Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
More a series of anecdotes loosely grouped into themes than a biography. The most interesting bits are about the queen as a symbol and how people reacted to her.
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
compulsively readable, with strong commitment to weird little facts, definite lack of cohesive political thought--more royalist than one might expect.
funny
informative
medium-paced
Did not expect this to be funny, despite it being billed as such. You could read this just for two parts near the end: when Marilyn Monroe’s then husband Arthur Miller is described as « that weird tall guy » and the head of a former colony that offers to take up a collection for Britain given economic woes. I couldn’t find any proof online of the letter but I cried from laughing so hard. Trolling before the Internet.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Snapshots of Queen Elizabeth II life from the viewpoint of those who interacted with her. As an avid fan of the Queen most of these reflective stories into her life I already knew about. So there wasn't anything new here.
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Much more fun than the (tbh several) other bios I’ve read of the Queen, and a fuller picture. Also enjoyed this more than the Princess Margaret book by the same author, though that might be on Princess Margaret who came off as a largely miserable person. The Queen comes off here almost like a funhouse mirror, reflecting different things for everyone who saw her in life, and then coming into a clearer focus even for a lot of people who thought they hated the idea of her in death.
Craig Brown books are always a scream.
No matter how many times I read about The Queen, I come away still not knowing much about her. She really was a perfect British Monarch.
No matter how many times I read about The Queen, I come away still not knowing much about her. She really was a perfect British Monarch.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
The book is light and funny, but a little disjointed and weird. Just a lot of seemingly disconnected facts and anecdotes about the Royal family and pop culture of the time. I just cannot commit to another 450 pages of the same.