Saturday, April 21, 2012

M 40 år på tronen by Jens Andersen




Kudos to Jens Andersen who has written a superb biography of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.  The book is M 40 år på tronen (Lindhardt og Ringhof: 399.95 DK), an intensive examination of the Queen Margrethe II's reign.   Andersen is a serious journalist.  He writes for the respected Berlingske Tidende.

This is a stiff 500 page tome that covers the entire period of Margrethe's reign from her succession in January 1972, following the death of her beloved father, King Frederik IX.

Here in the United States, the media largely focuses on the British Royal Family.  The attention is on Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. But she is not the only distaff sovereign in Europe.  Her cousin, Margrethe II, has reigned with great authority for forty years. She is well-educated, well-traveled and a talented artist to boot.

It was lovely to see the CNN International interview with Queen Margrethe II in January.  But Margrethe's Jubilee did not generate the same attention that Queen Elizabeth is now receiving for her 60 years on the throne. (It should be noted that Elizabeth II's Ruby Anniversary also received more press coverage than Margrethe's.)

We should know about Margrethe.  Jens Andersen does tell us about Margrethe, but he writes in Danish.  His primary readership is in Denmark.  But M 40 år på tronen is a book that deserves to be published in English in order for more of the world to learn about Margrethe II.

The GAD  bookstore in Copenhagen is a good source for foreigners to order books from Denmark.

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