- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Allen Lane (28 Aug 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0713995734
- ISBN-13: 978-0713995732
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.4 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
384,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #31 in Books > History > Britain & Ireland > Edwardian and Early 20th Century 1901-1913
- #40 in Books > History > Britain & Ireland > British Heads of State > Edward VI
- See Complete Table of Contents
The People's King: The True Story of the Abdication
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
In this candid and moving account Susan Williams tells the story of wht really happened, drawing on diaries, secret documents and thousands of letters sent to Edward by the public to re-create the tgragic events that led to his abdication. She reveals a hugely popular, deeply loved monarch, one whose modern ideas and sympathy for the poor so unsettled the establishment that his devotion to Wallis Simpson provided the peercect excuse to force him off the throne.
About the Author
Susan Williams is a historian at the University of London. She has published widely on history and literature, her previous books include Ladies of Influence (Allen Lane 2000)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A rather rosy-hued perspective on what of course became one of the defining moments of the 20th century. The author unfortunately refuses to make proper light of the nature in which the prince treated his family, the effects his actions had on his mother, and the subsequent catapulting of Albert on to the throne, most certainly leading to his early death. Edward VIII has both his fans and his detractors - I personally cannot think of any other more less likeable and selfish couple than the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, however I did welcome reading another account of the events leading up to the Duke's abdication.
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an entirely one-sided work using the form of scholarship but none of the substance. Author totally ignores any evidence that would contradict her thesis. Also given to a conspiracy-theory mentality, i.e. innocent Edward forced out by evil cabal of Prime Minister, editor of Times, Archbishop of Canterbury, & oldline courtiers. Uses double standard in assessing evidence. Everything Edward & Wallis say is taken at face value & most innocent construction put on it. Everything his opponents say is assumed to be false & self-serving. An interesting read, all right, but laughably unconvincing.
4 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Excellent delivery service.
The book itself - a very good read. And it confirms what I remember at the time - that the real cause of the abdication of this immensely popular (except for a few 'at the top')king was not Mrs Simpson but the determination of the old guard, plus Baldwin and others to get rid of a king who had shown from his earliest days that he was a man who would attempt to 'interfere', as eventually expressed in his words to the South Wales miners: 'Something must be done', and his final words as a king 'I cannot be the kind of king I (emphasis on the 'I') want to be.......'
The book itself - a very good read. And it confirms what I remember at the time - that the real cause of the abdication of this immensely popular (except for a few 'at the top')king was not Mrs Simpson but the determination of the old guard, plus Baldwin and others to get rid of a king who had shown from his earliest days that he was a man who would attempt to 'interfere', as eventually expressed in his words to the South Wales miners: 'Something must be done', and his final words as a king 'I cannot be the kind of king I (emphasis on the 'I') want to be.......'
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