Guns. That was the ticket. Or portraits of dour businessmen, fashioned after those of their counterparts from a country that had killed its king. Such are observations behind the seemingly endless display of the priceless ornaments offered by the Russian court to Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Charles I and II, and other, more intermittent holders of the crown of England. Murdoch (Victoria & Albert Museum) and Dmitrieva (Kremlin Museum) choose carefully from their vast collection, relying more on the subtleties of the message of the gift than merely on the gift itself. For example, they show the splendid sets of gift armor, clearly so exaggerated in proportion as to make them unwearable by the monarch, the dozens of poniards with blades that would never be sullied, and the hundreds of table pieces that would never set an embellished foot on a table. The result is evidence that Russia and England watched each other very carefully, and no detail of public or private life of the court was lost on either. Distributed by Abrams. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)