Tanzanite takes a look at fiction book covers featuring Catherine the Great and her family.

I must say, the quality of royalty-related book covers has improved a lot recently. Among my favorites for July: The Plantagenets: History of a Dynasty by J. S. Hamilton, Kings of the North by Cecelia Holland, and Palaces of the World 2011 (admittedly, that last one is a calendar, not a book).

But here’s my favorite royal book cover of the month:

 

The Sixth Surrender by Hana Samek Norton is a novel about Eleanor of Aquitaine’s deadly dynastic chess game to safeguard the crowns of Normandy and England for her son John.

This is one of the best historical fiction covers I’ve seen in a long time. So many historical novels aimed at women these days show headless/faceless women in costumes that appear historically inaccurate. The woman on this cover actually has a face (gasp). I’m not an expert on 13th century costumes, but her clothing at least looks accurate. This is an attractive cover that suggests a suspenseful plot about a capable woman.

So far the book isn’t receiving great reviews at Amazon, but the cover still makes me want to read it. What do you think of this book and/or its cover? Is there another new royal book cover that you prefer?

There are some good royalty book covers this month. My runner-up pick for the book with the best cover is The Sultan’s Shadow by Christiane Bird. Pretty, isn’t it?

But this is the cover that appeals to me most this month:

 

Shadow of the Swords is a novel about the 12th century sultan Saladin, who finds himself at war with King Richard the Lionheart during the Third Crusade. The cover appeals to me because it looks like a movie poster or video game cover image. I think that’s a good way to capture the attention of younger readers and show that history can be interesting.

What do you think?

This month’s new royalty book covers are overall very nice. Many of them are based on historic portraits or other works of art.

My runner-up choice for the month’s best cover is Writing to the King by David Matthews because it’s more colorful than some of the others, and it perfectly suits the book’s topic (medieval political poetry). However, my favorite cover of the month is this one:

 

Frederick II: The Wonder of the World by Richard Bressler is a biography of Holy Roman Emperor Frederik II (1194-1250). Condemned by the Pope as the Antichrist, he led the Sixth Crusade while under excommunication. He protected Jews and Muslims in his realms, married three times, and wrote a classic work on falconry which is still in print.

Obviously Frederick did not lead a boring life, and the book’s attractive cover appeals to me. I’d like to read this biography. Would you?

Of all this month’s new royalty book covers, I think this is the best:

 

Child of the Morning by Pauline Gedge is a novel about Egypt’s female pharaoh, Hatshepsut. The cover of this new paperback edition appears to be a slightly altered version of the book’s original 1977 cover.

I think it’s beautiful. Do you like it?

This month brought a big crop of new royalty book covers featuring “headless” women. To be specific, by my count: two covers with headless women, two covers with eyeless women, and three covers featuring the backs of women’s heads. (Who on earth finds Queen Elizabeth l’s back more interesting than her face?)

So I think this cover is refreshing:

 

Anastasia’s Secret by Susanne Dunlap is a young adult novel about Grand Duchess Anastasia, one of the daughters of Russia’s last tsar.

As you can see, this cover allows Anastasia to show her face. Of course, that’s not the real Anastasia, but it’s nice that someone took the trouble to make the model look like her. The white dress, pearls, and long hair are all reminiscent of photos of Anastasia and her sisters.

For instance, here’s Anastasia (on the left) and her sister Maria:

 

You can see more pictures of the grand duchesses at Wikimedia Commons. Because they died so young, many of the photos have a haunting quality, and I think the cover of “Anastasia’s Secret” captures a little of that feeling. Well done.

When you look at this month’s new books about royalty, which cover jumps out at you and says “buy me”? For me, it’s this one:

 
The Tudors: The Complete Story of England’s Most Notorious Dynasty by G. J. Meyer tells the story of “the sinners and saints, the tragedies and triumphs, the high dreams and dark crimes” of the royal Tudor family.

There isn’t anything particularly innovative about this cover, but I think it’s visually striking, and it makes me want to buy the book even though (heaven knows) I already have plenty of books about the Tudors.

Looking at it more closely, I like the fact that Elizabeth I is shown in front of her father, suggesting that she was more important — I’ll bet that would not have pleased the obsessively son-seeking Henry VIII.

It’s also nice that we can SEE both monarchs’ faces. The only thing missing is one of Henry’s ears. Is it possible that the “headless person” cover fad is finally fading?

Do you like this book cover? Have any other new royal books covers caught your attention this month?

Again this month there aren’t many new books about royalty, but I think most of the new books’ covers are pretty good. My favorite is this one:

 

The Meiji Restoration by Alistair Swale tells how real imperial rule was restored in Japan in 1867 under Emperor Meiji. I think this cover is colorful and unusual, and gives you a bit of a feeling for the times. I can’t help noticing the man with the flamboyant mustache and his debonair friend. The emperor seems disgruntled with them both. A cover that makes you start imagining storylines is a good cover, I think.