George, Nicholas and Wilhelm : Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I

In the years before the First World War, the great European powers were ruled by three first cousins: King George V of Britain, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Together, they presided over the last years of dynastic Europe and the outbreak of the most destructive war the world had ever seen, a war that set twentieth-century Europe on course to be the most violent continent in the history of the world. Through brilliant and often darkly comic portraits of these men and their lives, their foibles and obsessions, Miranda Carter delivers the tragicomic story of Europe's early twentieth-century aristocracy, a solipsistic world preposterously out of kilter with its times. From the Trade Paperback edition. In the years before the First World War, the great European powers were ruled by three first cousins: King George V of Britain, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Together, they presided over the last years of dynastic Europe and the outbreak of the most destructive war the world had ever seen, a war that set twentieth-century Europe on course to be the most violent continent in the history of the world.Miranda Carter uses the cousins' correspondence and a host of historical sources to tell the tragicomic story of a tiny, glittering, solipsistic world that was often preposterously out of kilter with its times, struggling to stay in command of politics and world events as history overtook it. George, Nicholas and Wilhelm is a brilliant and sometimes darkly hilarious portrait of these men--damaged, egotistical Wilhelm; quiet, stubborn Nicholas; and anxious, dutiful George--and their lives, foibles and obsessions, from tantrums to uniforms to stamp collecting. It is also alive with fresh, subtle portraits of other familiar figures: Queen Victoria--grandmother to two of them, grandmother-in-law to the third--whose conservatism and bullying obsession with family left a dangerous legacy; and Edward VII, the playboy "arch-vulgarian" who turned out to have a remarkable gift for international relations and the theatrics of mass politics. At the same time, Carter weaves through their stories a riveting account of the events that led to World War I, showing how the personal and the political interacted, sometimes to devastating effect.For all three men the war would be a disaster that destroyed forever the illusion of their close family relationships, with any sense of peace and harmony shattered in a final coda of murder, betrayal and abdication.From the Hardcover edition. In the years before the First World War, the great European powers were ruled by three first cousins: King George V of Britain, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Together, they presided over the last years of dynastic Europe and the outbreak of the most destructive war the world had ever seen, a war that set twentieth-century Europe on course to be the most violent continent in the history of the world. Miranda Carter uses the cousins' correspondence and a host of historical sources to tell the tragicomic story of a tiny, glittering, solipsistic world that was often preposterously out of kilter with its times, struggling to stay in command of politics and world events as history overtook it. This book is a brilliant and sometimes darkly hilarious portrait of these men: damaged, egotistical Wilhelm; quiet, stubborn Nicholas; and anxious, dutiful George, and their lives, foibles and obsessions, from tantrums to uniforms to stamp collecting. It is also alive with fresh, subtle portraits of other familiar figures: Queen Victoria, grandmother to two of them, grandmother-in-law to the third, whose conservatism and bullying obsession with family left a dangerous legacy; and Edward VII, the playboy arch-vulgarian who turned out to have a remarkable gift for international relations and the theatrics of mass politics. At the same time, Carter weaves through their stories a riveting account of the events that led to World War I, showing how the personal and the political interacted, sometimes to devastating effect. For all three men the war would be a disaster that destroyed forever the illusion of their close family relationships, with any sense of peace and harmony shattered in a final coda of murder, betrayal and abdication

a Story Of The Self-delusion Of Royalty: Three Monarchs Who Were Also Three First Cousins--wilhelm Ii, The Last Kaiser Of Germany; George V Of Britain; And Nicholas Ii, The Last Tsar Of Russia--and Their Mistaken Belief, On The Very Brink Of World War I, That Their Family Connection Could Save Europe From Itself.

in The Years Before The War, Wilhelm, George, And Nicholas Corresponded And Wrote About Each Other In Their Diaries. the Three Emperors uses These Sources--a Hidden History Of How Europe Went From An Age Of Empire To A More Democratic And More Brutal One--to Tell The Tragicomic Story Of A Tiny, Glittering, Solipsistic World.

from The Kaiser's Tantrums To The Tsar's Indecisions To King George's Stamp Collection, Carter Makes Clear How Anachronistic The Three Emperors Were: Marooned By History In Positions Out Of Kilter With Their Time And Ill-equipped By Education And Personality To Deal With The Modern World. She Delineates The Responsibility They...

the New York Times Book Review - Miranda Seymour

as A Study Of Three Equally Significant Figures, Carter's Book Was Perhaps Always Doomed To Failure. But As A Study Of The Kaiser…and Of His Passionate Love-hate Relationship With England, george, Nicholas And Wilhelm Succeeds Magnificently.

Three childhoods, three countries Wilhelm: an experiment in perfection, 1859 George: coming second, 1865 Nicholas: a diamond-studded ivory tower, 1868 Family ties, imperial contests Wilhelm emperor 1888-90 Young men in love 1891-94 Wilhelm anglophile 1891-95 Perfidious Muscovy 1895-97 Behind the wall 1893-1904 Imperial imperatives 1898-1901 A bright new century The fourth emperor 1904-4 Unintended consequences 1904-5 Continental shifts 1906-8 A Balkan crisis 1908-9 Edward's mantle 1910-11 Celebrations and warnings 1911-14 July 1914 Armageddon A war 1914-18. In the years before World War I, the great European powers were ruled by three first cousins: King George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Tsar Nicholas II. Carter uses the cousins' correspondence and a host of historical sources to tell their tragicomic stories.