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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
komet2020's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
The Mountbattens: Their Lives & Loves is a well-researched, comprehensive dual biography of Lord and Lady Louis and Edwina Mountbatten, who were among the most prominent figures of the 20th century by virtue of their roles during World War II and in the partitioning and establishment of Pakistan and an independent India in August 1947.
Louis Mountbatten (1900-1979), a great-grandson of Queen Victoria and the uncle of Prince Philip (Queen Elizabeth II's husband), joined the Royal Navy shortly before World War I and went on to have a long career in government service, at sea and ashore. After having his ship, the destroyer HMS Kelly, sunk by German dive bombers during the Battle of Crete in May 1941, Mountbatten was placed in charge of Combined Operations in the UK through which the Allies mounted a raid on Dieppe, France, in August 1942, from which lessons were hard learned in staging a future seaborne invasion of Western Europe (as evidenced by the successful landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944), and devising various strategies and devices for use against Germany.
Subsequently, Mountbatten would take up the post of Supreme Commander of Southeast Asia Command in late 1943, through which he played a key role of strengthening British military power and resources in that theater of war through which the British would defeat Japanese forces in Burma, Borneo, and Malaya.
Yet, while Mountbatten had his strengths, Andrew Lownie makes clear that he was also "a man full of contradictions. Self-confident in public life, he was insecure when it came to his private life and relations with his wife. Able to think outside the box and see the big picture, he was obsessed with trivial detail - often to do with his own personal appearance or prestige."
Edwina Mountbatten (1901-1960) was one of the world's richest women at the time she married her husband in 1922. Within a few years of marriage, both felt somewhat ill-matched for while Mountbatten prided himself on being meticulous and detail-oriented to the nth degree, his wife was one who loved to be spontaneous and enjoy life. She and her husband would agree on having an open marriage because of her tendency to engage in affairs with men who caught her fancy. (Both would have discreet and sometimes not-so-discreet affairs throughout their marriage.)
But once World War II broke out in September 1939, Edwina was determined to carve out a meaningful role for herself in service to Britain. And so it was that she developed considerable organizational and administrative talents in a variety of humanitarian endeavors. Edwina became a "universally admired and loved" figure because of the reputation she earned for herself, both during the war and afterward on the Indian subcontinent. What was "[a]n aimless youth was transformed into a middle age of lasting accomplishments as a humanitarian. Difficult, complex, determined to emerge from the shadow of her husband, she proved herself more than his equal in intellect and achievement, and her influence on him in public life has been underrated."
I learned so much about both Mountbattens and recommend this biography highly to everyone.
Louis Mountbatten (1900-1979), a great-grandson of Queen Victoria and the uncle of Prince Philip (Queen Elizabeth II's husband), joined the Royal Navy shortly before World War I and went on to have a long career in government service, at sea and ashore. After having his ship, the destroyer HMS Kelly, sunk by German dive bombers during the Battle of Crete in May 1941, Mountbatten was placed in charge of Combined Operations in the UK through which the Allies mounted a raid on Dieppe, France, in August 1942, from which lessons were hard learned in staging a future seaborne invasion of Western Europe (as evidenced by the successful landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944), and devising various strategies and devices for use against Germany.
Subsequently, Mountbatten would take up the post of Supreme Commander of Southeast Asia Command in late 1943, through which he played a key role of strengthening British military power and resources in that theater of war through which the British would defeat Japanese forces in Burma, Borneo, and Malaya.
Yet, while Mountbatten had his strengths, Andrew Lownie makes clear that he was also "a man full of contradictions. Self-confident in public life, he was insecure when it came to his private life and relations with his wife. Able to think outside the box and see the big picture, he was obsessed with trivial detail - often to do with his own personal appearance or prestige."
Edwina Mountbatten (1901-1960) was one of the world's richest women at the time she married her husband in 1922. Within a few years of marriage, both felt somewhat ill-matched for while Mountbatten prided himself on being meticulous and detail-oriented to the nth degree, his wife was one who loved to be spontaneous and enjoy life. She and her husband would agree on having an open marriage because of her tendency to engage in affairs with men who caught her fancy. (Both would have discreet and sometimes not-so-discreet affairs throughout their marriage.)
