The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more

Buy Used
Used - Good See details
Price: £2.77
Fulfilled by Amazon

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside another edition of this book
Start reading The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life [Hardcover]

Charles Higham (Author)

Available from these sellers.


Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £13.07   -- --
Hardcover --   -- --
Mass Market Paperback --   -- --
Video Games Trade-In
Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Product details

More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Charles Higham
Charles Higham
Keiko Ozima
Keiko Ozima

Product Description

Product Description

The 1.3 million–copy New York Times bestseller–entirely revised and filled with riveting, recently declassified information

First published in 1988, this spellbinding biography was the first to expose the secret life of Wallis Warfield Simpson, the woman who captured a king, Britain’s Edward VIII. From the duchess’s first marriage to a bisexual aviator to her feud with the Queen Mother, the first edition The Duchess of Windsor unearthed a trove of astonishing revelations–and spent 23 weeks in the top five of the New York Times bestseller list. Now, Charles Higham has updated this extraordinary biography with new information on the numerous extramarital liaisons of both the duke and duchess, the bisexuality of the duke, the blackmail plot in Paris that almost brought the Windsors to ruin, and the secret radio broadcasts the duke and duchess made from France to Germany.

Charles Higham (Los Angeles, CA) is the author of many bestselling books, including Murdering Mr. Lincoln, American Swastika, and Trading with the Enemy as well as biographies of Katharine Hepburn, Orson Welles, and others. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

"Deeply researched, valuable."
–The New York Times Book Review

"A shocker . . . stunning . . . absolutely hypnotic. . . . A world of beautiful houses, ceaseless travel, trendsetting fashion, and powerful figures. . . . Fascinating revelations."
–Cosmopolitan

Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor, was one of the most famous women in history, the American divorcée who captured the King of England, Edward VIII, and cost him his throne. Until Charles Higham’s 1.3 million–copy bestseller, much of her life was a glamorous mystery. Now, fifteen years later, major new documentary evidence, classified at the time, makes for a book far more sensational than the original bestseller. Drawing from long–suppressed archives in France, England, and the United States, Higham has uncovered the duchess’s passionate affair with a top–ranking political figure, the duke’s romantic involvement with a male equerry, the secret radio broadcasts the couple made to Hitler, and the blackmail plot in Paris that almost brought them–and the British royal family–to ruin. This updated new edition of The Duchess of Windsor is essential reading.

"Higham’s best. . . . Serious, deliciously fresh . . . documented by newly opened secret government files in the U.S. and England."
–Kirkus Reviews

"Smooth and entertaining."
–The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

"An excellent biography . . . alert to every nuance."
–The London Sunday Telegraph --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
The world into which Bessie Wallis Warfield was born, out of wedlock, on June 19, 1895, was without airplanes, television, radio, movies, automobiles, income tax, chain stores, supermarkets, cafeterias, ice cream sundaes, crossword puzzles, or bathing trunks. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(6)
(6)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(4)
(3)
(4)
(4)
(4)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon U.K.
5 star:    (0)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
Share your experience with this product with others
Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 3.7 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

