Anyone who loves scandal, particularly the juicy dish on
royalty, will inhale this gossipy account by British writer Shaw
The Mammoth Book of Tasteless Lists. In a style reminiscent of
low-end tabloids, the author presents a litany of negative and
sometimes disgusting details about the personal lives of the men
and women who ruled Britain, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Spain,
Portugal, Poland and Austria. Leaving the late 20th century mostly
behind his only mention of Charles and Diana is in the
introduction, the author concentrates instead on royal misbehavior
back to the 1700s. Entertaining overall, many entries are
indisputably not for the faint of heart, such as the truly gross
story of Russia''s Peter the Great "`Great'' was generally a
recognition of power or brute strength, no matter how they lived,
how many people they had killed or how repulsive they were",
described by Shaw as a "paranoid sadist." This tsar was an
alcoholic who tortured people for fun and once forced an attendant
to bite into the flesh of a corpse. This chronicle is replete with
royal sexual activities, including those of the Bourbons of France,
whom Shaw credits with possessing "extraordinary appetites." Irony
is Shaw''s strong suit, which lends a great deal of humor to often
humorless anecdotes. For example, he notes that Spain''s King Philip
IV fathered 30 illegitimate children "but being a good Catholic
always felt bad about it" and forced his wife to have sexual
relations three times daily. Like Michael Farquhar''s A Treasury of
Royal Scandals..., this irreverent and amusing exposé of royal
indiscretions will appeal especially to those who like their
history "lite." Illus. not seen by PW.
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