A throne in brussels pdf

Paperback , pages. Published February 1st by Imprint Academic first published May 1st More Details Original Title. Brussels Belgium. Other Editions 4. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about A Throne in Brussels , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list ». Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. Sort order. What a wonderful read and what an appalling story!

Fully researched and referenced, you find a new horror on almost every page, leaving you to gape - but almost never commented upon by the author. Only three times in the whole book of pages does he opine, witheringly.

I am amazed that Belgium hangs together, on a constitution that in effect cuts out almost half the population and I read this book because I wanted to know what happened to all the money made by Leopold I and II from the Congo. I am amazed that Belgium hangs together, on a constitution that in effect cuts out almost half the population and a few years ago banned the biggest party in the land on grounds that were ridiculous.

I've visited Belgium many times over the last 15 years and am now not surprised they have so many strikes and occasionally, for months, lack a government. And they are proud of their lack of identity when in fact there is one area of strong identity, fully repressed, and another which depends for its money on the first, without which it would have to join France. And to think that the Belgian constitution is seriously put forward as a basis for the EU, when it so clearly leads to what seems like a crooked judiciary and political system.

Almost makes me want to join UKIP! I'm interested in the interweaving of Yin and Yang, and this books shows how a powerful if corrupt state yin can effectively control the part of it that is most yang and enterprising. Dec 08, Imperatrix Mundi rated it it was amazing Shelves: non-fiction , history , politics , wwand After reading this book, I'm more suprised than ever that Belgium is still an existing country.

The story of Belgium is one you would want to place on a 'dystopia' bookshelf, not somewhere with the 'non-fiction'. Belgian k After reading this book, I'm more suprised than ever that Belgium is still an existing country. Belgian kings didn't hide their contempt for the Belgian peoples, and their love of money very well. I think this is an interesting book to read for anyone with an interest in the EU, European monarchies, the emergence of European welfare systems and Belgian colonialism.

In school I was taught many of the myths and lies surrounding the Saxe-Coburg members, Paul Belien very accurately disproves things like Albert I being the great unsung war hero, Leopold III as the mourning king tragically captured by the nazi's.

He also completes the image of the Flemish, Walloon and Belgicist movements. The anti-semitic and pro-nazi ideologies of certain old Walloon and Belgicist movements are often covered up when Belgians write history.

Paul Belien even places Henri Pirenne, the Belgian historian who rewrote much of Flemish and Walloon history to fit the Belgicist narrative, firmly in the anti-semitic, proto-nazi corner. An entertaining but not necessarily an objectively informative read. It is clearly an entertaining read as its narrative is filled with sex, violence, murder, scandals, romance and more. But these juicy story lines may well be a draw for the author to press his case for his political agenda.

This mix does not necessarily make for a good, balanced and objective historical account. Unfortunately, my knowledge of Belgian history is rather superficial. It has been gleamed from my reading of general An entertaining but not necessarily an objectively informative read. It has been gleamed from my reading of general European histories or the history of the major powers in Europe. Thus, I'm not expert enough to make any judgement about the quality of Mr. Belien's historical narrative.

However, the fact that the author is not a recognized historian but a journalist and a rightwing conservative idealogue should make any reader wary of regarding this book as a balanced account. It may well be. I just don't know enough about Belgian history to make that evaluation. That is exactly what this book is about: The excitement and allure of the exotic, beautiful, legendary and famous cities of the world.

Fascinated by history, geography, travel and culture? Each chapter contains little-know. Medieval Tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A study of the condition, subject, design, manufacture, ownership, and exhibitions for each tapestry or set of tapestries in the Museum's medieval tapestry collection. Codename Suzette. The thrilling and previously untold true story of Suzanne Spaak, who abandoned her life of opulence to save the Jewish children of Occupied Paris during the Second World War.

Suzanne Spaak was born into an affluent Belgian Catholic family and married into the country's leading political dynasty. Her brother-in-law was.