Edward VIII: A Biography.
Donaldson, Frances.
Place Published: London:
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicholson,
Date Published: 1974.
Description: The dust jacket reads: Much has been written by, and about, the Duke of Windsor. Apart from autobiographies by him and his wife, the former King Edward VIII has appeared in countless memoirs. He is an important and inescapable part of twentieth-century hidstory-and his life was a twentieth-century tragedy. As the young Prince of Wales he personified the magic of royalty as no other heir to the throne had ever done before.With his wistful good looks and boyish charm he captivated millions and he responded to their adoration with an instinctive flair for public relations. To many in the 1920s and 30s he seemed the ideal complement and successor to the stolid King George V. What were his real qualities, his secet weaknesses? How far did he mearsure up to the demands the public made on him? To what extent was his failure as king and emperor foreshadowed by the developments of his early years, by his strange upbringing and by his own flawed character and judgement? Lady Donaldson's biography of one of the most famous of all twentieth-century figures answers these questions with precision, clarity, humour, fairness and a certain legitimate scepticism. Previous writers have ofter been biased in one direction or another: she, armed with a great deal of background knowledge from printed and other sources, writes with objectivity. When the young king displayed politically unacceptable enthusiasm for Hitler's regime; when he fell in love with an American divorce'e and risked his throne (and lost it) to marry her; when after touring Germany he demanded from a beleaguered Britain rights and priviletes his former country was unwilling to grant him and he moved from France to Portugal, Spain and eventually to the Bahamas- then the handsome young king became the exiled Duke. The later period casts a different atmosphere. The last twenty-five years constituted only a sad failure to readjust to his shrunken circumstances. So here, at last, is a substantial and objective biography, fully worthy of a man who found himself at the centre of world affairs-and was found wanting. With unerring insight and backed by unparalleled access to the written and spoken memoirs of those who knew Edward VIII and his circle intimately, Lady Donaldson has written an enthralling booke which is unlikely to be superseded for many decades. This book has 448 pages. The book is a Second Impression Printing copy with 16 page of black and white photos. The condition of the book is VERY GOOD with glue marks on the inside of the front and back cover along with 2 sets of numbers printed at the top of the title page and a black smudge mark at the bottom. The condition of the jacket is GOOD with small tears on the corners and spine along with some glue marks on jacket flaps. It is price clipped. JMVINTAGE specializes in books, magazines and treasures related to the Duke and Duchess of WindsorÖ. and other curious people.
Edition: First editionBinding: Hard Cover
Condition: Very Good in Good dj
ISBN: 0297767879
Book Id: 844
Price: $12.50
