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With equal measures of wit and wisdom, the author of "99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret" draws a deeply original, hilarious, and telling portrait of the Queen herself.
Synopsis:
She was the most famous person on earth; she first appeared on the cover of Time magazine at the age of three. When she died, few people were old enough to recall a time when she was not alive.
Her likeness has been reproduced—in photographs, on stamps, on the notes and coins of thirty different currencies—more than any since Jesus. It is probable that, over the course of her ninety-six years, she was introduced to a greater number of different people than anyone else who has ever lived—likely well over half a million. Yet this most closely observed of all women rarely left any real impression on those she encountered beyond vague notions of her "radiance" and "sense of duty." A high proportion of those she met can remember what they said to her, but not a word of what she said to them.
Up until now, the curious tactic employed by biographers of the Queen has been to ignore what is interesting and to concentrate on what is not. Craig Brown, the author of 150 Glimpses of the Beatles and Hello Goodbye Hello, rejects this formula, bringing his kaleidoscopic approach to the most famous—and most guarded— woman on earth, examining the Queen through a succession of interlocking prisms. With Q, this fantastically funny, marvelously insightful journalist gives us an unforgettable portrait of the omnipresent, elusive Queen Elizabeth II.
Review:
“No one in human history lived a more chronicled life than the Queen.”
111 short chapters do their best to give us chronicles of Queen Elizabeth that we may NOT have heard or been aware of (no small feet indeed). One chapter stood out for me- the topic of the national anthem "God Save the Queen"- go back and look at video of the Queen whenever it was played- she had to suffer thru it for over 50 YEARS, sometimes even multiple times a day. How hard it must have been to keep a look of interest and a smile on her face, while probably thinking 'oh not again!' It's topics like that, that Brown looks into- who were her ACTUAL friends (did she ever really have any?), the story of her US doppelanger, what her corgis were really like. It's the things we may have wanted to know, but never found out about- Brown did his research and found the evidence for these bon mots. History lovers and royalists alike will get lost in this book. It would make a great gift for Christmastime to those fans too!
About the Author:
Craig Brown is a prolific journalist and author. He has been writing his parodic diary in Private Eye since 1989. He is the only person ever to have won three different Press Awards—for best humorist, columnist, and critic—in the same year. He has been a columnist for The Guardian, The Times (London), The Spectator, and The Daily Telegraph, among others. He currently writes for The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday. His New York Times bestseller, Hello Goodbye Hello was translated into ten languages.
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