Moniek Bloks

Book News Week 31 – 27 July – 2 August 2026 Saint Olga of Kyiv, The Viking Queen: Saint or Savage? Hardcover – 30 July 2026 (UK) Book News Week 31 – 27 July – 2 August 2026 When We Ruled: ‘A history the world needs’ Paperback – 28 July 2026 (US) The Winte... See more

In 1853, the Crimean War broke out. By September 1854, the war was not going much to Nicholas’s frustration. Nicholas and Charlotte both fell ill, and one courtier wrote, “Lately, he seems more dejected every day; his face is worried, his gaze dull. His b... See more

The Austrian diplomat Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont and his wife, Dolli, were invited to the Peterhof. Dolli later wrote, “But there, too, was Sophie Urusova, this enigmatic figure, with her dazzling white and dispassionate beauty, at the sight of which the... See more

Countess Voss was a lady-in-waiting of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia, and she described the last days of the Queen in her diary. 1 July I was awoke very early at Gross-Giewitz by a courier with a letter from Schilden, who wrote in the K... See more

At Christmas 1809, the Prussian royal family was finally able to return to Berlin. They were greeted by delighted citizens. Louise had just given birth to her final child, Prince Albert. Her recovery was slow, and she planned to go to Mecklenburg for her ... See more