The Three Emperors: Three Cousins, Three Empires and the Road to World War One: Amazon.co.uk: Miranda Carter: Books

Review

Fascinating. A wonderfully fresh and beautifully choreographed work of history (Craig Brown Mail on Sunday )

Carter draws masterful portraits of her subjects and tells the complicated story of Europe's failing international relations well...a highly readable and well-documented account (Spectator )

Absorbing. Carter has a good eye for a quote and an ability to bring various personalities to life. A convincing and considerable achievement (Sarah Bradford Literary Review )

Carter's account of how an already dysfunctional family turned toxic is fresh and enjoyable...timely and welcome (Guardian )

Miranda Carter's story is full of vivid quotations...a romp though the palaces of Europe in their last decades before Armageddon (Sunday Times )

Well-paced, a thoroughly polished, professional piece of work. A macabre family saga (A. N. Wilson Evening Standard )

An entertaining study of power and personality portrays the strutting absurdity and grotesque glamour of the last emperors on the eve of catastrophe (Simon Sebag Montefiore Financial Times )

Fascinating. Carter is a gifted storyteller and has written a very readable account

(Independent )

Carter's intelligent, entertainging and informative book folds dynastic and political narratives into a panoramic account of Europe's road to war (London Review of Books )

In her group biography of three monarchs, Carter has succeeded in painting their personalities in vivid colours...she brings an excellent biographer's eye for the telling detail...the great appeal of this book lies in it narration and comparative analysis of the life and personality of her imperial subjects...well-researched and expertly written...an engaging and remarkably even-handed portrayal (The Times Literary Supplement )

That these three absurd men could ever have held the fate of Europe in their hands is a fact as hilarious as it is terrifying. I haven't enjoyed a historical biography this much since Lytton Strachey's Victoria (Zadie Smith )

Miranda Carter writes with lusty humour, has a fresh clarifying intelligence, and a sharp eye for telling details. This is traditional narrative history with a 21st-century zing. A real corker of a book

(History Today )

A highly original way of looking at the years that led up to 1914 (Antonia Fraser Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year )

Carter deftly interpolates history with psychobiography to provide a damning indictment of monarchy in all its forms (Will Self New Statesmen Books of the Year )

A depiction of bloated power and outsize personalities in which Carter picks apart the strutting absurdity of the last emperors on the eve of catastrophe (Financial Times Books of the Year )

Takes what should have been a daunting subject and through sheer wit and narrative élan turns it into engaging drama. Carter has a notable gift for characterisation (Jonathan Coe Guardian Books of the Year )

Review

Fascinating. A wonderfully fresh and beautifully choreographed work of history -- Craig Brown Mail on Sunday Carter draws masterful portraits of her subjects and tells the complicated story of Europe's failing international relations well...a highly readable and well-documented account Spectator Absorbing. Carter has a good eye for a quote and an ability to bring various personalities to life. A convincing and considerable achievement -- Sarah Bradford Literary Review Carter's account of how an already dysfunctional family turned toxic is fresh and enjoyable...timely and welcome Guardian Miranda Carter's story is full of vivid quotations...a romp though the palaces of Europe in their last decades before Armageddon Sunday Times Well-paced, a thoroughly polished, professional piece of work. A macabre family saga -- A. N. Wilson Evening Standard An entertaining study of power and personality portrays the strutting absurdity and grotesque glamour of the last emperors on the eve of catastrophe -- Simon Sebag Montefiore Financial Times Fascinating. Carter is a gifted storyteller and has written a very readable account Independent Carter's intelligent, entertainging and informative book folds dynastic and political narratives into a panoramic account of Europe's road to war London Review of Books In her group biography of three monarchs, Carter has succeeded in painting their personalities in vivid colours...she brings an excellent biographer's eye for the telling detail...the great appeal of this book lies in it narration and comparative analysis of the life and personality of her imperial subjects...well-researched and expertly written...an engaging and remarkably even-handed portrayal The Times Literary Supplement That these three absurd men could ever have held the fate of Europe in their hands is a fact as hilarious as it is terrifying. I haven't enjoyed a historical biography this much since Lytton Strachey's Victoria -- Zadie Smith Miranda Carter writes with lusty humour, has a fresh clarifying intelligence, and a sharp eye for telling details. This is traditional narrative history with a 21st-century zing. A real corker of a book History Today A highly original way of looking at the years that led up to 1914 -- Antonia Fraser Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year Carter deftly interpolates history with psychobiography to provide a damning indictment of monarchy in all its forms -- Will Self New Statesmen Books of the Year A depiction of bloated power and outsize personalities in which Carter picks apart the strutting absurdity of the last emperors on the eve of catastrophe Financial Times Books of the Year Takes what should have been a daunting subject and through sheer wit and narrative elan turns it into engaging drama. Carter has a notable gift for characterisation -- Jonathan Coe Guardian Books of the Year

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

The Human Side of Absolute Monarchy 16 Sep 2010

By Ms. C. Wetwood

Format:Paperback

This is an excellent investigation into what can happen when rulers equate divine right with competence and sound judgement. We see the results of a system of hereditary monarchy in three different cases and how their own personalities and the influences around them shaped not only their lives but their relationships with each other, which in turn filtered down to the general population and set up national prejudices which led to mass slaughter in the first world war.

