Description
King George VI was the man not born to
. be king, who nonetheless rescued the
British monarchy during the confusion
of the abdication crisis and its aftermath.
His kingship coincided with a global
struggle between the forces of
democracy and enlightenment and those
of tyranny and evil. Throughout this
conflict the King, by his example,
symbolised those qualities of unassuming
decency and modest self-sacrifice that
made it possible for his subjects to
identify closely with him.
In this lucid, provocative and com-
passionate study, written after careful
research, biographer and historian
DenisJudd examines Prince Albert’s
struggle to reach maturity in the face of
his father’s tyrannical behaviour, his
mother’s emotional reticence, an in-
different education, and a crippling
shyness and sense of inadequacy exacer-
bated by the stammer that was such a
cruel affiiction for much of his life. There
were two turning-points in his struggle:
firstly, his marriage to the self-assured
and supportive Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon,
and secondly his unexpected accession to
the throne in 1936 after his elder
brother’s abdication. It was George VI
who bore the heavy responsibility for
restoring the nation’s confidence in their
monarchy: he proved to be a remarkably
effective king amid crisis, and the
privations and dangers of the Second
World War provided the framework
within which he finally flowered as an
individual and made his mark as a
monarch.
Published to mark the thirtieth anniver-
sary of the death of George VI in 1952,
this biography takes a fresh and
sometimes controversial look at the life
of the man who, quite unexpectedly,
came to occupy an extraordinary
position amid unprecedented change.
Denis Judd is an historian who gained
his first degree at Oxford and his Ph.D.
from London University. He was elected
a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
in 1978. He is at present Head of History
at the Polytechnic of North London. He
lives in north-west London with his wife
and four children.
Dr Judd has written twenty books,
including major biographies, royal and
military histories, children’s history
books, and two historical novels. Six of
these books have dealt with the British
and European monarchies in the
twentieth century. He was also invited
to contribute to The Queen, a Penguin
Special which was published for the
Silver Jubilee of 1977. His frank and
authoritative biography of Prince Philip
(1980) was acclaimed on both sides of
the Atlantic.
He has written reviews and articles for
several national journals, and has b oad-
cast on many occasions – including
princess Anne’s wedding, and in a
television programme marking the
thirtieth anniversary of George VI’s
death .
Hardcover
266 pages
Ex-library. In good preloved condition. Wear to paper book jacket.