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George, Nicholas and Wilhelm
Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I
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Narrated by:
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Rosalyn Landor
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Written by:
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Miranda Carter
About this listen
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.
©2010 Miranda Carter (P)2010 Random HouseWhat the critics say
“Miranda Carter has written an engrossing and important book. While keeping her focus on the three cousins and their extended families, she skillfully interweaves and summarizes all important elements of how the war came about…Carter has given us an original book, highly recommended.” ---The Dallas Morning News
"Masterfully crafted. . . Carter has presented one of the most cohesive explorations of the dying days of European royalty and the coming of political modernity. . . Carter has delivered another gem." --Bookpage
"Ms. Carter writes incisively about the overlapping events that led to the Great War and changed the world. . . George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm is an impressive book. Ms. Carter has clearly not bitten off more than she can chew for she -- as John Updike once wrote of Gunter Grass -- 'chews it enthusiastically before our eyes.'" --The New York Times
What listeners say about George, Nicholas and Wilhelm
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Shelly Creasy
- 2023-11-07
Worthwhile
I enjoyed the book and would listen to it again. However there is definitely a left leaning opinion to the story.
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- Francisco Wieler
- 2020-08-11
A very well done broad overview of these Famous Notorious and tragic Cousins.
What a magnificent piece of history, to think them, the three cousins all in some way involved in that first Great War, and to see Nicky and his family RBC so tragically, that really does hurt my heart, Wilhelm, well he was a bit oh a troublemaker, I’m glad he wasn’t used by the Nazi regime and killed by them. And I’m more than happy to see King George V so wholly vindicated. Long live the Windsor family.
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- Kendall
- 2023-01-13
Incredible and interesting
It was interesting to see the 3 story’s meshed into one book. With was worth the listen despite the length
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