The Windsors at War

November 1, 2022

The Guardian's Ireland correspondent, Carroll chronicles the IRA's attempt to assassinate Margaret Thatcher in October 1984 in There Will Be Fire. Published on Israel's 75th anniversary, two-time National Jewish Book Award winner Gordis's Impossible Takes Longer considers whether Israel's founders achieved their goal of creating a national homeland that would transform Jewish life (60,000-copy first printing). In 1742, a ship landed on Brazil's coast with 30 starving men feted as survivors of the wrecked British warship the Wager--until three months later, when three stragglers on another ship landing in Chile claimed the Wager's men were mutineers; from the No. 1 New York Times best-selling Grann (Killers of the Flower Moon). Chair of medieval history at King's College, London, Heather offers new reasons why Christendom grew from a tiny sect persecuted within foundering fourth-century CE Rome to the religion dominating Europe 1,000 years later. Celebrated Czech novelist Kundera, who has lived in France since 1975, argues that the "small nations" of Europe--e.g., Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Ukraine--are culturally rooted in Europe and under Soviet rule constituted A Kidnapped West (40,000-copy first printing). Following the LJ-starred The Crown in Crisis, which chronicled the Abdication Crisis of 1936, British historian Larman's The Windsors at War moves on to King George VI and the conflict within the Windsor family during World War II as the Duke of Windsor cozied up to Hitler (40,000-copy first printing). From leading South African political commentator Malala, The Plot To Save South Africa covers the 1993 assassination of Nelson Mandela's prot�g� Chris Hani by a white supremacist hoping to ignite a war, even as Mandela had begun power-sharing discussions with President FW de Klerk. Good-bye, Eastern Europe broadly documents the region briefly called Eastern Europe, moving from pre-Christian times through the great empires (Ottoman, Hapsburg, and Russian), the rise of communism and fascism, and the post-Soviet era to Russia's invasion of Ukraine; A Polish-born contributor to the Atlantic, has a PhD in Eastern European history from Berkeley (25,000-copy first printing). Granted special access by Queen Elizabeth II to her parents' letters and diaries and to the papers of close friends and family, Smith, the New York Times best-selling author of Elizabeth the Queen, aims to show how a loving marriage helped George VI and Elizabeth lead a nation through war (50,000-copy first printing). From Simon, a former senior director for Middle Eastern and North African Affairs on the National Security Council, Grand Delusion tracks the four decades of oil-driven U.S. involvement in the Middle East, begun by the Reagan administration and moving through Desert Storm (which he challenges) to the Obama administration's step back. The acclaimed Winchester leaps nimbly from cuneiform writings through Gutenberg to Google and Wikipedia as he examines Knowing What We Know--that is, how we acquire, retain, and pass on information--and how technology's current capability to do those things for us might be threatening our ability to think (100,000-copy first printing).

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 9, 2023
Historian Larman follows up Crown in Crisis with an immersive account of what happened after Edward VIII’s abdication—namely, “a squabbling and dysfunctional family being tested to the limits under unimaginable pressure.” Drawing on diaries, letters, and memoranda, Larman focuses on the “psychodrama of the uneasy relationship” between Edward and his younger brother, George VI, which was exacerbated by the royal family’s refusal to attend Edward’s wedding to American divorcee Wallis Simpson in 1937, and by Edward’s insistence that his wife be given the title of “Her Royal Highness.” Seeking proof that he could be “the instrument of peace and harmony between the two countries,” Edward toured Germany soon after the wedding, but the visit was seen as a “propaganda coup for the Nazis” and made him and Wallis “persona non grata in the circles in which they wished to move.” Larman also sheds light on Winston Churchill’s role as an intermediary between George and Edward, details fascist sympathies among the British aristocracy, and notes that Edward’s prescient warnings about the weakness of French defenses were ignored by the War Office. Polished and persuasive, it’s an incisive study of the interplay between the personal and the political.

February 15, 2023
The second in a series about the Windsor family follows the hand-wringing over Edward VIII's perfidy courting the Nazis during World War II--and official attempts to contain him. In this follow-up to The Crown in Crisis, British historian Larman uses his access to new letters and diaries to provide a thorough, occasionally poignant consideration of the "fascinating psychodrama of the uneasy relationship between King George VI and the Duke of Windsor," two brothers and kings who didn't want the role. Edward VIII (David to his family and friends) abdicated the crown in favor of his unprepared younger brother, Albert (Bertie); worse, he demonstrated distinct pro-Nazi sympathies that came to haunt the royal family and government. Stepping down from the crown in December 1936 because he could not rule with the woman he loved, American Wallis Simpson, the two caused nothing but headache and anxiety for Britain. They were married in Nazi collaborator Charles Bedaux's French ch�teau, roamed Europe with appeasement sympathizers, and even visited Hitler in October 1937. With the outbreak of war and danger of the Windsors being kidnapped by the Germans or manipulated for political use, King George VI arranged with Prime Minister Winston Churchill to coerce the duke to serve as governor of the Bahamas over the course of the war. However, the duke never relented in pressing for a royal title for the duchess and having her invited to court, among other tiresome entreaties. Drawing heavily on accounts by Edward's lawyer, Walter Monckton, and private secretaries Alec Hardinge and Tommy Lascelles, among other close observers, Larman ably portrays the deep layers of emotion and intrigue among the various players--notably, the warming relationship and support between King George VI and Churchill during a time of international crisis. Fully fleshed portraits of royal siblings under duress. Royal watchers will eagerly await a third installment.

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Starred review from March 1, 2023
Historian Alexander Larman picks up his saga of the Windsor family that began with The Crown in Crisis (2020). Edward VIII has abdicated the throne in order to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson. Little prepared to become sovereign, Edward's younger brother succeeds him as George VI while Britain is bedeviled by the rise of fascism on the continent. Plenty of Britons and their political leaders look with some favor on Adolf Hitler, chief among them the former king, now created Duke of Windsor, who becomes a focus of many intrigues. The arrival of war in 1939 stiffens George VI's resolve to become a true national leader and reveals the dangers of the Duke's consorting with those now Britain's deadly enemies. Working from archival documents, Larman uncovers the machinations of both royals and government leaders and remains deeply critical of the Duke's behaviors. George VI, his wife, and daughters endured the war's hardships despite the King's increasingly fragile health. Meanwhile, the Duke, in essence exiled as Governor of the Bahamas, often appears peevish about his diminished status. Both serious historians and obsessive royal-watchers will revel in the wealth of detail that Larman brings to this chronicle.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2023

British historian/journalist Larman writes a sequel to The Crown in Crisis. His new book focuses on the relationship between George VI and the Duke of Windsor. It incorporates Larman's extensive research and his access to rare and previously unpublished letters, diaries, and memoranda. There's the Duchess of Windsor's correspondence that described events as they occurred to her aunt, and diaries and letters of George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The author recounts events such as the coronation of George VI, the wedding of the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's 1937 controversial meeting with Adolf Hitler, and World War II events. Larman vividly describes the times after George VI's abdication and the viewpoints of those involved. There's an extensive bibliography, notes, and a list of all members of the House of Windsor during that time period. This book was written before Queen Elizabeth's death, but the author pays a poignant tribute to her, praising her dedication and steadfastness. VERDICT A highly recommended, vivid, intriguing book about a memorable time in British history.--Lucy Heckman

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.