Princes at war : the British Royal Family's private battle in the Second World War / Deborah Cadbury.
Publication details: London : Bloomsbury, 2015.Description: xvi, 407 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cmISBN:- 9781408845257
- 9781408845240
- 1408845245
- George VI King of Great Britain, 1895-1952
- George King of Great Britain VI, 1895-1952
- Windsor, Edward Duke of, 1894-1972 -- Abdication, 1936
- Windsor, House of -- History -- 20th century
- George King of Great Britain VI, 1895-1952
- Princes -- Great Britain -- Biography
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Great Britain -- History
- Great Britain -- Kings and rulers -- Biography
- Great Britain -- History -- George VI, 1936-1952
- 941.084 23
- DA587 .C33 2015
Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item reserves | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Melbourne Athenaeum Library | Biography | 941.084 CAD | Available | 058999 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Princes at War takes up the story the film The King's Speech began, at the moment Edward VIII's abdication plunges the Royal family into turmoil and George VI takes the reins... King George V predicted that his eldest son, Edward VIII, would destroy himself within a year of succeeding to the throne. In December 1936 he was proved right, and the world's press broke their Great Silence: King Edward VIII was abandoning his throne to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorced American socialite. A life spent in the shadow of his charismatic elder brother left the new king, George VI, magnificently unprepared for the demands of ruling the kingdom and empire; this would be a baptism of fire. Hitler's Third Reich was tearing up the old Kingdoms of Europe one by one. As Great Britain braced herself for war, the faltering new king struggled to manage internal divisions within the royal family and feared betrayal as intelligence mounted of the Duke and Duchess of Windsors' suspected treachery during the worst days of the war. Drawing on personal accounts from the royal archives and other new sources, Deborah Cadbury uncovers the very private conflict between George VI and his too charming older brother; a conflict so bitter it was unresolvable while they were both alive.