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Rating: 
Summary: A larger than life tale from the young American Republic
Review: This gem of a book deserves to be read by more people. Ostensibly this book is the story of a woman born in New England who goes on to become a princess in Germany and along the way play an important role in both the US Civil War and Mexican Civil War. But this book is more than just a simple biography of a remarkable woman. It gives the reader a very good sense of the US as a young Republic and the type of society it was then. It is interesting to read, for example, that on the eve of Civil War, the US, a Republic which was suspicious of a large standing army, had an army of only 50,000 men and had to depend partly on imported professional soldiers from Europe to sustain its war effort. Or that The White House was not an imperial place in those days and had open house parties for its citizens, some of whom were in the habit of snipping off bits of curtains as souvenirs. Robert White has done his research well, telling the story of a girl who from humble beginnings makes it to the top by sheer force of personality and a bit of luck, and doing it all in a racy, page turning, style. The story is well anchored in the social and political currents of the times, which were very much in turmoil. The book describes in detail a cast of colorful characters ranging from a pretender to the throne of Mexico to an assortment noble and evil people from the military and the aristocracy of both Europe and the US. The author, who hails from New England himself and who has travelled to the far corners of the world, writes with a keen eye for details of the locations and characters. One can discern in the book a sense of regret at the passing of an age, which for whatever its faults, was a more gracious era than the one we live and where people took their duties and responsibilities seriously, instead looking for reasons to evade them. The maxim for a good story teller has always been that he should "show and not tell". This book, by weaving the story of a real woman, educates us in conditions of nineteenth century Europe, America, and Mexico more than any history book that I have read. Readers who are interested in the formative years of the American republic, as well as those who are looking for a good story are well advised to go out and buy this book. N. Balakrishan - Hong Kong.
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