Eleanor Herman – författare

Throughout the centuries, royal mistresses have been worshiped, feared, envied, and reviled. They set the fashions, encouraged the arts, and, in some cases, ruled nations. Eleanor Herman''s Sex with Kings takes us into the throne rooms and bedrooms of Europe''s most powerful monarchs. Alive with flamboyant characters, outrageous humor, and stirring poignancy, this glittering tale of passion and politics chronicles five hundred years of scintillating women and the kings who loved them.

Curiously, the main function of a royal mistress was not to provide the king with sex but with companionship. Forced to marry repulsive foreign princesses, kings sought solace with women of their own choice. And what women they were! From Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, who kept her position for nineteen years despite her frigidity, to modern-day Camilla Parker-Bowles, who usurped none other than the glamorous Diana, Princess of Wales.

The successful royal mistress made herself irreplaceable. She was ready to converse gaily with him when she was tired, make love until all hours when she was ill, and cater to his every whim. Wearing a mask of beaming delight over any and all discomforts, she was never to be exhausted, complaining, or grief-stricken.

True, financial rewards for services rendered were of royal proportions -- some royal mistresses earned up to $200 million in titles, pensions, jewels, and palaces. Some kings allowed their mistresses to exercise unlimited political power. But for all its grandeur, a royal court was a scorpion''s nest of insatiable greed, unquenchable lust, and vicious ambition. Hundreds of beautiful women vied to unseat the royal mistress. Many would suffer the slings and arrows of negative public opinion, some met with tragic ends and were pensioned off to make room for younger women. But the royal mistress often had the last laugh, as she lived well and richly off the fruits of her "sins."

From the dawn of time, power has been a mighty aphrodisiac. With diaries, personal letters, and diplomatic dispatches, Eleanor Herman''s trailblazing research reveals the dynamics of sex and power, rivalry and revenge, at the most brilliant courts of Europe. Wickedly witty and endlessly entertaining, Sex with Kings is a chapter of women''s history that has remained unwritten -- until now.

In this follow-up to her bestselling Sex with Kings, Eleanor Herman reveals the truth about what goes on behind the closed door of a queen''s boudoir. Impeccably researched, filled with page-turning romance, passion, and scandal, Sex with the Queen explores the scintillating sexual lives of some of our most beloved and infamous female rulers.

She was the queen, living in an opulent palace, wearing lavish gowns and dazzling jewels. She was envied, admired, and revered. She was also miserable, having been forced to marry a foreign prince sight unseen, a royal ogre who was sadistic, foaming at the mouth, physically repulsive, mentally incompetent, or sexually impotent—and in some cases all of the above.

How did queens find happiness? In courts bristling with testosterone—swashbuckling generals, polished courtiers, and virile cardinals—many royal women had love affairs.

Anne Boleyn flirted with courtiers; Catherine Howard slept with one. Henry VIII had both of them beheaded.

Catherine the Great had her idiot husband murdered, and ruled the Russian empire with a long list of sexy young favorites.

Marie Antoinette fell in love with the handsome Swedish count Axel Fersen, who tried valiantly to rescue her from the guillotine.

Empress Alexandra of Russia found emotional solace in the mad monk Rasputin. Her behavior was the spark that set off the firestorm of the Russian revolution.

Princess Diana gave up her palace bodyguard to enjoy countless love affairs, which tragically led to her early death.

When a queen became sick to death of her husband and took a lover, anything could happen—from disgrace and death to political victory. Some kings imprisoned erring wives for life; other monarchs obligingly named the queen''s lover prime minister.

The crucial factor deciding the fate of an unfaithful queen was the love affair''s implications in terms of power, money, and factional rivalry. At European courts, it was the politics—not the sex—that caused a royal woman''s tragedy—or her ultimate triumph.

In this fascinating work of popular history, the New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings and The Royal Art of Poison uncovers the bedroom secrets of American presidents and explores the surprising ways voters have reacted to their leaders’ sex scandals.While Americans have a reputation for being strait-laced, many of the nation’s leaders have been anything but puritanical. Alexander Hamilton had a steamy affair with a blackmailing prostitute. John F. Kennedy swam nude with female staff in the White House swimming pool. Is it possible the qualities needed to run for president—narcissism, a thirst for power, a desire for importance—go hand in hand with a tendency to sexual misdoing?

