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Also by Sally Bedell Smith:

Prince Charles, April 2017
Hardcover / e-Book
Elizabeth The Queen, January 2012
Hardcover / e-Book
For Love of Politics, November 2007
Hardcover

Elizabeth The Queen
Sally Bedell Smith

The Life of a Modern Monarch

Random House
January 2012
On Sale: January 10, 2012
576 pages
ISBN: 1400067898
EAN: 9781400067893
Kindle: B004X6PRIM
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Biography

In this magisterial new biography, New York Times bestselling author Sally Bedell Smith brings to life one of the world’s most fascinating and enigmatic women: Queen Elizabeth II.

From the moment of her ascension to the throne in 1952 at the age of twenty-five, Queen Elizabeth II has been the object of unparalleled scrutiny. But through the fog of glamour and gossip, how well do we really know the world’s most famous monarch? Drawing on numerous interviews and never-before-revealed documents, acclaimed biographer Sally Bedell Smith pulls back the curtain to show in intimate detail the public and private lives of Queen Elizabeth II, who has led her country and Commonwealth through the wars and upheavals of the last sixty years with unparalleled composure, intelligence, and grace.

In Elizabeth the Queen, we meet the young girl who suddenly becomes “heiress presumptive” when her uncle abdicates the throne. We meet the thirteen-year-old Lilibet as she falls in love with a young navy cadet named Philip and becomes determined to marry him, even though her parents prefer wealthier English aristocrats. We see the teenage Lilibet repairing army trucks during World War II and standing with Winston Churchill on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on V-E Day. We see the young Queen struggling to balance the demands of her job with her role as the mother of two young children. Sally Bedell Smith brings us inside the palace doors and into the Queen’s daily routines—the “red boxes” of documents she reviews each day, the weekly meetings she has had with twelve prime ministers, her physically demanding tours abroad, and the constant scrutiny of the press—as well as her personal relationships: with Prince Philip, her husband of sixty-four years and the love of her life; her children and their often-disastrous marriages; her grandchildren and friends.

Compulsively readable and scrupulously researched, Elizabeth the Queen is a close-up view of a woman we’ve known only from a distance, illuminating the lively personality, sense of humor, and canny intelligence with which she meets the most demanding work and family obligations. It is also a fascinating window into life at the center of the last great monarchy.

Comments

4 comments posted.

Re: Elizabeth The Queen

would love to read this. I'm a history buff
(Kathy Weber 11:20pm June 4, 2012)

I'm with you Kathy. I so want to read this. I didn't realize how young she
was when she took over the crown or how striking she is in some of her
pics. She was laughing and didn't look all stodgy like she seems to to me
now. Some of her pics just floored me. She is obviously an amazing
woman. Can you imagine the life she has led and the things she has seen
and done? Wow!
(Vicki Hancock 11:44pm June 4, 2012)

I think she is still beautiful. And, I think, her stoicism is the way she was raised to be Queen. But during the Jubilee she did show emotion and smiled quite a bit...for her. ;)
(Penny Mettert 2:39am June 6, 2012)

I have to read this great book.
(Wanda Maynard 2:36pm June 7, 2012)