Schloss II: More Fascinating Royal History of German Castles, Paperback

Schloss II is the author's second book about the fascinating royal history of German castles. It visits 25 more beautiful castles and palaces in north and central Germany and tells more colourful stories of the royal families that built and lived in them. Royalty have always been the celebrities of their day, and these stories from history can rival anything in modern-day television soap operas. Schloss II has more than sixty illustrations and fifteen family trees. It is intended to be light-hearted and easy to read and should appeal to anyone who likes history or travelogues or is interested in people's personal stories. Schloss is the German word for castle or palace, and you are never far from one of these in Germany. For most of its history Germany was not a single country but a patchwork of independent states, each with its own royal family. These dukes and princes were passionate builders and left behind a rich legacy in the thousands of schl sser (the plural of schloss) that cover the German countryside. The schl sser in this book were built over many centuries and range in time from an eleventh century imperial palace, built to house the travelling court of an emperor who ruled from the back of a horse; to a schloss which only recently reopened after it was destroyed in World War II, and is now home to a shopping mall. The colourful stories in the book include the princess from a tiny German state who used her body and her brains to become the ruler of the vast Russian empire; the prince who tried to run away from his bullying father and was forced as his punishment to witness the execution of the friend who had helped him; and the German Queen of England whose private life was so scandalous that she was refused admittance to her own coronation. The author's first book, called Schloss, is also available on Amazon.

The accidental discovery by Susan Symons of a portrait of Queen Victoria in her attic triggered her fascination with European Royal History. By reading about the Queen's colourful life story she realised that history need not be boring and that royal history in particular is both fascinating and fun. She says it is like a historical version of Hello magazine. Schloss II is Susan's second book on her lifelong interest in royal history. Each book visits 25 different historic castles and palaces in Germany and was written after she and her husband toured the German countryside. With dozens of royal families in Germany before the monarchy was abolished at the end of World War I, there are still many more castles and palaces to go, and Susan is already at work on her third book. Susan has an MA in Victorian Studies from London University. She lives with her family in Cornwall, in the far south west of the UK, which for her is the most beautiful part of the whole country.