From Publishers Weekly
Today we are likely to see the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII of Britain as a straightforward case of a king defying the rules of monarchy and accepting the inevitable consequences. Williams, a University of London historian, recreates the key weeks of crisis and effectively argues that the democratically minded king was deliberately ousted by a court and government unwilling to accept a new style of kingship. The king's ill-timed desire to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson was both a symptom of their problem with him and a convenient excuse. An impressive selection of quotations from private letters and journals shows the British people eager to communicate with their king and influence his decisions in regard to the throne. A large number of them clearly were sympathetic to his marrying and still remaining king. It was the higher ranks of society who accepted Simpson as the king's mistress, but not as his wife. Williams makes a strong case that Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin bullied the king into giving up the throne, cynically isolating him, misrepresenting public and official opinion and refusing to allow him to address the country personally until the crisis was over. Quotes dominate the book, lending immediacy but also creating a repetitive structure as each chapter trots out a new round of contemporary opinion. Royal watchers will perhaps be startled by details of the relationship between the royal family and the state. Many will see instructive parallels between Edward's experience and recent concerns about a constitutional crisis over the possible remarriage of the current Prince of Wales. Illus. not seen by PW. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"Royal watchers will perhaps be startled by details of the relationship between the royal family and the state."--Publishers Weekly

"Back in January this year the Public Record Office released hundreds of files relating to the Abdication Crisis of 1936, and the historical advisor to this important event was the University of London historian Susan Williams. Having been there, I can attest to her diligence and scholarship on that occasion, and this book is based on the work she has done on that vast labyrinth of documentation....Just as after Diana's death huge numbers of people wrote to express their sympathy and support, so Edward VIII was deluged during the Abdication Crisis, and Susan Williams has trawled her way through thousands of the letters to extrapolate common themes. She suggests that ordinary people in Britain and the Empire were quite ready for Wallis Simpson to be Queen. Huge numbers of people, she argues, simply wanted the King to be happy." - Andrew Roberts in The Telegraph

"The tale of the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936 has been told many times, but Susan Williams brings to bear two new sources of information that cast the familiar saga in a new light...What she undeniably succeeds in doing is illustrating better than most previous accounts of this crisis just how the public-Edward's subjects - felt about the pressure he was put under to abdicate. To achieve this she has been to record offices and consulted private diaries, as well as reading that pile of letters at Windsor." - Country Life

"This book is an exercise in rehabilitation. As such it is overdue. The Duke of Windsor has been spectacularly traduced in recent years...without even the courtesy of a question mark. Williams reminds one of Edward's extraordinary charm, his ability to talk with people of every kind, his wit, his genuine concern for the underprivileged." - Philip Ziegler in The Telegraph



Book Description
The People's King follows the six intense weeks leading up to the abdication of Edward VIII, considered by many to be among the most compelling love stories of the last century. Just six months before their wedding, the only people who had heard of Wallis Simpson were those people who belonged to the tiny social circle surrounding the royal family. Press coverage and newsreels were strictly censored. Through contemporary letters and diaries, many never before published, Susan Williams demonstrates the huge popularity of the King and the events that led to his downfall.



About the Author
Susan Williams is a historian at the University of London.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Story of Edward viii's abdication for the woman he loved was the most celebrated love story of the last century. Susan Williams's The People's King follows the six tense weeks leading up to the abdication. Several months before their wedding, the only people who had heard of Wallis Simpson were those people who belonged to the tiny social circle surrounding the royal family. Press coverage and newsreels were strictly censored. Through contemporary letters and diaries, many never before published, Susan Williams demonstrates the huge popularity of the King and the tragic events that led to his downfall. This is a powerful and moving story of love, devotion to duty and betrayal. It's the story of a charismatic, radical young king who loved his people and was adored in return. It is the story of a man who, but for the plotting of his enemies, might have reigned for his lifetime, whether married to his beloved Wallis or not. It is a story so compelling that almost seventy years after it played itself out on the newspapers and radio waves of the world, it still continues to move and haunt anyone who knows it.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Today we are likely to see the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII of Britain as a straightforward case of a king defying the rules of monarchy and accepting the inevitable consequences. Williams, a University of London historian, recreates the key weeks of crisis and effectively argues that the democratically minded king was deliberately ousted by a court and government unwilling to accept a new style of kingship. The king's ill-timed desire to marry American divorc e Wallis Simpson was both a symptom of their problem with him and a convenient excuse. An impressive selection of quotations from private letters and journals shows the British people eager to communicate with their king and influence his decisions in regard to the throne. A large number of them clearly were sympathetic to his marrying and still remaining king. It was the higher ranks of society who accepted Simpson as the king's mistress, but not as his wife. Williams makes a strong case that Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin bullied the king into giving up the throne, cynically isolating him, misrepresenting public and official opinion and refusing to allow him to address the country personally until the crisis was over. Quotes dominate the book, lending immediacy but also creating a repetitive structure as each chapter trots out a new round of contemporary opinion. Royal watchers will perhaps be startled by details of the relationship between the royal family and the state. Many will see instructive parallels between Edward's experience and recent concerns about a constitutional crisis over the possible remarriage of the current Prince of Wales. Illus. not seen by PW. (Dec.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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