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A review by kohava
Princes at War: The Bitter Battle Inside Britain's Royal Family in the Darkest Days of WWII by Deborah Cadbury
3.0
This was a very interesting read, and I wish I could have given it five stars. I had no idea just how far down the rabbit hole Wallis and David went. It also gave me a healthy new respect for Queen Victoria's reproductive and matchmaking prowess. Holy crap. Despite enjoying the book very much, there were a few things that really got my goat.
It lost its first star because, despite having a background in psychology, the author spends exactly 0 time talking about how the princes grew up. Prince John is mentioned only once or twice, always out of hand, despite the impact his short life must have made on his siblings. And she hardly ever discusses Mary, the Princess Royal! I know it's a book about the brothers, but there was a sixth sibling! Bertie's courtship of the Queen Mum is never referenced, even though the author rightly gives Elizabeth credit for much of his success and stability. There's a reason Hitler called her the most dangerous woman in Europe!
Cadbury also trots out the old and damaging canard that the Allied leadership was shocked to discover the vast network of labor and extermination camps. They knew. Of course, they knew. Can we please stop perpetuating the damning untruth that everyone was surprised? Thanks. Cadbury also implies by omission that David and Wallis were the only anti-semites in the BRF. George VI and Halifax deliberately blocked the immigration of German Jews before the war. Just one example. Like Churchill, George VI was no saint, but a deeply flawed man who still managed to help lead the allies to victory.
It lost its first star because, despite having a background in psychology, the author spends exactly 0 time talking about how the princes grew up. Prince John is mentioned only once or twice, always out of hand, despite the impact his short life must have made on his siblings. And she hardly ever discusses Mary, the Princess Royal! I know it's a book about the brothers, but there was a sixth sibling! Bertie's courtship of the Queen Mum is never referenced, even though the author rightly gives Elizabeth credit for much of his success and stability. There's a reason Hitler called her the most dangerous woman in Europe!
Cadbury also trots out the old and damaging canard that the Allied leadership was shocked to discover the vast network of labor and extermination camps. They knew. Of course, they knew. Can we please stop perpetuating the damning untruth that everyone was surprised? Thanks. Cadbury also implies by omission that David and Wallis were the only anti-semites in the BRF. George VI and Halifax deliberately blocked the immigration of German Jews before the war. Just one example. Like Churchill, George VI was no saint, but a deeply flawed man who still managed to help lead the allies to victory.