In this volume, the author has written a book whose value as pure history is no less than its interest as a study of four essentially ordinary people under extraordinary circumstances. He was the first to appreciate the complexity of George I, and he surveys the following three Georges with a similarly unjaundiced eye. His analysis of the four kings shows just what effect their reigns had on the history of their time. Whether or not the loss of the American colonies is generally regarded as inevitable or the fault of the crown, Professor Plumb shows that the influence of the monarchy was paramount in many other respects during the 116 years of their reigns.