"Elizabeth The Queen"

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Book Review

From the moment of her ascension to the throne in 1952 at the age of 25, Queen Elizabeth II has been the object of unparalleled scrutiny. But through the fog of glamour and gossip, how well do we really know the world's most famous monarch? Drawing on numerous interviews and never-before-revealed documents, acclaimed biographer Sally Bedell Smith pulls back the curtain to show in intimate detail the public and private lives of Queen Elizabeth II, who has led her country and Commonwealth through the wars and upheavals of the last 60 years with unparalleled composure, intelligence and grace.

In "Elizabeth The Queen," we meet the young girl who suddenly becomes "heiress presumptive" when her uncle abdicated the throne. We meet the 13-year-old Lilibet as she falls in love with a young navy cadet named Philip and becomes determined to marry him, even though her parents prefer wealthier English aristocrats.

We see the teenage Lilibet repairing army trucks during WWII and standing with Winston Churchill on the balcony of Buckingham Place on V-E Day. We see the young Queen struggling to balance the demands of her job with her role as the mother of two young children. Sally Bedell Smith brings us inside the palace doors and into the QUeen's daily routines--the "red boxes" of documents she reviews each day, the weekly meeting she has had with 12 prime ministers, her physically demanding tours abroad and the constant scrutiny of the press--as well as her personal relationships with Prince Philip, her husband of 64 years and the lover of her life; her children and their often-disastrous marriages; her grandchildren and friends.

Compulsively readable and scrupulously researched, "Elizabeth The Queen" is a close-up view of a woman we've known only from a distance, illuminating the lively personality, sense of humor and canny intelligence with which she meets the most demanding work and family obligations. It is also a fascinating window into life at the center of the last great monarchy.