But once World War II broke out in September 1939, Edwina was determined to carve out a meaningful role for herself in service to Britain. And so it was that she developed considerable organizational and administrative talents in a variety of humanitarian endeavors. Edwina became a "universally admired and loved" figure because of the reputation she earned for herself, both during the war and afterward on the Indian subcontinent. What was "[a]n aimless youth was transformed into a middle age of lasting accomplishments as a humanitarian. Difficult, complex, determined to emerge from the shadow of her husband, she proved herself more than his equal in intellect and achievement, and her influence on him in public life has been underrated."
I learned so much about both Mountbattens and recommend this biography highly to everyone.
scottjeffe's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting account of a very complicated couple. The author covers everything from the most serious effects Mountbatten had on various points of 20th century to the most tawdry aspects of the live lives of the couple. Neither come off incredibly well, although Mountbatten himself is slightly more sympathetic than his cranky, wonton wife who had no interest in fidelity in marriage.
Mountbatten famously said that he had his wife spent the better part of their marriage getting into other people’s beds, but I had no idea just how true that was and just how openly it was done. Edwina had the brass balls to do it chronically - and expect Louis to accept it - and then be jealous when he did it in return.
Mountbatten is portrayed as more mendacious and more shallow than I have seen in past studies.
Strangely enough, none of this was done by the author with any malice and with this “worts and all” approach, these two people come off pretty well, due to their commitment to public service and their ultimate loyalty to one another (even if Edwina was a first class b$&ch to her husband - and often to her daughters).
Ps: if I were Andrew Lownie, I would have skipped the second to the last chapter, where, after putting Mountbatten in the grace he goes on as nausuem for 20 pages about the homosexuality rumors.
Mountbatten famously said that he had his wife spent the better part of their marriage getting into other people’s beds, but I had no idea just how true that was and just how openly it was done. Edwina had the brass balls to do it chronically - and expect Louis to accept it - and then be jealous when he did it in return.
Mountbatten is portrayed as more mendacious and more shallow than I have seen in past studies.
Strangely enough, none of this was done by the author with any malice and with this “worts and all” approach, these two people come off pretty well, due to their commitment to public service and their ultimate loyalty to one another (even if Edwina was a first class b$&ch to her husband - and often to her daughters).
Ps: if I were Andrew Lownie, I would have skipped the second to the last chapter, where, after putting Mountbatten in the grace he goes on as nausuem for 20 pages about the homosexuality rumors.
bethg331's review against another edition
5.0
What a book and what a life! My local book store has a Royals Book Club and sometimes I am able to go. This book is this month's selection. I only knew a few things about Dickie Mountbatten- he was Prince Philip's Uncle, he wanted his granddaughter to marry Prince Charles, and how he died. I was nervous because I am not always that good with reading biographies. I can find them very boring and I was only going to have a week to read the book. I read it in four days. Dickie and Edwina are anything but boring! Edwina constantly had affairs and Dickie was sad about them but he understood and when she would bring lovers to the house he would make himself scarce. What?! How awkward. Now he also had affairs after awhile. I mean why wouldn't you? But then Edwina would become friends with his lovers. And he would be friends with her lovers. Again What?! I'll just say that Dickie had a huge lifelong career in the Navy and Edwina used her inheritance to travel the world and help charitable organizations. This author definitely did his research. I really enjoyed it!
I knew the Royal family changed their name to Windsor during WWI and relinquished all German titles, but I did not know Prince Louis of Battenberg (Dickie's father) had to change his name to Mountbatten.
-Many felt the problem with Mountbatten was that, for all his bravery and leadership abilities, he lacked judgement and patience, and was too much the showman where style triumphed over substance.
-"He has great drive, personality and imagination but here lacks balance and is a most wishful thinker."
-"Dickie, you're so crooked that if you swallowed a nail, you'd shit a corkscrew." It was a remark that Mountbatten liked to repeat.
