Queen Elizabeth II: A Concise Biography of an Exceptional Sovereign
Queen Elizabeth II: A Concise Biography of an Exceptional Sovereign
Queen Elizabeth II: A Concise Biography of an Exceptional Sovereign
Description
Description
The life of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's extraordinary and longest-lived monarch The reign of Queen Elizabeth II was exceptional for many reasons: among them her remarkable longevity, her enduring marriage to Prince Philip, her astonishing success in concealing her opinions on virtually any contentious subject, and the many representations of her in many media, which meant she was the most depicted human being ever to have lived in the entire history of the world. Elizabeth II was a global superstar who met almost any person who mattered, she was Head of the Commonwealth, head of state of such realms as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and queen of the United Kingdom. She embodied dutifulness and service and continuity in a rapidly changing world. During the course of her reign, the United Kingdom ceased to be a great power in the world, and evolved into a multi-cultural, multi-faith, multi-ethnic society, and the country in which she died was very different from that in which she had been born. This book offers a concise but authoritative account of her life and reign, set against the background of these extensive and disruptive domestic and international changes.
About the Author
About the Author
David Cannadine, Dodge Professor of History Emeritus, Princeton University Sir David Cannadine has taught history at the Universities of Cambridge, Columbia, London, and Princeton. He has published many books, among them The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy (1990), G. M. Trevelyan: A Life in History (1992), Ornamentalism: How the British Saw their Empire (2001), Mellon: An American Life (2006), The Undivided Past: History Beyond our Differences (2014), and Victorious Century: The United Kingdom 1801-1906 (2018). He has served as Director of the Institute of Historical Research, President of the British Academy, and Chairman of the Trustees of the National Portrait gallery, as well as General Editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography since 2014.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"Cannadine has produced a brief yet impressively rich and vivid biography. He has skilfully circumvented the limitations of royal biography by weaving into his book the extraordinary British, imperial and world history with which the late queen's life was entwined." -- Harshan Kumarasingham, Literary Review"This lovely little volume may prove one of the hits of the year because it does so much so effortlessly, and in not too many words. It will appeal to a much broader public than more concentrated, academic books." -- Richard Lofthouse, QUAD"A capsule biography can turn into a mere timeline, but Cannadine exploits the medium's advantages. With little more than a page for each year of the Queen's life, he brings out better than any other royal biographer the flux that engulfed this most steadfast-seeming of figures ... Cannadine is a master of extracting meaning from incidentals, whether the Queen's choice of a dance partner or her enthusiasm for jigsaws." --, David GelberTimes Literary Supplement"A brief yet impressively rich and vivid biography." -- The Oldie
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Pub date:
2025-12-11
Length:
192 pages
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