Alice Keppel, the married lover of Queen Victoria's eldest son and great-grandmother to Camilla Parker-Bowles, was a key figure in Edwardian society. Hers was the acceptable face of adultery. Discretion was her hallmark. It was her art to be the king's mistress and yet to laud the Royal Family and the institution of marriage. Formidable and manipulative, her attentions to the king brought her wealth, power, and status. Her daughter Violet Trefusis...

"Chronicles the eventful life of Queen Victoria's firstborn son, the quintessential black sheep of Buckingham Palace, who matured into as wise and effective a monarch as Britain has ever seen."--Publisher's description.

In the years before World War I, the great European powers were ruled by three first cousins: King George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Tsar Nicholas II. Carter uses the cousins' correspondence and a host of historical sources to tell their tragicomic stories.

When Lillie Langtry defies the moral traditions of Victorian England and nineteenth century America, she becomes one of the most celebrated and scandalous women of her time. Bold, intelligent and witty, Lillie, with her dazzling beauty and brazen determination, is liberated from a woman's "proper" place in society. Rising from modest beginnings to international superstar to the bed of the Prince of Wales, she is a "serial" lover, attracting attention...

An exploration of Queen Victoria's matchmaking exploits details how she used her grandchildren to further the influence of the British Empire, despite their own plans and the turmoil that rocked Europe starting in the nineteenth century.