-He was good at dressing up his role and spinning his apparent influence, but he was really just a front of house manager to make sure everyone remained happy. The irony is that the strings were being pulled elsewhere.
(There was a little joke in our house. We finished building our house this year and we have board and batten siding and I kept calling it Mountbatten. My husband now knows who Mountbatten is.)
I knew the Royal family changed their name to Windsor during WWI and relinquished all German titles, but I did not know Prince Louis of Battenberg (Dickie's father) had to change his name to Mountbatten.
-Many felt the problem with Mountbatten was that, for all his bravery and leadership abilities, he lacked judgement and patience, and was too much the showman where style triumphed over substance.
-"He has great drive, personality and imagination but here lacks balance and is a most wishful thinker."
-"Dickie, you're so crooked that if you swallowed a nail, you'd shit a corkscrew." It was a remark that Mountbatten liked to repeat.
-He was good at dressing up his role and spinning his apparent influence, but he was really just a front of house manager to make sure everyone remained happy. The irony is that the strings were being pulled elsewhere.
(There was a little joke in our house. We finished building our house this year and we have board and batten siding and I kept calling it Mountbatten. My husband now knows who Mountbatten is.)
marionrosa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
possomdj's review against another edition
2.0
I couldn’t finish it, The people it is about are just quite boring despite having done a lot. I feel like it’s just listing everything single thing they did. Like literally oh they got Ill before they went on holiday. Like the book could probably be tighter just half the size and told in more of an interesting narrative.
amberly1997's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
2.0
Started and finished date - 23.12.24 to 26.12.24.
My rating - Two Stars.
I found this book interesting and I did enjoyed Beginning of the book also the writing was okay but I think this book did dragged. I think this book could be one hundred pages shorter and the cover of the book was fine.
My rating - Two Stars.
I found this book interesting and I did enjoyed Beginning of the book also the writing was okay but I think this book did dragged. I think this book could be one hundred pages shorter and the cover of the book was fine.
annikahipple's review against another edition
2.0
I have a longstanding interest in India, in particular the lead-up to and aftermath of independence, so I was interested to read this book about the last Viceroy of India, Lord Louis "Dickie" Mountbatten (uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh) and his wife, Edwina (a fascinating character in her own right). However, the section on India in this book was quite short and not very in depth at all. (For a much better treatment of Indian independence, I'll echo other reviewers' recommendations of Alex von Tunzelmann's Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire. It's been quite a few years since I read it, but I remember it as excellent.)
Beyond India, the Mountbattens led interesting, dramatic lives that touched on many significant world events and intersected with those of many other notable 20th-century figures. Andrew Lownie has clearly done an immense amount of research, and there are some interesting bits of substantial history, but the narrative focuses too much on the "loves" part of the title and not enough on the "lives". Dickie and Edwina had what seemed like dozens of lovers each, and at times this book seemed more like a gossipy tabloid than a serious biography. I really didn't need a whole chapter about Dickie's likely bisexuality, with excruciating detail about the forms it took. A lot of what would have been shocking during his lifetime, would not raise nearly as many eyebrows now, and in any case, I just didn't find the details interesting reading.
My other reason for giving this a low rating is that the writing simply isn't all that good. There are many poorly constructed sentences with grammatical flaws, and Lownie often neglects to introduce characters properly. A person would be mentioned in one way (by name or title) and a different way the next time, without any clarification. For example, Lownie quotes "Lady Pamela Hicks" long before mentioning the marriage of Dickie and Edwina's daughter Pamela Mountbatten. I often had to look people up in the index to be reminded of who they were. (On the subject of the index, I wish it had included more than just people; at one point I was trying to remember where one of the Mountbatten's houses was located, but it wasn't in the index, and I couldn't find the earlier references by flipping pages. Fortunately the location was mentioned again a chapter or so later.)
