2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. There have been numerous books published about the causes of this cataclysmic event sharing a common theme: conflict was inevitable considering the circumstances of early 20th century Europe including the arms race between the Great Powers and the rise of militant nationalism. In The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914, Margaret MacMillan, the award winning author of Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World, focuses instead on the key individuals who made the decision to go to war. Early 20th century Europe experienced numerous crises that made a general war appear inevitable but the eventual outbreak of hostilities occurred because Heads of State, government ministers and military strategists made choices that gradually ended a century of comparative peace in Europe.

 While MacMillan discusses all the key figures who contributed to Europe’s decision, the abrasive personality of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany stands out above all others in The War That Ended Peace. The Kaiser emerges as the most undiplomatic figure who even considered himself to be a master of foreign affairs. While the Kaiser argued that his intentions toward his fellow Great Powers were peaceful, his bombastic speeches consistently soured relations with other nations, most notably Great Britain. Over the course of the narrative, Wilhelm spoils otherwise productive state visits with ill timed remarks about German supremacy, “listens at the keyhole” when his cousins King George V of England and Czar Nicholas II of Russia attempt to speak privately at his daughter’s 1913 wedding and offends senior members of the Russian government with his loud, tasteless jokes. By 1914, there was a wide gulf between the Kaiser’s peaceful intentions and the public perception of his behavior across Europe.

 In the shadow of the Kaiser’s overbearing and counterproductive attempts at “diplomacy,” MacMillan brings comparatively obscure figures out of the shadows and takes a fresh look at those considered most responsible for the failure of peace. For example, while studies of the outbreak of war on the Eastern front usually focus on Czar Nicholas II, MacMillan looks at the key figures who influenced him in the years and months prior to the outbreak of war. Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov emerges as a key figure who believed that Russia’s historic mission was to protect the Balkan nations. A chapter devoted to war planning including the notorious Schlieffen plan reveals that the blame for Germany’s offensive military strategy should not rest on the shoulders of Alfred von Schlieffen alone. Instead, there was a larger pattern of civilian leaders leaving military planning up to “the experts” and not coordinating diplomatic and military initiatives.

The final chapters detailing the final weeks of peace reveal just how significant chance factors were to the outbreak of hostilities. Key figures who had argued for peace during previous crises were dead or incapacitated by 1914. MacMIllan observes that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand removed one of the most prominent advocates for peace in the Austro-Hungarian empire in addition to precipitating a larger crisis. In Russia, faith healer Grigori Rasputin was recovering from assassination attempt in Siberia and was only able to communicate his pleas for peace to the Czar through letters. The 1914 crisis also occurred when governments were out of session and leaders on summer holidays. British foreign secretary Edward Grey was on a bird watching trip at the time of Franz Ferdinand’s assassination and French president Poincaire was aboard a ship in the Baltic sea for part of July, 1914. These circumstances contributed to the breakdown of peace in Europe in 1914

In The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914, Margaret MacMillan reveals the human drama that led to the outbreak of the First World War, presenting the choices of Europe’s political figures and military strategists in slow motion. Throughout the book, MacMillan presents  parallels between the Europe of 1914 and our own time including the continuing development of nationalism and fears of increasing terrorist activity. MacMillan observes that President John F. Kennedy was mindful of the lessons of 1914 when he resolved the Cuban Missile Crisis and encourages twenty-first century readers to apply the lessons of the past to the present.

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Edward the Confessor, the second last King to rule England before the Norman Conquest of 1066 is best known for his piety and patronage of the original Westminster Abbey where he is buried. Subsequent Kings admired him for his religious devotions rather than his statesmanship. During the thirteenth century, King Henry III rebuilt Westminster Abbey to honour his favourite royal saint and named his son and heir, Edward, reviving the Confessor’s name for eight future Kings. In Edward the Confessor, the late Peter Rex, author of numerous books about Saxon and early Norman England including William the Conqueror: The Bastard of Normandy, The Last English King: The Life of Harold II, 1066: A New History of the Norman Conquest and Hereward: The Last Englishman argues that centuries of hagiography and Norman propaganda have obscured the life and times of the real Edward the Confessor.

Rex begins and ends with the events of Edward the Confessor’s life but the middle chapters are organized by theme, emphasizing the King’s statesmanship instead of his piety. There are sections devoted to royal administration, the King’s wealth, succession politics, foreign wars and domestic upheaval, most notably the actions of the King’s father-in-law, Earl Godwin of Wessex. Throughout the narrative, Rex keeps the emphasis on the King as a statesman. Edward’s twenty-four year reign was a period of peace and prosperity for England that would not be replicated for the rest of the eleventh century. The successes of Edward’s reign demonstrate that he was politically astute as well as pious.

Although biographical information about historical figures who lived more than a thousand years ago is notoriously difficult to find, Rex reaches informed conclusions about the man who wore the crown. Edward was the son of King Aethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, a marriage that created a familial link between the Saxon royal house in England and the Dukes of Normandy that would change the course of English history. Emma largely abandoned Edward and her other children from her first marriage after her remarriage to King Canute.

Edward spent years of exile in Normandy while Canute and his sons ruled England. Norman sources seeking to justify William the Conqueror’s eventual ascension argued that Edward formed a close relationship with his relatives in Normandy but Rex uncovers little evidence of Edward receiving support from his mother’s family. While in Normandy, the exiled Edward did not receive lands, a noble wife or the military support necessary to claim his crown. Rex argues convincingly that Edward may have resented his relatives and certainly believed that his mother could have done more for him. In the chapter on succession, Rex does not present any evidence that Edward intended his cousin, William, Duke of Normandy to be his successor.

Rex also provides a sensitive and nuanced analysis of Edward’s marriage to Edith, daughter of the powerful Godwin, Earl of Wessex. For centuries, historians have argued that the marriage was celibate either because of Edward’s piety or his antipathy toward Godwin and his ambitious family. Contemporaries described the King and Queen as being “more like father and daughter,” an observation that may have had more to do with their twenty year age difference than their marital relations. Like Edward the Confessor’s other recent biographer, Frank Barlow, Rex argues that there no evidence to support the idea of a celibate union. Rex even uncovers circumstantial evidence that the royal couple may have had a least one child who died in infancy. Securing the succession was among the duties of medieval monarch and Edward’s piety does not seem to have precluded a physical relationship with his wife.

The 2013 edition of  Edward the Confessor is missing a few key features including an index that would allow scholars and general readers to better follow the changing fortunes of prominent figures during Edward’s reign. There are also a few typographical errors that distract from the narrative. Otherwise, Edward the Confessor, is a fascinating biography that allows readers to glimpse the personality and policies of the last uncontested Saxon King of England.

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