The Roman Emperor Caligula worshipped his horse and Charles VI of France was convinced that he was made of glass, while Frederick William I of Prussia kidnapped the tallest men he could find to form his private army. We may think of royals as being dignified, but sometimes they are preposterous and even appalling. In the humorous capsule biographies of monarchs collected here, there are secret marriages, illegitimate offspring, royal pickpockets, but also vampirism, cannibalism, and pigeon-fancying.