This was a book club pick. (I wasn't at the meeting where they picked it.) I decided to listen to the audiobook and was disappointed to find that all the letters were read by the same narrator. That made them run together for me and now I have difficulty remembering which I liked and which I thought were crap. As other reviewers have said, the editors' choice of men certainly leaves you wondering how she defines the word "great." A more honest title would have been "Love Letters of Famous and Semi-Famous Men." Also, unless your not the monogamous type, it's hard not to disturbed by how many of these men were all up in extramarital affairs.

Here's what I recall:

I think I liked how whiney and insecure Napoleon's letter was. It screamed, "You don't love me as much as I love you!"

My favorite was the letter Marie Curie's husband wrote to her before they were married. He was clearly in love with her, but, not wanting to scare her away, he just tried to talk her into not moving away for professional and friendly reasons. Adorable.

I expected to like John Keats' letter the best because I loved the movie Bright Star about his relationship with Fanny Brawne, but the audiobook narrator just didn't have the dreamy qualities of the actor Ben Whishaw.

Maybe the thing that disappointed me most about this collection is that most of the letters were from the 19th century, which, if you ask me, is certainly leaving out a lot potential great men and great love letters. I know that it's probably hard to get the rights to publish private romantic letters written much later than 1900, but maybe add a time span to the title to limit expectations. ( )

Love Letters of Great Men by Ursula Doyle is a collection that includes personal and private letters from some great names in history and literature, including:

- King Henry VIII (writing to Anne Boleyn)
- Mozart (writing to his wife)
- Napoleon writing to his wife Josephine
- Beethoven (writing to his Immortal Beloved)
- Mark Twain (writing to Olivia Langdon)
- Oscar Wilde (writing to Lord Alfred Douglas)
and more!

A short introduction is given to each letter which was concise and welcome background setting the scene.

Some of the letters were beautifully written, some poorly written (but all reproduced in type font, so don't worry, you don't have to read their handwriting) and some just down right possessive. I'm talking about you Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Page 37):
But I should not like you to take long walks without me. I entreat you to follow my advice exactly, for it comes from my heart.

So, it turns out Mozart was possessive, jealous and just a tad bossy. Who knew?

For more insights into the love lives of 41 men from history, check out Love Letters of Great Men by Ursula Doyle. ( )

Why don't men from our generation write like this anymore?

My lovely sister bought me this beautiful book after receiving it as a gift herself; we had both seen it on the Sex and the City movie. Doyle has created a collection of love letters from some of history's most prominent men. There are politicians, writers, composers, poets, lords and kings. The letters are all very different in style but the sentiment of running through all of them is unmistakably love. Some men wrote of their love to one woman over a length of time and some men had many women to correspond with.

I really, really enjoyed reading these letters, mainly due to the fact that they are letters. Today, messages are too often conveyed in abbreviated text messages; instant chat conversations or speedily written emails. Maybe I am old-fashioned but I still write letters to those closest to me and pop them in the post. You can take your time with a letter and really make the effort to get your feelings down in words.
The letters in this collection are all well before email and telephones and that makes them even more poignant. You have Nelson writing from on board HMS Victory to Lady Emma Hamilton; they had probably not seen each other for months and his only comfort were the handwritten words that he could send her and those he would hope to receive in return.
This book is a brilliant idea and a lovely present to receive. I am off to look for the love letters of great women; I am sure there is a book of those out there somewhere. ( )