1 of 1 copy available
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon—the ninth of the Earl of Strathmore’s ten children—was born on August 4, 1900, and, certainly, no one could have imagined that her long life (she died in 2002) would come to reflect a changing nation over the ourse of an entire century. Now, William Shawcross—given unrestricted access to the Queen Mother’s personal papers, letters, and diaries—gives us a portrait of unprecedented vividness and detail. Here is the girl who helped convalescing soldiers during the First World War . . . the young Duchess of York helping her reluctant husband assume the throne when his brother abdicated . . . the Queen refusing to take refuge from the bombing of London, risking her own life to instill courage and hope in others who were living through the Blitz . . . the dowager Queen—the last Edwardian, the charming survivor of a long-lost era—representing her nation at home and abroad . . . the matriarch of the Royal Family and “the nation’s best-loved grandmother.”
A revelatory royal biography that is, as well, a singular history of Britain in the twentieth century.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 20, 2009 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781415966563
- File size: 282356 KB
- Duration: 09:48:14
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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As the official biographer of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, William Shawcross is an expert on the details of the remarkable life of Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon, the young Scots woman who came to be affectionately known worldwide as the "Queen Mum." Shawcross's experience as a writer and broadcaster gives him the authority and stamina to perform this monumental biography of a life that encompassed a century. Sophie Roberts delivers the words from the Queen Mother's correspondence. Like an extensive behind-the-scenes tour of a castle, the biography is rich in detail that personalizes history. As British Royals continue to be covered in the international media, this well-organized biography proves that their history is just as intriguing. R.F. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine -
September 28, 2009
With unrestricted access to the queen mother's personal papers, letters and diaries, this respectful, mostly uncritical biography by veteran journalist Shawcross (Sideshow
) focuses on the courtship of Elizabeth (1900–2002), the daughter of a Scottish earl, by the future King George VI; the shocking abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson; and WWII, when Elizabeth's narrow escape from a bomb that hit Buckingham Palace helped her commiserate with her subjects during the blitz. Throughout, the queen mother is depicted as vivacious, charming, devout and dutiful, a dedicated protector of the arts if not an intellectual, and socially conservative. Shawcross repeatedly pulls his punches when it comes to revealing the workings of Elizabeth's heart, particularly her anguish over her nemesis, Wallis Simpson, and over her role in aborting her daughter Princess Margaret's romance with the married courtier Peter Townsend. The dearth of information on the queen mother's relationship with the late Princess Diana is particularly egregious. Although readers sense some of the parade of people who crossed her path, the royal engagements that filled her calendar and the pivotal historical events that shaped her life, Shawcross delivers a disappointingly bland celebration of the queen mother. 32 pages of photos.
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