Power and Glory - As seen on Channel 4’s Edward vs George

Elizabeth II and the Rebirth of Royalty

By: Alexander Larman

Narrated by: Sophie Roberts

Power and Glory begins with the fallout from the revelation of the Duke of Windsor's wartime treachery, and ends with the Coronation of Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. In between, it depicts a monarchy - and a country - struggling to cope with the aftermath of World War Two, in an era where old certainties have been replaced by the rise of a new, uncertain world, and where love, tragedy and modernity battle for supremacy.

The book draws on extensive unpublished correspondence between major members of the Royal Family including George VI, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Windsor, the Prime Ministers Clement Attlee and Winston Churchill, and previously unseen diaries and memoranda from courtiers, personal secretaries and leading politicians, exploring everything from the King's declining health to the (often negative) reactions to Elizabeth's marriage to Prince Philip and Coronation.

Power and Glory features the same intricately researched and incisively written account of Britain's most famous family as Larman's previous books, but on an epic international scale. It covers everything from the end of British rule in India to the foundation of the United Nations, and the crucial role that monarchy played in the ever-shifting era - as well, naturally, as the way in which the Duke and Duchess of Windsor attempted to return to relevance, whatever the cost might be to the wider Royal Family.©2024 Alexander Larman

Critic reviews

Appreciative but not sycophantic . . . Immaculately sourced . . .The rebirth of royalty was the foundation of something which, for a long while, was substantial and worthwhile (Stephen Bayley)

A fascinating exploration of the activities, relationships and emotions of the British royal family and parliamentary leaders in the post-war years of the forties and fifties. If you want to better understand England and the English people, read this book (Sir Patrick Stewart)

Modern royal history at its best - clear, unsentimental, authoritative, captivating. The struggles of the post-war monarchy and the dawn of Elizabeth II's reign are told with the perfect amount of detail (Gareth Russell)