The Two Edwards

How King Edward VII and Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey Fomented the First World War By Peter Hof The Two Edwards is unique in that it concentrates on the leading role played by King Edward VII and Foreign Secretary Edward Grey, which is mentioned peripherally—if at all—by others. King Edward is acknowledged as the author of the Triple Entente, but his motive for doing so is rarely mentioned.Historians complain with considerable truth that the pre-War British imperialists acted in secret and took pains to conceal their designs from the public and are therefore obliged to rely excessively on inference, deduction and, sometimes, outright speculation and conjecture. By contrast the actions of the King and his Foreign Secretary left a trail of records and documents which are part and parcel of the historical record and are hardly obscured by the destruction of personal letters and papers which was ordered by Edward VII and Edward Grey. In short, the two Edwards left a permanent documen