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bmyurs's review
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book! In full disclosure, I read this book one week following the queen's passing, and that monumental event likely had an impact on my perspective of the book.
This book is perfect for anyone who has become a fan of the Crown. It's a rich, but also quick biography on the Queen, with an equal balance of her time as a monarch and as a mother/grandmother. Andrew spends some time documenting side stories with those in her family (Margaret, Charles, etc.) but doesn't let it distract from the main plot of the story. The writing and background is easy to approach for those who don't know much about the Queen; it's still a good read too if you're well read on her life. I do hope prior to publication that they put in either a forward or an epilogue on her death and legacy on the monarchy. I think with its publication date, it will be expected from readers.
This book is perfect for anyone who has become a fan of the Crown. It's a rich, but also quick biography on the Queen, with an equal balance of her time as a monarch and as a mother/grandmother. Andrew spends some time documenting side stories with those in her family (Margaret, Charles, etc.) but doesn't let it distract from the main plot of the story. The writing and background is easy to approach for those who don't know much about the Queen; it's still a good read too if you're well read on her life. I do hope prior to publication that they put in either a forward or an epilogue on her death and legacy on the monarchy. I think with its publication date, it will be expected from readers.
monarchgirl's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
This was good. Andrew Morton's biography of the Queen is not the best or worst royal biographies that i have read. Ok but i already knew a lot about already.
bookchatwithbeth's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
tigs_bookcase's review
4.0
👑The Queen👑
By Andrew Morton
Ad|Gifted
In this entertaining and insightful biography, writer Andrew Morton, author of Diana, Her True Story and Elizabeth & Margaret, takes you behind the scenes to uncover the woman and her world.
For years she prayed for her mother to give birth to a son. She longed to be spared her destiny as Britain's future Queen. Her dream was to live in the country surrounded by children, dogs and horses.
But Elizabeth did her duty, the young princess pledging before her people that she would dedicate her whole life to the service of Britain and the Commonwealth. She hoped that that day would be a long way off. It was not to be. Only twenty-five when she became Queen after the premature death of her father, King George Vl, Elizabeth has become the stuff of superlatives: the longest reigning, most travelled and, for a shy woman, the Queen who has shaken more hands and made more small talk than any other monarch in history.
Elizabeth was set firmly on the road to becoming sovereign because of the D word - divorce. In 1936, her uncle David, King Edward VIII, wanted to marry a twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson. When he couldn't he abdicated. Since that national trauma, divorce and the fall-out from divorce has shaped her reign. She has witnessed her sister Margaret, three of her children and several grandchildren divorce. And she has lived long enough to see the wheel turn full circle, watching as another American divorcee, Meghan Markle, walked down the aisle with her grandson Prince Harry.
While her reign has been defined by divorce, her private life has been moulded by an irascible husband, an extravagant mother and a querulous eldest son. In the winter of her reign she refereed a war between two of her grandsons, brothers William and Harry who were once inseparable friends. As she celebrates her platinum anniversary, the first monarch to reign for seventy years, she has, during a once in a lifetime pandemic, become the reassuring face of hope and optimism, the grandmother to the nation.
This marvellous book deserves to be on your shelves.
Go, buy it now!
By Andrew Morton
Ad|Gifted
In this entertaining and insightful biography, writer Andrew Morton, author of Diana, Her True Story and Elizabeth & Margaret, takes you behind the scenes to uncover the woman and her world.
For years she prayed for her mother to give birth to a son. She longed to be spared her destiny as Britain's future Queen. Her dream was to live in the country surrounded by children, dogs and horses.
But Elizabeth did her duty, the young princess pledging before her people that she would dedicate her whole life to the service of Britain and the Commonwealth. She hoped that that day would be a long way off. It was not to be. Only twenty-five when she became Queen after the premature death of her father, King George Vl, Elizabeth has become the stuff of superlatives: the longest reigning, most travelled and, for a shy woman, the Queen who has shaken more hands and made more small talk than any other monarch in history.
Elizabeth was set firmly on the road to becoming sovereign because of the D word - divorce. In 1936, her uncle David, King Edward VIII, wanted to marry a twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson. When he couldn't he abdicated. Since that national trauma, divorce and the fall-out from divorce has shaped her reign. She has witnessed her sister Margaret, three of her children and several grandchildren divorce. And she has lived long enough to see the wheel turn full circle, watching as another American divorcee, Meghan Markle, walked down the aisle with her grandson Prince Harry.
While her reign has been defined by divorce, her private life has been moulded by an irascible husband, an extravagant mother and a querulous eldest son. In the winter of her reign she refereed a war between two of her grandsons, brothers William and Harry who were once inseparable friends. As she celebrates her platinum anniversary, the first monarch to reign for seventy years, she has, during a once in a lifetime pandemic, become the reassuring face of hope and optimism, the grandmother to the nation.
This marvellous book deserves to be on your shelves.
Go, buy it now!
emilyalbert's review
informative
medium-paced
3.0
I’m pleased I read this biography which has been revised to date i.e. June 2022 and learnt some things I never knew before, especially regarding Princess Margaret. However I believe that biographers should be neutral. Andrew Morton is occasionally sycophantic, which is perhaps understandable, but his bias against Prince Charles is almost palpable and rather spoils an otherwise quite good book.
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