In this entertaining and eye-opening book, Eleanor Herman revisits some of the sex scandals that have rocked the nation''s capital and shocked the public, while asking the provocative questions: does rampant adultery show a lack of character or the stamina needed to run the country? Or perhaps both? While Americans have judged their leaders'' affairs harshly compared to other nations, did they mostly just hate being lied to? And do they now clearly care more about issues other than a politician’s sex life?

What is sex like with the most powerful man in the world? Is it better than with your average Joe? And when America finally elects a female president, will she, too, have sexual escapades in the Oval Office?

New York Times bestseller Eleanor Herman, author of Sex with Kings and Sex with Presidents, returns with another work of popular history, exploring the history of misogyny against women with power from Cleopatra to Kamala Harris.

Imagine Donald Trump as a woman, called Donna. Would Donna Trump have been viewed as blunt, honest, and refreshing? Would she have won the election?

Imagine Hillary Clinton as a man. Howard Clinton says and does the exact same things as Hillary. Would Howard Clinton have been portrayed in a thousand Pinterest images as a witch, stirring a cauldron or riding a broomstick? Would he have been called a bitch on countless T-shirts? Would his thoughtful, circumspect answers to media questions have been seen as inauthenticity, secretiveness, and untrustworthiness?

There is a particular kind of rage—let’s call it unadulterated bloodlust—usually reserved for women, especially women in power or vying for it. From the ancient world, through the European Renaissance, up to the most recent U.S. elections, the Misogynist’s Handbook, as Eleanor Herman calls it, has been wielded to put uppity women in their place.

In a story that is shocking, eye-opening, and a powerful force for change, Eleanor Herman’s signature wit and humor explores the patterns that have been operating for more than three thousand years—and are still operating today—against powerful women across the globe, including Cleopatra, Anne Boleyn, Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and more.

Each chapter analyzes a tried-and-true misogynistic method to keep women down, including: Her Overweening Ambition, Why Doesn’t She Do Something About Her Hair?, The Dangers of Female Hormones, The Alarming Shrillness of Her Voice, The Mysterious Unlikability of Female Candidates, She’s a Bitch and Other Animals, She’s a Witch and Other Monsters, and Her Sexual Depravity. Herman ends the book by looking forward, examining ways to rip up the Misogynist’s Handbook once and for all.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

One of Washington Independent Review of Books'' 50 Favorite Books of 2018 • A Buzzfeed Best Book of 2018"Morbidly witty." —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times"A heady mix of erudite history and delicious gossip." —Aja Raden, author of StonedHugely entertaining, a work of pop history that traces the use of poison as a political—and cosmetic—tool in the royal courts of Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the Kremlin todayThe story of poison is the story of power. For centuries, royal families have feared the gut-roiling, vomit-inducing agony of a little something added to their food or wine by an enemy. To avoid poison, they depended on tasters, unicorn horns, and antidotes tested on condemned prisoners. Servants licked the royal family’s spoons, tried on their underpants and tested their chamber pots. Ironically, royals terrified of poison were unknowingly poisoning themselves daily with their cosmetics, medications, and filthy living conditions. Women wore makeup made with mercury and lead. Men rubbed turds on their bald spots. Physicians prescribed mercury enemas, arsenic skin cream, drinks of lead filings, and potions of human fat and skull, fresh from the executioner. The most gorgeous palaces were little better than filthy latrines. Gazing at gorgeous portraits of centuries past, we don’t see what lies beneath the royal robes and the stench of unwashed bodies; the lice feasting on private parts; and worms nesting in the intestines. In The Royal Art of Poison, Eleanor Herman combines her unique access to royal archives with cutting-edge forensic discoveries to tell the true story of Europe’s glittering palaces: one of medical bafflement, poisonous cosmetics, ever-present excrement, festering natural illness, and, sometimes, murder.

