The survival of the British monarchy as a popular institution owes a lot toits queens who were, more often than not, more intelligent than theirhusbands. Caroline of Ansbach is such a queen. Well-educated and from one ofthe poorer German principalities, Caroline married into the boorish House ofHanover. It isn't long before she discovered she's caught between aloathsome, vindictive father-in-law, George I, and her not-too-bright anddomineering husband, the future George II. The House of Hanover, newlyascended to the English throne, would not have survived on the personalpopularity of its kings. It took the cleverness of Caroline coupled withthat of Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister, to keep things in balance.Jean Plaidy tells the tale of the reign of George I through the personaltrauma of this most remarkable of English Queens.