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Table of Contents
About The Book
A celebration of the life of Queen Elizabeth II on the centenary of her birth, by the bestselling author of The Making of a King and Queen of Our Times.
Elizabeth II was not born to reign. Like that other great queen in modern history, Victoria, the throne came to her by indirect means. Yet she would become one of the most beloved monarchs in history, surpassing almost every entry in the royal record book.
As a child, her idyllic life on the royal fringe was transformed first by the scandalous love life of her wayward uncle and then by war. Despite multiple attacks on the family home, she watched and learned from her father has he led his nation through much suffering to victory, falling in love along the way.
At the age of just twenty-five—a young wife and mother of two—she suddenly found herself head of state of much of the Earth, with the greatest statesman of the age as her senior adviser.
Her coronation was a moment of national rejuvenation, though swiftly followed by the first of many challenges and crises – personal, political, and global - which would test her over seven decades. The highs and lows of ordinary family life, for her, would be mercilessly scrutinised and magnified through the lens of the world’s media. Unlike Shakespeare’s monarchs, the dramatists would set to work in her own lifetime.
Yet she also managed to remain an endlessly fascinating mystery to the end, revered and mourned worldwide.
No one has written more authoritatively on the life of Elizabeth II than Robert Hardman, the only biographer to have interviewed the entire Royal Family. On the centenary of her birth, amid all the commemorating and celebrating, it is time to bring the whole extraordinary story of her life to a new audience in a fresh, accessible, concise portrait—one which will enthrall those who have now come to realize that Elizabeth II was not merely the most famous woman in the world, captured on banknotes, coins, and The Crown. She was one of history’s all-time greats, and this finely-written and original narrative reveals why.
Elizabeth II was not born to reign. Like that other great queen in modern history, Victoria, the throne came to her by indirect means. Yet she would become one of the most beloved monarchs in history, surpassing almost every entry in the royal record book.
As a child, her idyllic life on the royal fringe was transformed first by the scandalous love life of her wayward uncle and then by war. Despite multiple attacks on the family home, she watched and learned from her father has he led his nation through much suffering to victory, falling in love along the way.
At the age of just twenty-five—a young wife and mother of two—she suddenly found herself head of state of much of the Earth, with the greatest statesman of the age as her senior adviser.
Her coronation was a moment of national rejuvenation, though swiftly followed by the first of many challenges and crises – personal, political, and global - which would test her over seven decades. The highs and lows of ordinary family life, for her, would be mercilessly scrutinised and magnified through the lens of the world’s media. Unlike Shakespeare’s monarchs, the dramatists would set to work in her own lifetime.
Yet she also managed to remain an endlessly fascinating mystery to the end, revered and mourned worldwide.
No one has written more authoritatively on the life of Elizabeth II than Robert Hardman, the only biographer to have interviewed the entire Royal Family. On the centenary of her birth, amid all the commemorating and celebrating, it is time to bring the whole extraordinary story of her life to a new audience in a fresh, accessible, concise portrait—one which will enthrall those who have now come to realize that Elizabeth II was not merely the most famous woman in the world, captured on banknotes, coins, and The Crown. She was one of history’s all-time greats, and this finely-written and original narrative reveals why.
Product Details
- Publisher: Pegasus Books (May 19, 2026)
- Length: 448 pages
- ISBN13: 9798897101733
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Raves and Reviews
Praise for Robert Hardman’s The Making of a King:
"An impressive account."
– The Washington Post
"Robert Hardman's new biography takes us inside the first year of Charles's reign. A can't miss book for royal watchers.”
– Town & Country
“He did it with Elizabeth II and now he has done it again with Charles III. Robert Hardman is the unsurpassed grand master when it comes to the inside story of the modern monarchy. Full of surprises and glorious detail.”
– Andrew Roberts, New York Times bestselling author of Napoleon
“A superb, fascinating account of the new King, his court and the first year of his reign, elegantly written, deeply researched, impeccably sourced and filled with scoops and new details by the most authoritative of royal historians writing today. This is the definitive book.”
– Simon Sebag Montefiore, New York Times bestselling author of The Romanovs
"A stunning, intimate recapitulation of the king’s first year. Readers are treated to a fast-paced inside view of royal life’s intricacies. With Mr. Hardman’s sources and experience––he interviewed the king several times when Charles turned 60 and produced a BBC documentary on the king’s first year––The Making of a King is an up-close-and-personal look at a world most readers will never directly experience.”
– The Washington Times
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Book Cover Image (jpg): Elizabeth II
Hardcover 9798897101733
