This is a lengthy history of the Wittelsbach family written by one of their own. This family has been influential in European politics for almost a millenium. Anectdotally, they famously scorned a Hapsburg marriage alliance, dismissing them as mere upstarts (having only rule for several centuries at that point). This book has lots of illustrations and the damnedest, most complete genealogical chart you could ever hope for and that's saying a LOT for a family that spans from before the Crusades to the present. I still haven't fully grasped how to interpret the family tree, but it's great fun anyway. The scholarship is not deep or extensive, but the personal insight largely attones for that. ( )