Elizabeth the Queen Elizabeth the Queen

Elizabeth the Queen

The Life of a Modern Monarch

    • 4.1 • 287 Ratings
    • $10.99
    • $10.99

Publisher Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This “excellent, all-embracing” (The New York Times) biography of Queen Elizabeth II is a magisterial study of the woman known only from a distance—and a captivating window into her decades-long reign.

From the moment of her ascension to the throne in 1952 at the age of twenty-five, Queen Elizabeth II was the object of unparalleled scrutiny. But through the fog of glamour and gossip, how well did we really know the world’s most famous monarch? Drawing on numerous interviews and never-before-revealed documents, acclaimed biographer Sally Bedell Smith pulls back the curtain to show in intimate detail the public and private lives of Queen Elizabeth II, who led her country and Commonwealth through the wars and upheavals of the last twentieth and twenty-first centuries with unparalleled composure, intelligence, and grace.
 
In Elizabeth the Queen, we meet the young girl who suddenly becomes “heiress presumptive” when her uncle abdicates the throne. We meet the thirteen-year-old Lilibet as she falls in love with a young navy cadet named Philip and becomes determined to marry him, even though her parents prefer wealthier English aristocrats. We see the teenage Lilibet repairing army trucks during World War II and standing with Winston Churchill on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on V-E Day. We see the young Queen struggling to balance the demands of her job with her role as the mother of two young children.

Sally Bedell Smith brings us inside the palace doors and into the Queen’s daily routines—the “red boxes” of documents she reviewed each day, the weekly meetings she had with twelve prime ministers, her physically demanding tours abroad, and the constant scrutiny of the press—as well as her personal relationships: with her husband, Prince Philip, the love of her life; her children and their often-disastrous marriages; her grandchildren and friends.

GENRE
Biographies & Memoirs
RELEASED
2012
January 10
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
688
Pages
PUBLISHER
Random House Publishing Group
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
23.9
MB

Customer Reviews

Brazil Lady ,

Overall a good book

While this is a good book, it is obvious that the author has a bias towards the queen. There is no doubt that the queen has devoted her life to her position, and has done so extremely well. But this book presents Elizabeth II as nearly perfect. It shows few, if any faults, although everyone has them. The author stresses over and over the queen's down to earth-ness. Her humility and forthrightness. Almost to the point where one wonders who is the author trying to convince. The book fairly well bashes Diana, and gives her very little credit for anything; supplying many quotes from palace insiders as to how "everyone" knew what a problem Diana was going to be.
Yet, the book is interesting. If you want a book that idealizes the queen, then this is the one for you.

Lilo2010 ,

Cheers to this book!

This book is not for people looking for dirty laundry and scandal. The book is exactly what it says its about: The Queen. This book captures HRH at her brightest and darkest times while giving the common person a look at the person she is in her private life. We learn why she is the way she is when it comes to handling scandal later in life and a lot has to do with her upbringing. While the book does favor HRH what's not to love? You learn a lot more about The Queen and realize she is more than meets the eye.

kwr3 ,

Great Read

What a beautiful and well written book, that keeps you wanting to turn the page. The British Monarchy should be proud of such a vivid and accurate book on the Queen.

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Grace and Power Grace and Power
2004
George VI and Elizabeth George VI and Elizabeth
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Diana in Search of Herself Diana in Search of Herself
1999
Reflected Glory Reflected Glory
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In All His Glory In All His Glory
2002

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