Story of the World, Vol. 4, Chapter 9

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Chapter 9 covered the Dutch East Indies in the first story and the fall of the Ottoman Empire through the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 in the second story. The first story was totally new information to me, but not the second one.

Red and white ribbon traditionally worn in Eastern Europe in March - martsishor

Red and white ribbon traditionally worn in Romania in March – martsishor

Why? Because it was not just Russia and Bulgaria fighting the Ottoman Turks. The coalition was led by Russia and included Bulgaria, but it also included Romania, Serbia and Montenegro. Continue reading »


Tuesday Tome Week 32 – Romanian History

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The title of my book this week was “O scurtă istorie ilustrată a românilor” written by Nicolae Djuvara, who is almost 100 years old. I picked up this book when I was in Romania in April. To be clear, it is in Romanian.

Romanian History

Just in case you are interested in reading it, this Romanian title has been translated into English and French. The English title is “A Brief Illustrated History of Romanians” and Amazon sells it, of course. Well, I should say that is the literal translation of the Romanian title. I see they chose “A Concise History of Romania” for the official title of the English version, translated and published in Canada.

Djuvara is a historian with many book titles to his name, so I can only assume that this English translation is the same as the Romanian title I read. If you are not confused yet, read on.

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Queen Anne of Romania Has Died

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Queen Anne of Romania passed away on August 1 and I feel very sorry. Although she was a very unusual queen, in that she never really reigned properly over Romania, she represented the monarchy in a very real way. The Communists removed her fiance, King Michael, from the throne in 1947, so she never really set foot in Romania until almost 50 years later.

Peles Castle - mom and children visiting

The kids and I in front of Peles Castle, one of the residences of the Romanian Royal Family.

Next Tuesday, I will publish a post about this book on Romanian history I just finished. The best part was the modern era, because I finally learned the real facts about the time just before Communism set in. And the royal family were a big part of that history.  Continue reading »