom achieved essentially the same feat. It's the story of this sovereign, King Christian IX of Denmark, and his family, that Theo Aronson tells in this excellent and revealing book.

   Prince Christian of Denmark was not expected to become king until a series of 'fortunate circumstances' made him heir in 1852. He succeeded to the throne in 1863. At his death in 1906, his children or grandchildren sat on the thrones of Great Britain, Russia, Norway, Greece and, of course, Denmark itself. Later generations of his descendants would add the thrones of Belgium, Spain, Romania, and Yugoslavia to the list, as well as the titular throne of Hanover. Christian's youngest son had been offered, and refused, the throne of Bulgaria.

   How Christian and his family achieved all this is just a part of Aronson's fascinating tale. Not a biography of the King himself, it is in fact a portrait of an entire family, including his daughters Queen Alexandra of Great Britain and Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia and their children. It is also a fascinating portrait of their times, and of the impact (great in some cases, limited in others) royal families can have on their nations and governments.

   Aronson paints Christian and his family as by and large sympathetic characters. Though imbued with a deep anti-Prussianism, they also tended to be unaffected, cheerful, approachable (once or twice with tragic consequences) -- in short, very different from the stuffy and pretentious scions of some other royal houses. It was a pleasure to get to know them, and to trace their lives and influences over the decades.