Miranda Carter
Author of George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I
About the Author
Miranda Carter was educated at St Paul's Girls' School and Exeter College, Oxford. She worked as a publisher and journalist before beginning research on Anthony Blunt
Series
Works by Miranda Carter
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Carter, M. J.
- Birthdate
- 1965-05-30
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- London, England, UK
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
- Education
- University of Oxford (Exeter College)
- Occupations
- publisher
journalist
biographer - Relationships
- Lanchester, John (husband)
- Awards and honors
- The Royal Society of Literature Award (2002)
Whitbread Biography Award (2002)
Orwell Prize (2002) - Short biography
- Miranda Carter, biographer, was educated at St. Paul's Girls' School and Exeter College, Oxford. She worked as a publisher and journalist before beginning research on her biography of Anthony Blunt in 1994. She lives in London with her husband and two sons. Anthony Blunt: His lives (2001), her first book, won the Royal Society of Literature Award and the Orwell Prize, and was shortlisted for many other prizes, including the Guardian First Book Award and the Whitbread Biography Award. In the US it was chosen by the New York Times Book Review as one of the seven best books of 2002.
Members
Reviews
This was an overview of the history of three cousins who reigned as a King, a Kaiser, and a Tsar, during the tumultuous period that was World War I. Ultimately, only the King would emerge with his throne intact.
I found the narrative to be a bit jumpy, going back and forth between the three subjects in a disjointed way. The information is all there; it was just difficult to digest. There were a few factual mistakes that should've been checked by any editor worth their salt. One example is that one of the Kaiser's sons was named Eitel Friedrich. The author, within a page, named him as "Eitel Frederick" and "Friedrich Eitel", which is enormously inconsistent.
You really should know the story before delving into this hefty tome.… (more)
I found the narrative to be a bit jumpy, going back and forth between the three subjects in a disjointed way. The information is all there; it was just difficult to digest. There were a few factual mistakes that should've been checked by any editor worth their salt. One example is that one of the Kaiser's sons was named Eitel Friedrich. The author, within a page, named him as "Eitel Frederick" and "Friedrich Eitel", which is enormously inconsistent.
You really should know the story before delving into this hefty tome.… (more)
Another good entry in the series. Blake wild and mysterious, Avery , finding it increasingly hard to continue in his solid , somewhat upper class persona. Dickensian, with lots of awful things, but most only hinted at. Historical details on chartists and on London in general very good, just a little liberty taken here and there to advance the plot. Historical characters like Mathew add color
Will definitely try the next one. Reminiscent of Kipling. Nice road story with a dashing innocent young hero and an older but wiser one. Had a number of dangerous adventures and a fair plot.
Lists
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 5
- Members
- 1,878
- Popularity
- #13,711
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 107
- ISBNs
- 63
- Languages
- 5
- Favorited
- 2
Here were three rather ordinary men -- cousins -- who ruled most of the world. Goodness me. How could Germany have put up with Wilhelm for so long? Although Nicholas was responsible for many terrible things, he is, by all accounts that I have read, on a personal level a very sympathetic character -- certainly the most sympathetic of the three cousins. He simply didn't have the intellect, the education, nor the personality to be an emperor. What endears him (at least to me) is his love for and devotion to his wife and family. He didn't like public life or socializing. He would have made a fine gentleman farmer, chopping wood and spending most of his time with his family. And he would have been far happier. George's betrayal of Nicholas -- who he claimed to love dearly -- is unforgiveable. Yup, a very interesting story.
… (more)