A brisk and insightful biography of Frederick the Great written by two of his royal descendants, Princess Sibylle and Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia. Deemphasizing the king's political and military achievements while highlighting his personal relationships, interests, and even quirks, this book gives us Frederick as full-blooded Mensch rather than as Olympian monarch. His tortured relationship with his martinet father, the "soldier king"; his extraordinary devotion to his dogs, eclipsing even his love for significant humans; his passion for reading and for the ideals of Enlightenment philosophy as guiding forces in government; the seemingly ceaseless tide of grief he had to endure over the rapid succession of deaths of those closest to him; even his less than fastidious table manners in cutting up bits of meat on the tablecloth for his nearby dogs-these and many other facets of a charismatic personality make this a volume that is for history buffs virtually "unputdownable."