The Royal Family at War
Aronson can always be relied on to write engagingly about royalty. Here he follows what the members of the British royal family did during the trying years of World War II. Naturally his focus is on the most important royal figures of the day, King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth. George VI was the reluctant king, the younger brother who had apprehensively assumed the crown on the abdication of his older brother, the dashing Edward VIII, only three years before the outbreak of war. The new king's wife was the perky little duchess of York, who, on her husband's ascension to the throne, became the captivating, charming Queen Elizabeth (who is now the captivating, charming Queen Mother). The war years were ironically the couple's finest hour; they came to splendidly symbolize the we-won't-give-in attitude of the British people toward German aggression. And Aronson broadens the picture beyond the king and queen to include the wartime activities of their daughters, of the king's mother (the consummately regal Queen Mary), and of the king's siblings and their children. Dedication to duty is the image projected here, in a book recommended for popular history buffs.Brad Hooper