Ruthless Rulers: The real lives of Europe's most infamous tyrants

Throughout history, all monarchs have lived with the same dichotomy of simultaneously being human and more than human.

In our time, when monarchs seem little more than tourist curiosities and democracy is taken for granted, it is easy to forget just how much power pre-democratic rulers once wielded. The rulers and holders of political power in this book were all possessed of vast - in many cases, absolute, - power: power which was often exercised arbitrarily and unjustly.

What unites the figu...