Customer Reviews

The Duchess of Windsor

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Althought elegantly designed and filled with high-quality photos, this has got to be one of the most egregious books I have run across in years. Bloch, an associate of the Duchess' lawyer, has cobbled together numerous photographs which depict the Windsors at balls, on holiday (from what?) on the Cote d'Azur, in the Bahamas, in Germany, in nightclubs, etc., etc. It is difficult to read this book and not come away with the impression that, great love story though it may have been, the lives of this woman and her husband were an utter waste of everyone's time. How bored (and boring) they must have been! Unless you want to indulge in a little elegant notalgia, don't bother with this high-fashion trash.

I really enjoyed this book. I was surprised when I started it; there are tons of pictures and less text than might be expectd, but with a topic like this one, I actually think this proved to be an advantage. I felt like I got enough of an overview/background to understand what was going on surrounding the Duke and Duchess, but did not feel overwhelmed by the history. For example, I tried reading a biography on the Duke,a nd was so bored and lost by the first two chapters because I was given SO much information!

I also got a different view of the Duchess. While I had not read any non-foction about her, she does pop up in fiction by Danielle Steele ("Jewels") and Dominick Dunne ("The Two. Mrs. Grenvilles") and she is portrayed in a totally unlikeable light. While I don't know how biased this biography was, I ended up being very sympathetic towards the Duchess and hoping that she and the Duke were happy together.

I also found the many pictures to be a plus, as they were great to peruse.

Great Coffee Table Book, the book is full of pictures of her that I have never seen, it was well worth what I paid for

I was wanting to read Higham's book about the Duchess, but this was the only one in the library so I took it. It isn't very long and has lots and lots of photos so I wondered if I'd get a good book about the Duke and Duchess and I did. I think it tells a very fair story and just enough. He speaks of their good and bad points equally. It does seem like the British royalty was unfair to the Duke.

So to kind of sum it up, the last sentences of the book say it best, "...she faced up to all bravely, and proceeded to devote the rest of her life to the man who loved her, who for his part, despite the heartache of ostracism and exile, never ceased to feel that the realization of his happiness had been worth a throne." Certainly these two lived a life unique to any others.

I have read quite a few books on the Duke and Duchess and this one is my favorite so far. It is very readable and has lots of pictures. It is sympathetic to them, but as the author actually was involved with them (at least his boss was, in a very close, intimate, manner) at least he has a leg to stand on, as opposed to many others I have read that rely on mostly gossip. And also, what terrible thing did they do besides fall in love and want to be married? They stayed devoted to each other for the rest of their lives! He has access to their personal letters and has actually published a book of them, I believe. My only problem is where he makes allusions to the Duchess being a hermaphrodite. That sounds like a complete hypothesis to me, and there is absolutely no evidence that he puts forward. Not to say it's not true, maybe it is for all I know but that just seemed like an assumption. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book and I felt extremely sorry for the Duke and Duchess. I think the Royal family treated them horribly.

Everyone knows the story of Duke and Duchess of Windsor - the story of love triumphing difficult circumstances. Being a royalist groupie, I was content in knowing the briefest outline of how King Edward VIII abdicated in order to be married to Wallis Simpson.
Therefore I surprised myself one day at the library by picking this book up and even more so when I actually finished it. This book is sympathetic to Wallis and is definitely startling for anyone who felt that it was wrong for a King to abdicate for personal love. Even more so that a woman who inspired such passion in a king could be good or that she would even strive to prevent the abdication from happening.
It gives a starting point for anyone interested in what went on in that era and how Wallis Simpson became eye of a royal storm so to speak.
The hostilities between the Windsors and the British Royal family did eventually thaw and pictures of Queen Elizabeth II with the Duke of Windsor was enough to warm my heart.
It is a must read for anyone who would like to know both sides of a scandalous but royal love story.