In the Darmstadt archives of the Hessian House Foundation there are extensive letters that Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig received from his four sisters. This letters, mostly written in English, are presented in this book for the first time. The letters begin in 1878 with the outbreak of the diphtheria in Darmstadt and the death of their mother, and end in 1892, shortly before the death of Grand Duke Ludwig IV. They give interesting, unbiased insights into everyday life of the grand-ducal family from the point of view of the adolescent trips to England or Scotland to grandmother Queen Victoria; or to Russia to the tsar family; an educational trip Italy; the engagements and marriages of the three older Princesses; but also first-hand reports in 1888 from St. Remo, where the future German Emperor Friedrich III. was seriously ill. The four sisters always kept their brother up to date. While Ernst Ludwig in 1892 became Grand Duke by Hesse and by Rhine, his sisters played as a result of her marriages also significant roles: Victoria as wife of the future Chief of the British Navy, Ella as the wife of the governor of Moscow, Irène as Sister-in-law of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and, the best known, Alix in her tragic role as Alexandra Fyodorovna Romanova, the last Russian tsarina. Gebonden editie, Engelstalig, 347 pagina's, afmeting ‎ 15.24 x 22.86 cm