Adam Smith and the Origins of American Enterprise: How the Founding Fathers Turned to a Great Economist's Writings and Created the American Economy Book

Pretty good history of the relationships between Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and son of Queen Victoria, (who became King Edward VII) Theodore Roosevelt and the psychologically disturbed nephew of Edward, (and grandson of Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm II). During the late 19th century and after he became king, Edward tried to put together an alliance between France and Britain, (along with Russia) to block Germany, who as favored by Victoria, (Victoria considered herself and her family Germans, tried to get all her sons and relatives to marry German princesses, etc.) Edward has mostly been portrayed by history as a wastrel, who spent 60 years as Prince of Wales whoring and eating his way around the world and "pasting stamps in a book." Certainly, his philandering makes Bill Clinton look like Don Knotts, but there was a lot of substance there, too. Guy was a player and used his influence. In a strange set of affairs, several of the reigning monarchs of Europe were grandchildren of Queen Victoria in the late nineteenth century, including Tsar Nicholas II and Wilhelm. None of this helped stop the Great War, however. This books culminates in the Algeciras Conference of 1906 which determined what would become of Morocco. Germany favored independence, France wanted to make it a possession. Britain favored France and the U.S. secretly did too, while appearing to be neutral. After 1906, the participants and their alliances were all set for 1914, and the rest is history. Great biographic details about Victoria, her husband Albert, Edward, Kaiser Wilhelm and the German monarchy and Teddy.