Sally Bedell Smith -- Elizabeth the Queen -- Gables

Start: Jan 20 2012 8:00 pm

In Elizabeth the Queen (Random House, $30), we meet the young girl who suddenly becomes "heiress presumptive" when her uncle abdicates the throne. Sally Bedell Smith brings us inside the palace doors and into the Queen’s daily routines, as well as her personal relationships. Compulsively readable and scrupulously researched, Elizabeth the Queen is a close-up view of a woman we’ve known only from a distance, illuminating the lively personality, sense of humor, and canny intelligence with which she meets the most demanding work and family obligations. It is also a fascinating window into life at the center of the last great monarchy.