The original title of this book is "The Three Emperors: Three Cousins, Three Empires and the Road to World War One". I picked this up because I love history and have a special interest in the Long Nineteenth Century and the First and Second World Wars. I've been very interested in the Romanovs for a few years now and even though - or maybe precisely because of it - this book sheds light on the English king, the German emperor and the Russian czar, this feels like the most completely portrayal of Nicholas II I've read so far.

The book begins with the childhoods of the three protagonists and further elaborates on how they all interacted, how they reigned, how they felt about each other. It describes how much they were shaped by their upbringing and how that affected their decisions, or lack thereof, and how that would eventually change the course of history.

This is non fiction, but especially in the beginning it almost reads as a novel. As it goes on, however, it becomes more complicated. The monarchies are very entwined, which makes it difficult enough. It doesn't help that the author uses the birth names, royal names and pet names of people seemingly at random. This is further complicated by the fact that the same names tend to be used over and over. The author could have done a better job of specifying who's she's talking about. I've studied history (and read A Song of Ice and Fire) and I don't usually have trouble remembering names or keeping people apart. But honestly, if it's been 200 pages since you've mentioned her and so many people pass in between, I don't remember who Minny was again. I'm not sure if the translation is to blame, but the family tree at the beginning wasn't nearly sufficient or elaborate enough.

This book is presented as an explanation for how World War One could happen. It was actually much more than that - we really get a detailed look at the private lives of the monarchs. That was interesting enough, but because of the structure gradually unravelling, it became quite messy.

The author did a really good job of portraying these people completely, though. You see their strengths and their flaws - and those flaws in turn are put in a context where we can understand why someone would turn out to be that way. This causes Carter to offer explanations I've never read anywhere else. I really appreciated the psychological insights as well as the insight into the political inner workings.

Carter clearly knows a lot on the subject and it must have been monstrous to put this together in a narrative. But what a great one it is.

I have my criticism, but those might fade on a re-read, and overall I would really recommend this to any history fan.