THE THREE EMPERORS by Miranda Carter

Not everyone's cup of tea, but I have been wading my way through this since the beginning of the year. I love history, and this being the centenary year of the end of WWI - the Great War - it is more than appropriate to find out some of how it all came about. I remember in school learning about the origins of WWI, which focussed on the politics of the times and not much on the monarchies of the countries involved. WWI crushed and destroyed all the monarchies of Europe, not just Germany and Russia,  the king of England being the only one to really survive. These three kings were first cousins, this book focussing on the relationship between the three, how their destinies and the inevitability of war were shaped by their inability to move with the times. Yes it is long, best read in bits and never at night.  Large chunks of the minutiae of politics and machinations I skipped over, enjoying more the lives of King George V, Tsar Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm II, their families, the spider's web of connections, and how it all came crashing down.