De-a lungul secolelor, amantele regale au fost venerate, temute, invidiate și batjocorite. Ele au dat tonul modei, au încurajat artele și, în unele cazuri, au condus națiuni. În pat cu regele, de Eleanor Herman, ne conduce în sala tronului și în dormitoarele celor mai puternici monarhi ai Europei. Plină de personaje excentrice, umor irevențios și observații șocante, această poveste fermecătoare despre pasiune și politică reprezintă cronica a 500 de ani de aventuri palpitante.În mod straniu, principala îndatorire a unei amante regale nu era de a-i oferi regelui partide de sex, ci companie. Obligați să se însoare cu prințese străine respingătoare, regii căutau alinare lângă femeile pe care le alegeau singuri. Și ce femei! De la Madame de Pompadour, faimoasa metresă a lui Ludovic al XV-lea, care și-a păstrat poziția vreme de 19 ani în ciuda frigidității sale, la Camilla Parker-Bowles, care i-a uzurpat locul nimeni alteia decât strălucitoarei Diana, prințesă de Wales.Amanta regală de succes se făcea indispensabilă. Era gata să converseze cu regele plină de voioșie atunci când era obosită, să facă dragoste la orice oră când era bolnavă și să-i răspundă fi ecărui capriciu. Purtând masca încântării peste toate neplăcerile, nu era niciodată istovită, nu se plângea și nici nu suferea.De la începuturile istoriei, puterea a fost un afrodisiac plin de forță. Folosind jurnale, scrisori personale și depeșe diplomatice, Eleanor Herman dezvăluie dinamica sexului și a puterii, a rivalității și a răzbunării, la cele mai pline de strălucire curți ale Europei. Inteligent și amuzant, În pat cu regele este un capitol al istoriei femeilor care rămăsese nescris – până acum.

La curțile regale pline de testosteron – generali îndrăzneți, curteni cizelați și cardinali virili – v-aţi întrebat vreodată cum și-au găsit fericirea doamnele?- Anne Boleyn a flirtat cu bărbații de la curte; Catherine Howard s-a culcat cu unul. Henry al VIII-lea le-a decapitat pe amândouă.- Ecaterina cea Mare și-a omorât soțul idiot și a condus Imperiul Rus alături de o listă lungă de favoriți tineri și virili.- Maria Antoaneta s-a îndrăgostit de frumosul conte suedez Axel Fersen, care a încercat cu dârzenie să o salveze de la ghilotină. - Prințesa Diana a renunțat la garda de corp regală pentru a se bucura de nenumăratele aventuri amoroase, care, în mod tragic, au dus la moartea ei timpurie. În această continuare a bestsellerului În pat cu regele, Eleanor Herman dezvăluie adevărul despre ceea ce se întâmplă în spatele ușilor închise ale budoarului unei regine. Documentată ireproșabil, plină de povești captivante despre romantism, pasiune și scandal, În pat cu regina explorează viețile sexuale tumultuoase ale unora dintre cele mai iubite și celebre conducătoare.Regina, care trăia într-un palat opulent, purta rochii elegante și bijuterii strălucitoare, era invidiată, admirată și respectată. Dar de cele mai multe ori era, de fapt, o femeie nefericită, forțată să se căsătorească cu un prinț străin pe care nu-l văzuse înainte, cu un căpcăun regal care era sadic, cu spume la gură, respingător fizic, incompetent mental sau impotent sexual – iar în cazurile mai triste, toate cele de mai sus. Sătulă până peste cap de soțul ei, când o regină își lua un amant, totul era posibil – defăimare și moarte, dar și triumf politic. Unii regi își închideau pe viață nevestele infidele; alți monarhi, mai binevoitori, îi numeau pe amanții reginei prim-miniștri.Factorul crucial care decidea soarta unei regine infidele se referea întotdeauna la implicațiile politice ale relației amoroase. La curțile regale europene, tragedia reginelor și a soțiilor de prinți nu s-a născut din aventurile lor sexuale, ci din uneltirile politice.„Herman prezintă toate detaliile fierbinți și intense ale vieţilor scandaloase ale amanților regali... o carte extrem de captivantă.“Entertainment Weekly„... detaliile picante despre personaje uneori uitate... fac această carte să strălucească mai puternic decât bijuteriile coroanei.“Emily McCombs, Bust„Stilul lui Eleanor Herman este spumos.“Boston GlobeEleanor Herman este istoric, autoare a volumului În pat cu regele, bestseller New York Times. Printre alte cărți ale sale se numără: Mistress of the Vatican, King Peggy, Legacy of Kings, Blood of Gods and Royals. A avut numeroase apariții la National Geogra­phic Channel, The History Chan­nel și American Heroes Channel, pentru a oferi comentarii de specialitate pe diverse teme.