Summary

Chapter 1: A Funeral

On the May morning of 1910, nine kings rode in the funeral of Edward VII of England. It was a spectacle that made the crowds that had gathered gasp. The kings were followed by five heirs apparent, four dowager queens, and three reigning queens among other royals and state officials from the seventy nations that were represented. Riding next to the new king, George V, was William II, the German Emperor. William II was related to the British royal family. His mother had been an English princess, sister of the dead king. William despised Edward who he felt had stood in the way of Germany emerging as a European power. To Kaiser Wilhelm, Edward was Satan himself.

During a European tour in 1907, Wilhelm had resented Edward’s visits to the kings of Italy and Spain. William considered George, the new king...