Meet the Queen Mother

The Queen Mother by William Shawcross is the official and definitive biography of the woman. The author was given unrestricted access to the Queen Mother's personal papers, letters and diaries and offers us a portrait of unprecedented vividness and detail. Here is the witty girl who won the affections of convalescing soldiers during the First World War; the assured young Duchess of York helping her reluctant husband assume the throne when his brother abdicated and the stalwart Queen who refused to take refuge from the bombing of London, risking her own life to instill courage and hope in others who were living through the Blitz. The book shows a woman whose many interests included the armed services, the environment, horse racing and music; and whose wide circle of friends included everyone from the Sitwells to Ted Hughes, from Noel Coward to Charles de Gualle. And here also is showcased the dowager Queen--the last Edwardian, the survivor to both her family and the country throughout her long widowhood, representing her nation at home and abroad, the matriarch of the Royal Family.