Der Ling (whose Christian name was Elisabeth Antoinette), was born in Beijing in June 1885 and died in Berkeley, California in November 1944. She was a Manchu, the daughter of Yu Keng. Yu Keng was a member of the Manchu Plain White Banner Corps. After serving as Chinese Minister to Japan he was appointed Minister to the French Third Republic for four years in 1899. He was known for his progressive, reformist views, as well as his firm support of the Empress Dowager Cixi (29 November 1835 - 15 November 1908). Yu Keng's daughters Der Ling and Rong Ling (1882-1973) received a Western education, and studied dance in Paris with Isadora Duncan. Upon her return from France in 1903, Der Ling became the First Lady-in-Waiting and translator to Empress Dowager Cixi . She stayed at court until March 1905. This book appeared in 1911, just before the fall of the Qing Dynasty and chronicles Imperial life in the Forbidden City from a now disappeared age.

Francois-Ferdinand-Philippe-Louis-Marie d'Orleans, Prince de Joinville (14 August 1818 - 16 June 1900) was the third son of Louis Philippe, duc d'Orleans, afterwards king of the French and his wife Marie Amalie of Bourbon-Sicilies. He was notable as an admiral of the French Navy. He was born at the Chateau de Neuilly, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Educated for the Navy, he became lieutenant in 1836. His first conspicuous service was at the Bombardment of San Juan de Ulua, in November 1838, commanding the Creole, when he headed a landing party and took the Mexican general Mariano Arista prisoner with his own hand at Veracruz. He was promoted to captain, and in 1840 was entrusted with the charge of bringing the remains of Napoleon from Saint Helena to France.

A personal account of the life and character of Britain's longest-reigning monarch __________ This intimate, personal biography of Queen Elizabeth II tells the story of her remarkable life, reign and times, from a perspective unlike any other. Gyles Brandreth writes the Queen's tale candidly with grace and sensitivity from the view of someone who met her, talked with her and kept a record of those conversations. Brandreth knew the Queen's husband well and knows the new King and Queen Consort. Told with authority, a refreshing dose of humour and moving honesty from a totally unique viewpoint, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait is the must-have biography of the longest-serving monarch in English history, of a woman who represented not only her people but stood as an emblem of fortitude and resilience worldwide throughout her long life. Elizabeth II - what was she really like? What made her the person she was? By GYLES BRANDRETH: 'The writer who got closest to the human truth about our long-serving senior royals.' Libby Purves, THE TIMES __________

Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was executed on 19 May 1536. Her sister Mary, rumoured mistress to the monarch, lived on and survived the king's wrath. But this is not the end of the tale of the Boleyns and the British Royal family - their stories have remained entwined for almost 500 years, through countless wars, crises and triumphs. In this book, Amanda Harvey Purse delves into the archives to tell the remarkable story of a number of individuals who form part of the Boleyn bloodline, spanning the worlds of the military, art and politics. Among those featured are Robert Devereux, executed for treason after leading an army against the government in the early seventeenth century; Lettice Knollys, banished from the court of Elizabeth I after marrying the wrong man; and Cecilia Nina Bowes-Lyon, the grandmother of and godmother to Elizabeth II, who married Claude Bowes-Lyon and played a significant role in the convalescence of soldiers during the First World War.

*Includes pictures.
*Includes a bibliography for further reading.

"If I wasn't an actor, I think I'd have gone mad. You have to have extra voltage, some extra temperament to reach certain heights. Art is a little bit larger than life - it's an exhalation of life and I think you probably need a little touch of madness." - Laurence Olivier

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' British Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of Britain's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

Of all the great actors of the 20th century, none personifies acting royalty more than Laurence Olivier, and some of this is simply due to the fact that he was actually knighted in 1947, along with a lengthy list of other honors that include being named a life peer in 1970 and admission to the Order of Merit in 1984. To speak of The Right Honourable Lord Laurence Olivier is not a figure of speech but rather a fact. Of course, in addition to the literal sense of the term, there is undeniably a manner in which Laurence Olivier qualifies as acting royalty, as it is not for nothing that Spencer Tracy once referred to Olivier as "the greatest actor in the English-speaking world" (Bacall). It is also important to note that Tracy refers to Olivier not as a film or theater actor specifically, because much of Olivier's lofty standing derives from his ability to successfully navigate different mediums like stage, film, and television. The breadth of mediums in which he worked, the various roles he inhabited within them (actor, producer, director), and the formidable time span of his career lend Olivier's career a scope of perhaps unmatched magnitude.

Indeed, Laurence Olivier worked for so long and was so successful that few actors receive the level of visibility that he still enjoys, even more than two decades after his death. While his theatrical performances exist only as memories, his cinematic adaptations of several of Shakespeare's most famous plays remain the most canonical even to this day. Hamlet, for example, has been produced for the screen by several famous directors, but his version, released in 1948, is the most well-known and best-received. It is through his films that viewers also gain a full appreciation of his creative style, as Olivier assumed full authorial control (from actor to director to producer) over many of his films, particularly the Shakespearean ones. In this sense, it is appropriate to claim that Laurence Olivier was not only a storied actor but also an artist who worked best when enjoying full authority over his productions.

Laurence Olivier's career was incredibly decorated, but questions still remain regarding the relationship between his career and his life outside of the stage and screen. To what extent do Olivier's upbringing and personal life cohere with or complicate the reputation he cultivated through his body of work? Other aspects of his life that are consequential and are yet often overlooked include his strict childhood, his experience fighting in World War Two, his discreet sexual life, and his troubled marriage to actress Vivien Leigh.

British Legends: The Life and Legacy of Laurence Olivier examines the life and work of one of the world's most critically acclaimed actors. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Olivier like never before, in no time at all.