Author Description

When the Greeks deposed their unpopular, childless German-born ruler Otho in 1862, they chose a new king, George I, who proved a popular and effective monarch, coping with racial tensions in the Balkans and defeat by Turkey in the war of 1897. His family also made good dynastic alliances with the English and Russian royal families. Assassinated in 1913, he was succeeded by his eldest son Constantine. He endeavoured to remain neutral during World War I, but he was forced to abdicate by pressure from both sides and from his own government. His son Alexander succeeded him as king, but died only three years later from a monkey bite, and Constantine was recalled. However, a disastrous war with Turkey in 1922 resulted in a second abdication and his death in exile a few months later. This is a biography of the Greek royal family from 1863 to 1974, during a period of turbulence, and shows both the benefits and disadvantages of the dynasty's close ties to the other royal houses of Europe.