In an attempt to discover some of the underlying origins of World War I, this title focuses on a small sector of offstage events to show how they affected the drama at large long before the war even began. "This is a serious historical volume, but the people it involves, those who influenced or controlled Franco-Russian relations from 1875 to 1890, are . . . a most astonishing set of zanies, scalawags, and fanatics, all vividly characterized by Mr. Kennan."