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May 18, 2011

Barbara rated it:

This book was fantastic! I usually reead a couple of books a day, but this one lasted almost three weeks. The author used hundreds of sources to flesh out, not only the person of the Queen Mother, but her husband, King George VI, his parents, their kids, his brother King Edward and the woman he abdicated his throne for, and many, many others, including Winston Churchill. The historical perspective it gave was priceless, stretching from the beginning of the twentieth century for a hundred years. More...

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Sep 14, 2010

Doulton rated it:

What ho! as the Queen Mother was wont to begin her letters when she was a young woman. This biography sheds fascinating light on the Queen Mother as a child and as a young woman. Especially amusing were the quotations from the letters she wrote at the time---a bit racy and saucy and fill of puns, double entendres, and other lively palaver. After she married "Bertie" (the Duke of York and then King George VI) the book becomes much more decorous and starts to bog down.

I d More...

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Feb 01, 2010

Judy rated it:

At 943 pages, this may be more than anyone who isn't a "royalty buff" may ever want to know about Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. I'm fairly exhausted after reading the book--primarily because the sucker is really, really heavy. I've been reading this book for what seems like weeks, 50 and 100 pages at a time, and still I'm left feeling unsatisfied. It's an official biography, which apparently means that the author is a total admirer of the Queen Mother and the current Queen so t More...

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Dec 02, 2009

Carol rated it:

Pity the poor writer of an official biography of a member of a powerful family. He must not offend anyone. And that means he won't offer any insights or interpretations. The outline of the Queen Mother's story is well-known and other, less hampered authors have been far more revealing. Ye gods, even the presence of numerous homosexuals among the household staff, reasonable given the low wages and high time commitments and the generally upscale ambience, is not admitted. On one page, relating the More...

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Jul 27, 2011

Lori added it

Outstanding, well researched biography of the Queen Mother. Shawcross had a difficult task ahead of him-although Queen Elizabeth was prolific in writing letters throughout her life she did not commit personal views and opinions, especially about her family to paper. It can be a difficult job to truly pin down a sincere picture of someone's personality when she is no longer with us and when her true feelings were kept so close to herself. Shawcross was given unlimited acccess to the royal More...

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Jun 25, 2011

Shoshanah rated it:

I have read biographies of English monarch before, except only those during the Middle Ages or Renaissance. And while not non-fiction, I have read about Queen Victoria, who until now, was the most modern British monarch I'd read about. The Queen Mother is interesting because she was born in 1900, what I consider history, but lived until 2002, what I, instead, consider modern times. Because of her long life, the book reads not only a a history of her life, but also of the 20th century itself.
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May 20, 2010

Shannon rated it:

One of the best biographies I've read of an incredibly interesting life and an even more fascinating woman.

While not for the faint of heart at almost 1,000 pages, The Queen Mother portrays the interesting life and experiences of a common woman who ascends to the throne of England. The Queen Mother proves a fascinating character shaped by her childhood experiences, sense of duty, joy for life, and love of family. Her experiences alone make this book worthwhile, but by reading her corr More...

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Jul 12, 2010

Yooperprof rated it:

950 pages of text! You might ask yourself, is such length really necessary for a person who, however charming, was not really "a world historical figure"? 400 pages - maybe. 600 pages for an exceptionally full account that includes "longeuers". But 950 pages? You have to be a masochistic royalty-watcher (like me) to survive the complete book.

Alas, this book is well-padded with endless passages about royal tours - eleven to Canada alone. If I had to read More...

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Jun 03, 2010

Arabella rated it:

The Queen Mother was born in 1900 and died in 2002, meaning any biography of her is also a review of the 20th century. I found the first half fascinating with its descriptions of life during the two world wars, the abdication crisis, the unexpected accession to the throne, and the many other personal and societal changes she lived through during the course of the century. However, I rapidly lost patience with the chapters on the last decades and their tedious descriptions of all the official e More...

