In January 1914 the eccentric adventurer Captain Duncan Heaton-Armstrong, ""on the look out for a more stable career,"" applied for the post of Private Secretary to the newly appointed King of Albania--the German Prince William of Wied. Heaton-Armstrong describes, with vibrancy, directness and humor, a miniature royal court in a desperately poor and remote corner of Europe. As the First World War engulfed the Balkans in August 1914, two royal infants were escorted back to Germany by Heaton-Armstrong, who was promptly made the first prisoner of war. His remarkable account has been edited for...