Crowns in a Changing World : The British and European Monarchies 1901-36

Rating:
Summary: Monarchy isn't what it used to be . . .
Review: The generation that passed between the death of Victoria and the accession of her son, Edward VII, in 1901 and the death of Edward's son, George V, in 1936 was one of great change not only in the British monarchy but in the state of monarchy throughout Europe. Edward's personal power was subject to the close limitations of the unwritten English constitution, but his cosmopolitan personality and astute knowledge of international affairs gave him great informal authority, especially since the emperors of Germany and Russia were his close relations. George, though likeable, shared neither his father's eminence abroad nor his extroverted style, and was much more subordinate to his ministers - and during the early part of his reign, as a result of the Great War, the empires of Germany, Russia, and Austria ceased to exist. The author of this well-researched study, who has written a number of other books and articles on modern European royalty, follows the complex interconnections among the royal houses of Europe during this period, pointing out just how much diplomacy depended before the War on personal relationships between monarchs, and also just how little such things came to matter during the subsequent Age of Dictators. He includes a great many photographs and illustrations, many of which are new to me, as well as a (necessary) genealogical chart and table of accession dates.