Robert Lacey

The three stars are for the information provided about Grace Kelly, which is the only reason, in my opinion, to read this one. I find this book lacking both in heart and emotional insight. Minus this, the reader feels an emotional distance from Grace, making some of her dalliances seem tawdry rather than wistful or sad.

There has yet to be a truly great bio of this lovely star whose public image of a woman lovely and kind, fiercely loyal, flawless in grace, is accurate, yet terribly show more incomplete. There is too much of a matter-of-fact tone to the revelations about her various affairs and life-long need for love and acceptance to give the reader anything other than a surface picture of woman behind that famous smile. It is the greatest failing of this biography.

She married a Prince to escape the stifling atmosphere of the studio system, yet found her restless spirit again stifled as her time in Monaco lengthened. Acting in front of the camera had at least given her soul an outlet, a chance to fly. Her life-long quest for praise and acceptance from her father marred her youth, her career and her private life. She hurt easily, loved hard, and needed to be loved in the same way. She settled for tender dalliances to soothe her inward unhappiness, while outwardly being exactly what the public saw her as.

Tackling this lovely woman’s inner frustration behind that million-dollar smile was either beyond this author’s ability, or he was not inclined to do so. For that reason it comes off as remote and distant, making revelations about affairs of the heart seem salacious when in fact they were sad. If you’re looking to get a three dimensional picture of Grace, you won’t find it here. Perhaps one day this fine and lovely woman will get a biography worthy of her, one with insight and understanding, one which isn't boring. This book isn’t it. Yet still, even as lacking in empathy and insight as it is, a vague portrait does appear. If I had to describe Grace Kelly, I would say this:

“Privately unhappy, trapped like a bird in a gilded cage, she sometimes escaped, finding in various arms, brief moments of love and acceptance that made the cage bearable.”

It's unfortunate this book wasn't better, and that with all the various books floating around out there, a real portrait of Grace that goes beyond the surface, and to the heart of her, does not exist. show less

Battle of Brothers by Robert Lacey taught me that just because you are born into a powerful family clan—like a fox—you are not automatically taught how to hunt correctly. The book exposes the British institution’s shocking failure to prepare William and especially Harry for adulthood, dignity, and duty, often allowing Harry to be framed as foolish or lacking purpose. Lacey makes clear that responsibility is a two-way cage: you cannot expect water without offering carrots, and you show more cannot expect a working royal to thrive without proper guidance, training, and emotional preparation. Reading this made me reflect on how other royal families, such as those in Morocco or Jordan, intentionally teach etiquette, public behavior, and boundaries—skills strikingly absent in the House of Windsor. Had Harry and Meghan spent time learning from the Moroccan model of privacy, discipline, and controlled public access, they might have navigated media pressures without turning their lives into a spectacle. show less

This book was a delightful surprise--a melodically written ode to the life of the everyman and everywoman of England in the year 1000. I was beguiled by Danziger and Lacey's use of illustrations from an ancient calendar (the oldest surviving one in English history) created at the Canterbury cathedral in 1020 -- the Julius Work Calendar -- to highlight the variegated elements of life for ordinary people at the turn of the first millennium after Christ. Each chapter regales with tales of show more planting, sowing, and harvest time, private lives and public controversies, battles, and family life, inspired by the featured illustration for each month of the calendar.

There is a certain magic in being able to portray quotidian history such that it shrinks the generations between reader and subject. I found this to be the case here. My key takeaway is that these people were smarter, more innovative, heartier, and more capable than conventional wisdom would suggest. I imagine that sitting down to eat with some of them would be a fascinating and inspiring experience, for the hardships they had to endure in that epoch were enormous compared with the creature comforts we enjoy today. An informative, charming, insightful, quick read. I recommend it. show less

This is my favorite book of the year, after Notorious RBG and It's What I Do. Apparently this is a year marked by nonfiction works for me.

Broken up by episodes, The Crown The Official Companion Volume 1, calls out, in the first few pages, the viewers of the show who, like me, watched each episode for a second time while scrolling through various Windsor related Wikipedia pages. Interspersed within and between the chapters are character and event profiles providing further insight into how show more certain decisions, such as televising the coronation of the Queen, were determined. Pictures include both stills from the show alongside real photographs of Elizabeth and Philip.

With a budget of $5 million per episode, Netflix's The Crown is a sweeping historical drama that blows all others out of the water with it's focus on historical events and attempts to remain true to the personalities of the real-life people portrayed on the silver screen. And while the show is fictionalized in some regards, the official companion book makes it quite clear that Peter Morgan, the show's creator, did not have to deviate too far from real life to make his show so compelling.

The most fascinating biographies are those that are of people who have lived far from ordinary lives. Americans have always had a certain fascination with the royal family and "how the other half lives." The Crown The Official Companion is as much a detailed biography of Elizabeth II as it is companion to a popular show. show less