Product Description

A celebration of the 50 years of Elizabeth II's reign that reveals a woman whose family is subject to increasing media intrusion, and yet one who maintains a majestic dignity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2155080 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-25
• Released on: 2002-03-04
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 4
• Binding: Audio Cassette

Review
Marking the Golden Jubilee, award-winning writer and journalist William Shawcross reveals an intimate portrait of the Queen, and an absorbing study of the changing face of the monarchy and of Britain during the past half-century.

A richly illustrated, well-written biography of England's reigning monarch, now celebrating 50 years on the throne. (Kirkus Reviews)

The Sunday Telegraph
The BBC deserve great credit for producing such a sumptuously illustrated book . . . well-argued and impressively buttressed with sound historical commentary

John Mortimer, Sunday Times
Excellent

Customer Reviews

Majestic :)
Released in 2002 to commemorate the 50th year of Elizabeth II's accession to the British throne, this is an impressive-looking book at first glance. Initial impressions count, and those experienced here could not be bettered, the cover minimalist with a greyscale photograph of a highly attractive young monarch, the pages thick, lustrous, and adorned with large and glossy photographs.

I'm a republican at heart, so this choice of book ought to seem strange. Stranger still is that irrespective of my sentiments in this field, I'm a big fan of the Queen, and this book has done nothing to change my take there, save intensify it.

We're taken on a 77-year journey during the course of reading this homage, starting with a brief summary of Lilibet's childhood and the abdication of Edward VIII, at which point the child Elizabeth became an heir to the throne. It's telling that her younger sister, then aged six, responded "Poor you" when Elizabeth said that she would have to be queen some day.

Her father died prematurely. He passed away at the age of 56 whilst Elizabeth and her husband were on a tour in Kenya. His death marked an early end to freedom and liberty for her, as her life became one of protocol and, as she reminds us often, duty.

That is largely our lot for the biographical parts of the story, since the book details her kingdom over the 50 years of her reign.

We visit the pulling-down of the British Empire, the emergence of the Commonwealth, the economic misery and hostage-taking of the country by the unions of the 70s, the wholesale restructuring of the UK by Thatcher, the hostility of the press in the later part of the reign, DIANA, the misdemeanours of the other royals.

Throughout all of this tumult, there has been one constant: The Queen.

It must be terrible to be gagged as she is. Whatever her personal feelings are on things, she has to keep her mouth shut, save for when in the company of her family. The policy of not denying anything printed by the press must be a frustrating thing by which to live, especially as one editor of a high-selling tabloid made it clear to his staff that he wanted a story on the royals in every Monday edition and "I don't care whether it's true or not". Add on to that the vilification sometimes thrown their way that would be easy to counter were they to respond. For example, they were slaughtered as aloof and uncaring for not flying a flag at half mast when Diana died, even though there is no protocol to do so if the Queen herself passed away. More to the point, there was no flag to lower in the first place, since it's only flown when the Queen is in residence, yet she was hung out to dry by Britain's vile press.

There must be something to be said about the fact that every prime minister that she has had has in their memoirs given thanks and praise to her for her wisdom and patience shown during the Tuesday-night chats that are routine, yet none has ever disclosed any details of things that were discussed.

I like her. She's still very busy at the age of 82, and has been a wonderful servant to her people in a job she neither requested nor wanted. I don't care at all that she's `aloof': more power to her for not giving in to trends and shedding tears on demand just to satisfy the demands of a fickle public.

This is one republican, a person who has angrily posted in the past that the 60p the monarchy costs him a year is 60p he wants back, who nevertheless doesn't mind saying "Long Live The Queen!" :)