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Jul 22, 2010

Felicia rated it:

This is a very lengthy, reverential and rather exhausting book. Nonetheless, I'm happy I read it. She was an extraordinary person who lived and rolled with all the punches the 20th century could throw at her. Of course, being Queen she rolled with great style wearing diamonds and holding her champagne flute. She was gifted with a joie de vivre and a great empathy and love for people- you gotta love that! A telling moment in the book is at the service held for her 100th birthday. She recounts h More...

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Apr 16, 2011

Kate rated it:

Overall, this was a very engaging book. Though extremely long, as befits such a long and noteworthy life story as that of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, the combination of personal anecdote, education about royal custom and the monarchy, and history makes this worth the read. There are some annoyances, such as the author's tendency to namecheck, usually in a detailed footnote, what seems like every single person with whom the Queen Mother ever came into contact (I didn't feel as though knowin More...

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Apr 01, 2011

Caroline rated it:

It takes a lot of pages to tell the story of a life than spans more than a century. However, the contents of these pages may not be everything you're expecting. This book is precisely what it purports to be - a biography of the life and times of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Here are the things that this book is not, although you might wish it to be: a House of Windsor tell-all (Diana appears only briefly, Fergie is a non-character, and there aren't any juicy Wallis Simpson/Duchess of York p More...

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Jul 07, 2011

Meg Marie rated it:

Part biography, and also part history lesson, I thought this book was great. The author was able to quote extensively from the Queen's letters and diaries, and she comes through as charming, loving and real, with a genuine care and dedication to her family and to her kingdom. Spanning her entire 101 years, the book did a great job of touching on all of the important moments. I enjoyed the earlier chapters better - there was one chapter that basically just listed visits she made to military re More...

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Mar 17, 2010

Phoebe rated it:

This book, though huge, is pretty good reading--soap opera-ish in parts, serving to feed the flames of one's eternal fascination with these royal celebrities. Shawcross does not speak much ill of the beloved Queen Elizabeth, and does quite a thorough job of presenting her 102 years of life. I keep thinking of the rather unfavorable portrayal of her in the recent movie The Queen. Of course none of the royals came out very attractively there. This book is a commitment but goes fairly quickly a More...

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Dec 26, 2009

Leigh rated it:

Oh, Lord...what can I say? The book is a total whitewash of Queen Elizabeth (the one that was married to George VI) and her life. Granted, she was a hard working Royal who was devoted to the British public. But she also drank hard, held grudges like a bulldog and ran up a multimillion debt at Coutt's, Britain's richest bank. She was one of the most interesting women of the 20th century and this book could have been a really interesting look at her. But instead it glosses over her weaknesses, jus More...

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Jan 10, 2012

Alison rated it:

Whoever said this book was very long and heavy was not exaggerating - it took me five weeks to read and I had to rest it on a cushion to read it. I found it a worthwhile read, and had no trouble persisting despite these challenges !t had the merits and drawbacks of an official biography; on the one hand Philip Shawcross had access to a huge amount of documentation so that the story was well backed up wit references, and I felt I was getting a fair picture of what she did. But at the same time he More...

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Apr 15, 2010

Amy rated it:

A phenomenal book!

Author, William Shawcross states in the Epilogue that fate dealt the Queen Mother an extraordinary hand and that this book attempted to show what she made of it.

She had an incredible life! I learned so much about the Queen Mother and her family from this book; I also gained a wealth of information about Great Britain and its history. For example, in 1772 the Royal Marriages Act was put into place after two of King George III's brothers secretly married c More...

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Feb 09, 2011

Sheena rated it:

This was unbelievably difficult to get through. I have not ever read anything as detailed, meticulously researched and with as many footnotes. I have to say that I am very glad that I stayed the course and finished it. I thoroughly enjoyed the history of both World Wars and it brought to life all the stories I had been told during childhood. My impetus for reading this book was really seeing the current film "The King's Speech". The subject of George VI's stuttering problem is given v More...

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Aug 16, 2010

Baxter rated it:

None of my friends or relatives would likely read this biography. One review I read of it had the reader 'tired' from covering almost 1,000 pages of 101+ years of history, holding a 5 pound book along the way. I feel somewhat the same way having just finished it. Well written, though does get bogged down w/ reviews of QEQM's regiments, patronages, trips to Canada. During her widowhood, the 22 'private' trips to France w/ her entourage over 30 years were interesting in that her private secretary More...

