| 
 enlarge | Author: Catrine Clay
Publisher: Walker & Company
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $8.89
You Save: $8.10 (48%)
New (35) Used (12) from $8.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 167326
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0802716776
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.30922
EAN: 9780802716774
ASIN: 0802716776
Publication Date: June 24, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: NEVER BEEN USED, MAY HAVE SMALL BLACK MARK OUTSIDE EDGES PAGES. 17388
|
| Customer Reviews:
 A family affair December 12, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I think the subtitle of this book, "Three Royal Cousins Who Led The World To War" is a bit misleading. We're dealing with three monarchs who happen to be cousins: the King of England, the German Kaiser, and the Russian Tsar. Of these three, the English King was a constitutional monarch, and really had no say on questions of war and peace. The other two, however, were autocrats and controlled the fates of their respective peoples. The book is an excellent family history of how the various royal courts of Europe were related, and everything related back to Queen Victoria. The author places the bulk of the blame for the war directly on the shoulders of the Kaiser and his paranoia. She concludes that, if his English relations had treated him a bit more inclusively, the war might not have happened. I myself do not subscribe to that belief, but it is plausible. The Tsar was a victim of his own timidity and his wife's overbearing control of him. Of the three monarchs, I have the most sympathy for Nicholas, who really didn't deserve to be deserted by his English cousin when he was in need of a place of exile, nor did he and his entire family deserve to be executed. This is a very interesting, and ultimately sad, book, and I recommend it highly.
Four Stars October 21, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I must have misread the discription because I thought the book was going to focus completely on their part of leading the world to war, the war and aftermath but that asside the author presents a very good biography on all three men. Very detailed and in depth on everything from their lives from birth to death. I liked having more background on Wilhelm II who's generally considered military monster and the one most pushed the world into World War I. It was very interesting reading about his childhood, his deformed hand and his love-hate relationship with England. Its interesting that Wilhelm and Nicholas didn't get along better since they both drove their countries to ruin and were forced to abdicate. The bio on George V was very good and I like that the author put in the part of him getting the British government to recend the offer of safe haven for Nicholas and his family and that he allowed the prime minister to take the blame for that. Most George V bios I've read either airbrush that detail or skip over it. I caught the Nikolasha error which is the reason for four stars instead of five its a small error but the author or editor should have caught it.
Family and world politics collide in this biography October 16, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Over the years, I've discovered that reading history is just about as fun as reading fiction. More often than not, the most fantastical things happen in the real world that most writers wouldn't dream of putting into a novel -- they'd be laughed at as being 'unrealistic' or 'over the top.' Looking at the history of Europe as seen through the eyes of its monarchs, it's nearly unbelievable that these three men, all related together, and who wrote affectionate letters to each other, would launch one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history -- the first World War.
Author Catrine Clay takes the documentary that she did*, and expands it into a scholarly study of the three men involved, and their families. While this is a topic that has been very well covered in other works, Clay takes the interesting step of exploring the childhoods, education and familial ties between the three men to see how Europe and eventually the United States were on an inevitable path to conflict. It's an intriguing premise.
All three of the cousins were related either by marriage or by blood to one another, and less than a decade would separate them in age. Of the three, one would manage to survive WWI and stay on his throne, one would die in exile after being ousted from his throne, and the third would be murdered. Each one would face unique difficulties, and each one had a spouse that would influence their direction in life.
The eldest of the three was the Kaiser, Wilhelm II, or as he was known in the family, Willy. The eldest grandson of England's Queen Victoria, Willy had a less than amiable relationship with his parents, Fritz of Prussia, and Victoria, England's Princess Royal. Born with a crippled left arm from complications, Willy grew up with a determination to succeed, and a craving need of approval from his parents, made all the worse by a mental struggle that centered around his identity -- was he German or English? Surrounded by flatterers, distained by his English relations for his bad manners (at his uncle Bertie's wedding, he bit one of his uncles on the leg), Willy lacked the social skills to successfully navigate through the tact that being a ruler in early twentieth century Europe, and the wisdom to know when to back off.
The middle one was the King, George, whom no one had expected to become king. His elder brother Eddy was trained to become King of England, and ruler of the British Empire, but was rather slow-witted; Georgie was expected to be supportive, and was destined to join the Royal Navy -- indeed, he loved serving in the Navy, proving himself to be a capable leader of men. While he certainly wasn't a brilliant mind, he did have the capacity to learn, and when his elder brother suddenly died, Georgie, as he was known, was in the direct line for the throne. Not only did he inherit the destiny of a crown, he also inherited a bride -- Princess May of Teck, a woman who was determined and steadfast, and would prove to be just the right wife for him. Unlike his two cousins, George was to a constitutional monarch, not welding true political power, but he would have an enormous influence on the public.
And the third one was the Tsar, Nicholas II. His mother and George's mother were sisters -- Alexandra and Dagmar of Denmark. Alix would marry the future Edward VII of England, and was considered the most beautiful princess in Europe. Dagmar -- or Minnie, as she was known -- was the clever one, and was able to enchant both her husband, Alexander III of Russia, and the Russian people, around her tiny fingers. She and Alix also shared the trait of wanting to keep their children as children for as long as possible. Unfortunately for Russia, this was the case especially with her eldest son, Nicky. History has painted him as a dull weakling, unable to stand up to anyone, and dominated by his wife -- Alix of Hesse. A great deal has been written about Nicholas and his family, some of it very good, and a great deal very average, and Clay pretty much does a retread here. But one aspect that I found very interesting and new is that Nicholas was anything but stupid -- he had problems with being decisive, and had a genuine urge to please people, but the letters and comments that he wrote show that he had a smart brain inside of that head. Like Georgie, he detested cousin Willy, and the king and the tsar would remain the very best of friends throughout their lives.
How all of this plays out is what makes this book so interesting. Clay takes the time to describe the experiences these men and their families shared, and the wider political repercussions that it would bring about. Most interesting was the emphasis set on Wilhelm II, and his personal life. I had no idea of his latent homosexuality and how scandal would shake up his regime, nor that he suffered from mental breakdowns. It's this that divides this study from the usual collections about European royalty.
Clay's writing is very clear, and full of detail, making this a very enjoyable read. To untangle the relationships, there is a genealogical chart, and an insert of black and white photographs. Both the index and the bibliography are extensive and worthy of further exploration. For those who are interested in the history of Europe before WWI and some of the causes of that conflict, or are just interested in the lives of Royals, this is worth finding.
Four stars overall. Recommended.
A soap opera with devasting results. October 11, 2007
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I thoughly enjoyed this book. These three royal families have the makings of a true life soap opera, too bad this soap opera resulted in the loss of millions of innocent people's lives.
 Nice comparative Bio but oversimplifies topic October 5, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I think the author did a nice job of writing a well balanced, comparative biography of the three reigning monarchs of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also did a nice job of probing their insecurities and the familiy histories and rivalries that in their own time could have international repercussions.
Where the story is weakest is where the author tries to place the 3 rulers at the heart of World War I. While granted they all had tremendous influence, the idea that or their families problems were direct causes of the War just does not hold water. It oversimplifies the raging nationalism that, among other things, lead to the war.
|
|
|