I also found it annoying that Lownie neglected to close the circle on certain events by providing adequate detail. For example, when Dickie Mountbatten is assassinated by an IRA bomb placed on his private boat, Lownie sets the stage by describing the planned family outing and mentioning everyone who was on board, but after the bomb goes off, he says that Mountbatten was killed instantly and describes how his body was found, but says nothing about what happened to the other family members. Only later in the chapter does he mention in passing the funeral of Nicholas, Mountbatten's grandson, and Lady Brabourne, his daughter's mother-in-law, both of whom were also killed. (Other family members survived, but Lownie says nothing at all about them, not even mentioning if anyone else was injured at all.)
All in all, this could have been fascinating, but the excessive focus on the Mountbattens' love lives at the expense of other aspects of their stories, and the gaps in information and other organizational issues, made this a rather disappointing read overall.
Beyond India, the Mountbattens led interesting, dramatic lives that touched on many significant world events and intersected with those of many other notable 20th-century figures. Andrew Lownie has clearly done an immense amount of research, and there are some interesting bits of substantial history, but the narrative focuses too much on the "loves" part of the title and not enough on the "lives". Dickie and Edwina had what seemed like dozens of lovers each, and at times this book seemed more like a gossipy tabloid than a serious biography. I really didn't need a whole chapter about Dickie's likely bisexuality, with excruciating detail about the forms it took. A lot of what would have been shocking during his lifetime, would not raise nearly as many eyebrows now, and in any case, I just didn't find the details interesting reading.
My other reason for giving this a low rating is that the writing simply isn't all that good. There are many poorly constructed sentences with grammatical flaws, and Lownie often neglects to introduce characters properly. A person would be mentioned in one way (by name or title) and a different way the next time, without any clarification. For example, Lownie quotes "Lady Pamela Hicks" long before mentioning the marriage of Dickie and Edwina's daughter Pamela Mountbatten. I often had to look people up in the index to be reminded of who they were. (On the subject of the index, I wish it had included more than just people; at one point I was trying to remember where one of the Mountbatten's houses was located, but it wasn't in the index, and I couldn't find the earlier references by flipping pages. Fortunately the location was mentioned again a chapter or so later.)
I also found it annoying that Lownie neglected to close the circle on certain events by providing adequate detail. For example, when Dickie Mountbatten is assassinated by an IRA bomb placed on his private boat, Lownie sets the stage by describing the planned family outing and mentioning everyone who was on board, but after the bomb goes off, he says that Mountbatten was killed instantly and describes how his body was found, but says nothing about what happened to the other family members. Only later in the chapter does he mention in passing the funeral of Nicholas, Mountbatten's grandson, and Lady Brabourne, his daughter's mother-in-law, both of whom were also killed. (Other family members survived, but Lownie says nothing at all about them, not even mentioning if anyone else was injured at all.)
All in all, this could have been fascinating, but the excessive focus on the Mountbattens' love lives at the expense of other aspects of their stories, and the gaps in information and other organizational issues, made this a rather disappointing read overall.
ruthieduthie's review against another edition
3.0
I must admit there was too much about the loves in this book for my taste (another bonk with someone I never heard of ...) but the lives bit was interesting. The author captures the complexity of the characters of both Lord and Lady Mountbatten, personally and politically.
One omission was any mention of Edwina's generosity, especially to her sister-in-law Princess Alice, who she bankrolled for many years while the poor woman was being treated for psychological illnesses.
Also the author seemed keen to cast Lord Mountbatten as a paedophile - presumably bisexual or homosexual tendencies are not shock news any longer.
I would be interested to read a comparative biography to check up on some assertions made in this book.
One omission was any mention of Edwina's generosity, especially to her sister-in-law Princess Alice, who she bankrolled for many years while the poor woman was being treated for psychological illnesses.
Also the author seemed keen to cast Lord Mountbatten as a paedophile - presumably bisexual or homosexual tendencies are not shock news any longer.
I would be interested to read a comparative biography to check up on some assertions made in this book.
lam715's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely a "warts and all" biography of two very complicated people who witnessed many of the big events of the 20th century.
heidi_reads25's review against another edition
informative
3.5
Classified in the system as fiction but it is non-fiction.