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Product Description
Sunday Express
An enthralling and jaw-dropping read.
Product Description
An explosive biography, substantially updated with fascinating new material about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book hoping to find out much more about The Duke and Duchess of Windsor and the events that led to the king's abdication and their marriage.
While I found many of the historical details interesting and enlightening, the further I read, the more I felt that the author had some sort of axe to grind as far as Wallis Simpson was concerned. He portrays her as ruthless, conniving, mean spirited and even a Nazi spy, which she may very well have been, but the problem is he doesn't really present any real evidence for her character. Even worse, he accuses both the Duke and Duchess of various sexual affairs - including homosexual ones - but again, doesn't offer any real proof. For me, the salacious gossip overwhelmed the historical interest and about half-way through, I seriously began to question the credibility of everything in the book. An enjoyable read in some ways, but I suspect not a definitive account of an important historical episode.
While I found many of the historical details interesting and enlightening, the further I read, the more I felt that the author had some sort of axe to grind as far as Wallis Simpson was concerned. He portrays her as ruthless, conniving, mean spirited and even a Nazi spy, which she may very well have been, but the problem is he doesn't really present any real evidence for her character. Even worse, he accuses both the Duke and Duchess of various sexual affairs - including homosexual ones - but again, doesn't offer any real proof. For me, the salacious gossip overwhelmed the historical interest and about half-way through, I seriously began to question the credibility of everything in the book. An enjoyable read in some ways, but I suspect not a definitive account of an important historical episode.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A really gripping read. The contents made me feel as all these events were happening right now.My original interest in the royal couple had been focused on thier 'romantic' courtship and marriage. With so much more information on this and thier subsequent lives building up to and during the second world war and afterwards, I feel now as though I know them very well. This however is not a good feeling! Two of the 'beautiful people' they may have been on the outside but on the inside they seemed to have been quite repellent.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
how sad!!!! the subject has to be one of the most richly complex; paradox-saturated and intriguing figures of recent history - guided under the pen of a master biographer, Mrs Simpson's life; her persona; her ultimate infamy might have been truly captured.......
normally I read with ease; this book had me champing at the bit - as I can only best describe how I felt throughout the read without blaspheming!!
the only way I was able to endure each lengthy page was by means of a self-asembled mantra, it goes like this; " Higham, oh ye of the semi-colon!! how would you have managed to write this without it?"
my review of this book is solely around the writer's apparent inability to write in reader-friendly English. His writing reminded me of the inevitable process of academic reading:'read; re-read; re-read a number of times...until finally it all makes sense!
what a relief it is for me to have had a Hugo Vickers as the next on my list of books to read...how refreshing; how stimulating; how interesting it is to be reading his account of Princess Andrew of Greece.
normally I read with ease; this book had me champing at the bit - as I can only best describe how I felt throughout the read without blaspheming!!
the only way I was able to endure each lengthy page was by means of a self-asembled mantra, it goes like this; " Higham, oh ye of the semi-colon!! how would you have managed to write this without it?"
my review of this book is solely around the writer's apparent inability to write in reader-friendly English. His writing reminded me of the inevitable process of academic reading:'read; re-read; re-read a number of times...until finally it all makes sense!
what a relief it is for me to have had a Hugo Vickers as the next on my list of books to read...how refreshing; how stimulating; how interesting it is to be reading his account of Princess Andrew of Greece.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Probably the best book on this subject
I have read a few books on this subject and, in my opinion, this one is the best. It benefits from a lot of detailed research and a number of reports and interviews that have only... Read more
Published 8 months ago by jimjim
An interesting read
I found this book very interesting to read, although quite difficult to follow. I felt the writing jumped about quite a bit and went into far too much detail in some areas to the... Read more
Published 8 months ago by ladylianne
Highly recommended
Unlike some other reviewers I had no problem at all with the page length nor the punctuation. I found the book very readable indeed. Read more
Published 9 months ago by H. Galloway
ILLUMINATING BIOGRAPHY
I found this book rather heavy going at times.It is obviously impossible to write a biography of Wallis Simpson without a great deal of reference to the Duke of Windsor. Read more
Published 17 months ago by bibliophile
Average
Despite interesting new revelations as a result of meticulous research, especially about the subject's life in China and her espionage work, this biography is flawed. Read more
Published 21 months ago by R. Davies
Hard work for little reward....
I wish I had read Ms Hooper's review before buying and reading this poorly written biog. Some interesting 'facts' but one's faith in the author's accuracy is diminished by the... Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2009 by M. Taylor
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