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Mar 01, 2010

Tracy rated it:

This amazing woman, who became queen only because she was married to the brother of Edward VII who abdicated the throne, was gracious and as well-loved as Princess Diana two generations later. Born in 1900 and buried in 2002 she experienced the entire 20th century including two world wars, drastic changes in the views of the people toward the monarchy, and personal pain as she outlived siblings and her husband. This is a wonderful story of what she and her world were like.

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Sep 14, 2011

Karenemouritsen added it

This was the first book I bought on the Kindle, on Christmas day (the Kindle was a gift of the gang in Texas)I read the book for the rest of the week as I traveled around Texas. Later I saw the actual book and it is hugely long - not sure I would have bought the book. But it was fascinating. Shawcross is a great writer and Queen Elizabeth had a very interesting life. The book talked about the stuttering of her husband, as depicted in the movie "The Kings Speech"

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Feb 04, 2010

Maureen rated it:

THe first half was really enjoyable, but after King George VI dies, the book becomes more a compilation of her patronage organizations and house party guests. The earlier part of the book gives insight into family relationships by quoting letters from various royals, especially Queen Mary, but as the book goes on the material is thinner. There is no discussion of her relationship with Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, Princess Diana, or her grandchildren.

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Jun 04, 2010

Linda rated it:

Well, if you want to know what Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother had for breakfast, lunch and dinner from the time she was a baby until she died at age 100, this is the book for you. While parts of it are admittedly interesting, there is just too much minutia about meals, the color of her clothing, etc. This is a really loooooong book, and I'd have liked it better if a lot of this stuff had been eliminated and it had been about half the length.

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Oct 17, 2010

Jessica rated it:

This book started out as a bang for me. The Queen Mum was way more fascinating then I anticipated or remembered about her. Towards the end the book starts to lose itself. Entire chapters (which are not short) were devoted to her charity work and travels. Although, on the surface this seems like a good thing to write about it, it knocks the entire book out of chronological order for a very dull side road---especially as they had been peppered through out the previous 600 pages. Interesting enough More...

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Sep 25, 2010

Phillis rated it:

What an amazing book. I felt as if I lived her whole life as a friend and from day one, August 1900 until her death in March 2002. The author has writtien about the life of a very well loved woman without sugar coating or over dramatizing the Queen Mother's life. The author's insight and research was complete and non-biased and made for a very entertaining history of this most loved person. For questions on why she did or didn't do certain things was explained by way of learning the how and why More...

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Dec 26, 2009

Jeremy rated it:

Very interesting book filled with insights into the life of the Queen Mum. The puzzle that is 20th Century England makes more sense to me now. Excellent insights into the abdication. Many cool stories about Churchill and other leaders. All in all an excellent biography. It is a bit heavy so now would be the time to borrow an ox or hire a sherpa.

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Aug 05, 2011

Robert added it

A stupendous book equal to a stupendous life. My only complaint - and it is small compared to the gargantuan work this book represents - is that he prints a large number of quotations in French which are not translated in the text. Perhaps it is because in the UK, larger numbers of people speak and read French than here in the USA? Unsure - but it's a quibbling complaint and the only one I have with this splendid work.

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Nov 29, 2009

Jennie rated it:

A fascinating if somewhat lengthy biography of the Queen Mother. Admittedly I did not know a whole lot about the Queen Mum and found her to be quite the woman. Anyone who follows the royal family will not want to miss this book. A warning at close to 1000 pages it is not an easy book to carry around.

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Sep 04, 2011

djgalvan rated it:

Likeable. An amazing woman, mainly because of her lifespan. And now I understand the royal family of Britain and how it works much better. The book was a tad stuffy, and obviously restrained, but since this was an approved biography, how could it be otherwise?

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Jun 01, 2010

Melissa rated it:

I knew the Queen Mother was beloved by the British people, especially those who remember WWII. Now I understand why. Given her birth in 1900 and her death in 1902, the family she was born in and the one she married into, her biography is truly a history of the 20th century. I found the first half of this beautifully written book the most compelling.

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