Throughout history, royal dynasties have dominated countries and empires around the world. Kings, queens, emperors, chiefs, pharaohs, czars - whatever title they ruled by, monarchs have shaped institutions, rituals, and cultures in every time period and every corner of the globe. The concept of monarchy originated in prehistoric times and evolved over centuries right up to the present. Efforts to overthrow monarchies or evade their rule - such as the American, French, Chinese, and Russian revolutions - are considered turning points in world history. Even today, many countries retain their monarchies, although in vastly reduced form with little political power. One cannot understand human history and government without understanding monarchs and monarchies. This fully-illustrated encyclopedia provides the first complete survey of all the major rulers and ruling families of the world, past and present. No other reference work approaches the topic with the same sense of magnitude or connection to historical context. Arranged in A-Z format for ease of access, World Monarchies and Dynasties includes information on major monarchs and dynasties from ancient time to the present. This set: includes overviews of reigns and successions, genealogical charts, and dynastic timelines; addresses concepts, problems, and theories of monarchy; provides background and information for further research; highlights important places, structures, symbols, events, and legends related to particular monarchs and dynasties; includes a master bibliography and multiple indexes.

This fully-illustrated encyclopedia provides the first complete survey of all the major rulers and ruling families of the world, past and present. No other reference work approaches the topic with the same sense of magnitude or connection to historical context.

This new reference is a comprehensive guide to the major monarchies of the world from ancient Egypt to the present day, consisting of chronological tables setting out monarchs' names and years of rule, other titles, lineages, and authentic sobriquets; plus information on abdications, depositions, interregna, regencies, and co-regencies. This book is the most accurate, reliable, and up-to-date work of its kind available.

And counselors, primogeniture, taxation, warfare, and royal weddings. The volumes are illustrated with b&w illustrations, maps, and inset boxes. Each entry includes a short list of further reading. The set is suitable for high school and beginning undergraduate students and the general reader. Annotation 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

War and austerity, unrest and revolution: the institution of monarchy has remained stalwart through every challenge levelled at it, but just what is its role and how secure is its future in our modern society? At the beginning of the twentieth century, monarchy was by far the most common form of government: emperors sat on the thrones of Germany, Austria–Hungary, Persia, Japan, China, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, while there were kings of Bulgaria, Serbia, Italy, Romania, Greece, Korea and Cambodia. After he lost his throne in 1952, King Farouk of Egypt predicted that by the end of the century there would be only five kings: the kings of hearts, aces, clubs and spades, and the King of England. That prediction has not come true, for there remain monarchs across the globe. The number of monarchies has appreciably diminished, yet the idea continues to have allure. In Unsteady Crowns, historian A.W. Purdue explores the important role played by monarchies as agents of continuity, guarding and representing the national ethos, and brings the story up to date in a fully revised second edition, exploring the roles of celebrity, rivalry, and much more in monarchies worldwide.

"Until the 1960s, it was widely assumed that in Western Europe the 'New Monarchy' propelled kingdoms and principalities onto a modern nation-state trajectory. John I of Portugal (1358-1433), Charles VII (1403-1461) and Louis XI (1423-1483) of France, Henry VII and Henry VIII of England (1457-1509, 1509-1553), Isabella of Castile (1474-1504) and Ferdinand of Aragon (1479-1516) were, by improving royal administration, by bringing more continuity to communication with their estates and by introducing more regular taxation, all seen to have served that goal. In this view, princes were assigned to the role of developing and implementing the sinews of state as a sovereign entity characterized by the coherence of its territorial borders and its central administration and government. They shed medieval traditions of counsel and instead enforced relations of obedience toward the emerging 'state'."--Provided by publisher.

This volume offers the first comprehensive look at the role of women in the monarchies of the ancient Mediterranean. It consistently addresses certain issues across all dynasties: title; role in succession; the situation of mothers, wives, and daughters of kings; regnant and co-regnant women; role in cult and in dynastic image; and examines a sampling of the careers of individual women while placing them within broader contexts. Written by an international group of experts, this collection is based on the assumption that women played a fundamental role in ancient monarchy, that they were part of, not apart from it, and that it is necessary to understand their role to understand ancient monarchies. This is a crucial resource for anyone interested in the role of women in antiquity.