Simply superb. On both the macro and micro levels it is perceptive, fluid and gripping history writing. A must read for anyone wanting to understand the 1WW.

I love the way this focuses its topic, European great power diplomacy from the mid-19th century through World War I, through the lens of family relationships. What would make for some pretty dry reading about international talks and intrigue is spiced up by by looking at the personal relationships amongst George V of the British Empire, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany -- plus their parents and nearly ever 19th-century European royal's grandmother, Victoria.

The books starts with a Europe filled with kings and emperors and ends 50 years later with pretty much George left after all the dust has settled. The contrasts and similarities amongst these three mens' personalities is striking. Wilhelm craves attention and power. George and Nicholas shun both, although Nicholas' position as an absolute autocrat requires that he use the power he has -- yet he prefers to avoid conflict. All these men are born with rights and privileges, yet Wilhelm uses his for foolish projects and a military fetish, Nicholas uses his to avoid the people of his country who so desperately need leadership, and George struggles to assert himself within his nation's constitutional limits.

Throughout the book Carter provides letters, telegrams and memoirs of eyewitnesses that testify to the relationships among these three cousins -- warm, often rocky and sometimes bizarre. It's interesting to watch how the ability of these three personalities to affect the world around them wanes just as the whole idea of absolutely monarchy is all but abandoned in Europe. If you like this period of history and have any interest in these men, you'll enjoy this.

I had always heard WWI described as the ultimate transitional period between European aristocracy and the modern structure of the world we still largely inhabit today, but I never knew just how lucky the clowns in control of most of these monarchies and dying empires were that WWI didn’t happen sooner. With the gift of retrospection, though, maybe it would be safe to say that the global comeuppances that befell people like Wilhelm, George, and Nicholas in the early days of the 20th century occurred at possibly the worst moment they could have - if the decades that followed are any indication, at least.

Regardless, this was a fascinating read, and really humanized the last generation of the European emperors in the worst way possible.

3.5 stars!

Goodreads really needs a 2.5 star rating. Because while I'm glad I read this book, and I don't want to harm it by giving it 2 stars, man it could have been so much better. A triple biography like this (practically quadruple, when you consider how much attention is paid to King Edward) should have been scrambling for room, stuffed beyond the capacity of its page limit. Instead, I thought it frequently stumbled into awkward, boring repetition. When Carter is profiling the unique psychological shortcomings of each leader, the story is engaging and informative. But so often, it just resorts to and endless listing of all the times they each changed their mind, or exchanged meaningless correspondence.

Honestly, I blame queen Victoria

(Not true - I blame these men. And nationalism. And Austria?)

Too bad these whole thing leads to just another giant bummer

I do love the fact that no one even LIKED Franz Ferdinand. The archduke didn’t even go to his funeral.