The extraordinary thing is that none of these men were trained in any way for a job that required serious skills in diplomacy, political philosophy and history. It was assumed, not least by the protagonists, that just being royal was enough to carry them through. This is something unthinkable in the present age of job-training and specialisation. The author traces the development of each of the emperors within the contexts of their countries and their times.

The other extraordinary thing is that there was no REAL reason for the first world war, other than power games and juggling of alliances between countries. So much of this was influenced by the monarchs who chose their ministers accordingly.

There was the Kaiser with his war-mongering, which was just a lot of braggadoccio, and left him very distressed when the war did come. There was Edward VII who couldn't stand his nephew and tried to foster an entente cordiale with France. Then later there was George V who was sincere and decent but also boring and weak, who apparently loved his Russian relations. Luckily he was a constitutional monarch so couldn't do too much damage.

But of course the greatest tragedy was Nicholas II of Russia, who was not only weak, but also had a deep sense of divine right, no notion of the real problems of his country,a German wife who interfered in government with actually no idea of what was appropriate, and a haemophiliac son whose disease they felt they had to keep secret, so they retreated more and more into themselves, heavily under the influence of the so-called healer, Rasputin.

These three families, all blood relations, show us family drama working out on a large scale. Miranda Carter takes us into the three households where we observe and start to understand the complex factors at work among these hugely privileged but fundamentally undistinguished, people. The story makes 'Dallas' seem trivial. This is an account of how individuals can contribute to world changes, just by being who they are, with their loves, fears, weaknesses and shortcomings. In this case there were massive implications for millions of people, both in Europe and even elsewhere. It is a riveting tale of love, hate, folly, intolerance and misguided self-confidence.

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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

imperfect but mesmeric 6 Jan 2010

By William Roberts

Format:Hardcover

Like many books today Miranda Carter's account of the years leading to the First World War is not edited enough. Sometimes the crisp narrative becomes dull and one seems to tread old ground. The dating confuses every so often. As the extended royal family of northern Europe naturally communicates on Christian name terms it would be good to have consistency but nicknames intrude and force one pause for thought too many. But this is a pretty readable read. The influence of kings, as, in this case, it fades, but nonetheless with a glow, has something like a mystical resonance and, while other factors were critical - of course it was never uniquely the fractured personalities and poor education of the monarchs of the great powers that led to confrontation and disaster - the catastrophe of the 1914-18 War becomes plausibly an almost necessary consequence of the autocratic muddle in Russia (to which the Czar was committed), and the fatal separatism of the German military (to which the Kaiser contributed); and of the restrictive caste code of the era (which all supported). There is a hint that the political ambitions of royals, even the restricted constitutional royals of Great Britain, were tinged always with risk, given that Edward VII's European diplomacy contributed to the involvement of his country in continental stress, committing Britain ultimately to war. Anyone with an interest in Queen Victoria should certainly take a look, as Carter's account of Europe's grandmother is beguilingly tough.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

A fascinating and revealing work showing incompetance lead to WW I 24 Mar 2010

By D. J. Walter

Miranda Carter The Three Emperors

My wife gave me this book which for Christmas, I am so grateful to her - it's superb. Miranda has a gift for writing detailed history fascinatingly. Hereditary power is a killer - and in the cases of Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm II, killers of millions of men in the vile conditions of WWI. Every other book purporting to describe the origins of the First World War starts with Archduke Ferdinand, and wanders on from there. THE cause was Wilhelm II - a physical and mental cripple. He stomped around in a variety of military uniforms, just wishing he could lead his armies to war. He started the Naval race against England, but his navy lost its only battle in Jutland, and was ordered not to fight thereafter. Wilhelm gave a constant stream of conflicting orders for years, until the Military ignored him and took over. Nicholas prevented his nobles from taking any part in Government in case they challenged him. They just decorated his Court. The British Aristocracy viewed participation in Government as an honour, and we were so lucky that George V just wanted to collect stamps and shoot birds. All three of the Emperors had almost zero grasp of the affairs of state. Neither Nicholas nor George really wanted anything to do with running their countries. And because of their rampant incompetence millions of fathers, sons, mothers, daughters died, families were ruined, and the whole World just lost lost lost. Whilst we in the UK appear to be run by a crooked Stupocracy, I'm so grateful it's them and not the three Emperors or their ilk.