Very well written - a nice even, readable style. The author does a great job of mixing the historical dates and places and names with personal information, anecdotes, and details of everyday life. She takes the outsider's opinion of the Queen as stuffy and unemotional and proves them wrong with a myriad of examples and citations from those who know the Queen personally. The historical details are smoothly addressed and inserted into the prose - my lack of knowledge of certain periods and prime ministers was nicely filled in. A great read.

I think what surprised and impressed me the most about this book is the massive amount of research that went into it, and how seamlessly all of that research was brought together. Citation after citation from people with a personal knowledge of the Queen (and the Royal Family) was woven smoothly into the narrative of the text - Sally makes it look effortless, though it must have been a massive undertaking.

Lastly, I also liked the information Sally provided about those surrounding the Queen, especially her family members. She paints a picture of the people who most influence and are influenced by the Queen, and gives just enough detail to fill in most people's gaps in knowledge while not also writing several secondary biographies in one.

A great read!