{"product_id":"the-windsors-at-war-as-seen-on-channel-4s-edward-vs-george-9781474623971","title":"The Windsors at War  As seen on Channel 4s Edward","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e''This riotous and engaging biography has it all''\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGUARDIAN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''As much fun to read as a good political thriller''\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWALL STREET JOURNAL\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the outbreak of war, the British monarchy was in turmoil. Edward VIII had abdicated, leaving his brother Bertie to take on a role he never expected: King George VI. Meanwhile, as Edward awaited the decree that would allow him to marry his mistress, Wallis Simpson, he took an increasing interest in Hitler''s expansionist plans. How did this squabbling, dysfunctional family manage to unite in the face of the greatest conflict in their lifetimes? And what was the true extent of Edward''s betrayal?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Genuinely revealing, politically insightful, scrupulously researched . . . has the narrative pace of a champion thoroughbred''\u003cbr\u003eTina Brown, author of \u003ci\u003eTHE PALACE PAPERS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlexander Larman's 'The Windsors at War' is genuinely revealing, politically insightful, scrupulously researched,  and has the narrative pace of a champion thoroughbred. It is also an eloquent study of two royal brothers, and of duty and betrayal. -- Tina Brown * author of The Palace Papers *\u003cbr\u003eA worthy successor to Larman's excellent account of the Abdication Crisis, exhaustively researched and written with wit and brio, \u003ci\u003eThe Windsors at War \u003c\/i\u003eproves conclusively that the Duke of Windsor betrayed both his brother King George VI and his country. If there is ever a prequel to Netflix's \u003ci\u003eThe Crown\u003c\/i\u003e, it should be based on this book. * Saul David *\u003cbr\u003eAs profound and exhilarating as it is revelatory - and it is \u003ci\u003ehighly \u003c\/i\u003erevelatory. Larman is a natural-born storyteller with a keen eye for a precious anecdote. I relished this -- Daisy Dunn * author of Not Far From Brideshead: Oxford Between the Wars *\u003cbr\u003eAlexander Larman's masterful follow-up to The Crown in Crisis combines thrilling action scenes with political skulduggery and intimate character studies of everyone from King George VI to his brother and nemesis, the Duke of Windsor. Deeply researched, fascinating and compelling from start to finish. -- Dan Jones * author of Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages *\u003cbr\u003eThe definitive version of how the Royal Family behaved in World War Two, by turns fast paced and furious. I couldn't put it down, except for occasional gasps of incredulity. Larman combines forensic investigative skills with some beautiful prose as he lays out in grim, unremitting detail how the Windsors wavered at critical moments in the war. What a story this is, and what a family -- Anne Sebba * author of Ethel Rosenberg: A Cold War Tragedy *\u003cbr\u003eAlexander Larman's enjoyable \u003ci\u003eThe Windsors at War\u003c\/i\u003e [is] a buoyant account of the period from Edward's abdication to the end of the Second World War. -- Matthew Dennison * Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eA detailed and fascinating account -- Tessa Dunlop * The Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eA lively, informative book, enriched by its author's fondness for gossip and sharp eye for absurdity... a pitch-black comedy * SPECTATOR WORLD *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Windsors at War\u003c\/i\u003e opens  with a bravura prologue ... Larman sharply contrasts the grim reality the world was  facing with the solipsistic  petulance of the duke and  duchess ... Fortunately, \u003ci\u003eThe Windsors  at War\u003c\/i\u003e is about a great more  than them. If it has a hero it is  the shy, complex man who  never had the slightest desire  to be king and made  extraordinary efforts to rise to  the job, finally earning the  unqualified admiration of  world leaders ... What  makes it fresh is Larman's use  of recently disembargoed  diaries and letters ... The recounting  of the story of the handsome,  sexually omnivorous,  dope-addicted Kent, who  reeled from affair to affair  (Noël Coward was said to be  among his lovers) but was  transformed by war service  into a brilliantly effective  commander until his  still-mysterious death in  an air crash in the Highlands,  is particularly vividly done.  Nothing in the book,  though, can compete for  sheer entertainment with the  Windsors' governorship of  the Bahamas ... Every detail of it  seems to have been penned  by the Queen of Crime herself -- Simon Callow * The Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eA dashing prince with a respectable war record squandered public support by marrying an American divorcée, moving abroad and sponging off dodgy acquaintances. He was obsessed with titles, more than a little pleased with himself and flirted with dangerous causes, but thought he could bypass the British establishment by using the US media. The more he moaned, the worse became his lot. Prince Harry should read Alexander Larman's \u003ci\u003eThe Windsors at War \u003c\/i\u003e... breezily written [it] retells a cautionary tale * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eLarman tells the story with enough brio  to make it worth revisiting. Along the way  he reveals a handful of details that have  never been published before, including a  fascinating first-hand account of the kind of  conversations that took place among the  Royals on the eve of war ... it is when Larman is at his most scathing that the story really comes alive ...  Readers can make up their own minds  about whether there are any parallels among  today's public figures -- Keith Lowe * Mail on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eAn insightful, pacy study of the original feud between royal brothers ... It shows how George VI became a Second World War hero after the abdication of Edward VIII - and suggests that the latter may have given insider information to the Nazis. Better than \u003ci\u003eSpare\u003c\/i\u003e -- Laura Hackett * The Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eThis riotous and engaging biography has it all ... This book is even more rollicking than its predecessor - this is an author having an enormous amount of fun with his subject ... What Larman does so brilliantly is to give us two brothers who could not be less alike, two wives who clearly loathe one another, visions of two very different, but very loving marriages -- Alex Preston * Guardian Online *\u003cbr\u003eLarman has given us a great follow-up to \u003ci\u003eThe Crown in Crisis\u003c\/i\u003e ... What shines through are the primary sources he has mined, the diaries and letters, he has worked his way through, yet wearing his scholarship lightly. We are transported back to the pre-war and wartime era, now made famous in Netflix's \u003ci\u003eThe Crown\u003c\/i\u003e (which, to the author's credit, he never once refers to). That series is a dramatised and often fictionalised interpretation of the past, whereas Larman gives us solid factual evidence ... we are reminded that the new king loathed the debonair confidence of \"the king across the water\", fearing that if he made a hash of the kingship he never wanted, his scheming elder brother might return. This is one theme that runs throughout Larman's fine scholarship ... [a] compelling read -- Peter Caddick-Adams * The Critic *\u003cbr\u003eA gripping, fast-paced and absorbing work * CATHOLIC HERALD *\u003cbr\u003eForget Prince Harry; here we have the truly jaw-dropping story of two kings, where the spare had become the heir and believed his brother was trying to kill his family with German bombs. Forget about the American wife who frets about royal titles and wears blood diamonds gifted by a murderer; here is one of the most stylish women of the 20th century, mingling with the Nazi enemy. This is an important story, as well as a gripping one, informed by never-before-used material. We hear the verdict of history on a couple who wanted privilege without responsibility and dealt with the devil to achieve it. I read this brilliant book in one sitting -- Leanda deLisle","brand":"Orion Publishing Co","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48066901082455,"sku":"9781474623971","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781474623971.jpg?v=1713212462","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-windsors-at-war-as-seen-on-channel-4s-edward-vs-george-9781474623971","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}