73 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Story of Ambition And Greed,, 28 Feb 2006
By Stargazer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life (Paperback)
How History portrays Edward V111 and Mrs Simpson will probably vary somewhat - but this book from Charles Higham is an excellent starting point for history buffs.
With the passing of time, more and documents are being made available for perusal from a wide range of sources. The Governments of Britain,Germany, Austria and Italy for starters.
Then add Buckingham Palace letters and documents,and the views of FDR and the Whitehouse staff, Winston Churchill,Hitler et al.
The level of research can make or break a biography and this one succeeds because of Higham's thoroughness.
It has always been clear to me that the Duchess had no idea what she was embarking on when she became involved with Prince Edward.
She was vilified,loathed, shut off from the Royal family.
At various times during her life she experienced real despair and depression.
Their lives became empty and meaningless - just endless rounds of entertaining and being entertained.
Many of the upper class in England were Nazi sympathisers, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were no exception.
It was this allegiance that was the root cause of all their problems, as British and American spys kept abreast of their activities,their friendships and of course the notoriety they received when visiting Germany did not go unnoticed.
It was because of this concern they were in effect banished to the Bahamas and had their requests to travel abroad refused or at least severely curtailed.
The Duke seemed to forget the promises he made when he abdicated. He was born to be King and the reality of NOT being King was something he never managed to adjust to. He thought that he and Wallis would return to England to live but his support of Germany and plotting with the Germans to again become King should Britain lose the war, was well known to George V1 and to Churchill, and thus a return to his homeland became an impossibility.
The most revealing access to the character of the Duchess of Windsor were in her letters to her Aunt Bessie. On one occasion she was complaining bitterly about the Bahamas, and the house etc, never once mentioning the war and the hard times people were experiencing.
On another occasion a visiting British friend mentioned the London bombings, loss of life etc and the Duchess' response was along the lines of why should she care, the British had made her life hell and she would never forgive them etc.
Interestingly enough, Wallis was regarded as a spy of long standing, and her later annual trips to America were viewed with alarm by the US government and she was constantly under surveillance.
Both the Windsors spoke fluent German and yet despite living in France for many years,they knew only a few words of French.
This book shows Wallis as a woman of expensive tastes,very chic beautifully groomed, and a fine hostess of great taste and style.
Many who knew them well noted that the Duke was besotted by her but she less so with him. Then again, when his final illness struck him down,the Duchess of Windsor was there for the Duke until the last.


36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars What a woman, 11 Dec 2007
By Miawil - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life (Paperback)
I ordered it without realizing this is the exact same biography on the Duchess of Windsor I read about ten years ago but the book seems to have been so updated with new facts it really is worth buying the newer version. She really was a tenacious and riveting woman...no wonder the King left his throne for her. I would have done the same. I find the authors writing to be very unbiased...he does not seem to approve of the politics or the activities of the Duke and Duchess very much, but he gives a very balanced presentation of the facts. Like most people born after world war 2, anyone who supported the Nazi's was automatically evil in my mind but this book caused me to reconsider such a snap judgement. The arguments presented for why so muchof the European elite and American elite supported Hitler are very sound. Fascism was just another right wing philosophy...most of the royals and aristocrats who believed in Hitler were not interested in committing genocide. Hitler went off on the rails on his own in that aspect.

In addition to being insightful and gossipy, this book made me revise some of my own opinions.

32 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Twits? Yes -- and worse: Nazi collaborators, 18 July 2010
By Dixie Swanson "Reader/writer/Kindler" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life (Kindle Edition)
At the time, the "romance of the century" was seen through the lenses of love. Behind the scenes, however, Edward VIII of England was a weak man totally in the thrall of a domineering and dangerous woman, Bessie Wallis Simpson. (Thank heaven, she dropped the Bessie.) When he abdicated and became the Duke of Windsor, he and his Duchess became not only roving mooches, seeking out wealthy patrons to pay their way, they were Nazi collaborators. They could have lived within their means, except she had an insatiable desire to live like a queen -- including the jewelry to go with it.

Meticulously researched, this tells the story of how they fell into the thrall of Hitler -- even visitng him and giving the vile salute all over Germany. The Duke of Windsor was not unlike many Englishmen who had been through the horror of WWI. Anything was better than another war, even that horrid little man with the funny mustache. As well, many Brits were afraid that Hitler was the only thing standing between them and Communism, a bogeyman of epic proportions. Besides, he treated them like "royalty" so they were silly enough to fall for him, hook, line and sinker. They thought he's just expel the Jews -- no one really liked them anyway. Much better they go to America. (I kid you not, this is what they thought.)

This book not only details the romance, the abdication, the involvement with Nazis, but their petty and petulant view that she should have the HRH before her name. This went on until her death!!! Give it up, guys. Not gonna happen. She embarrassed a nation.

Personally, I enjoyed the book and am glad that he wasn't on the throne. He was a weak, insipid and dangerous man. Far better his stammering but clear headed brother -- George VI, Queen Elizabeth's father.
› Go to Amazon.com to see all 16 reviews  3.7 out of 5 stars 
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject























i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback