"AS SEEN IN THE TIMES AND UPDATED WITH NEW MATERIAL
The Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller
‘THE ROYAL BOOK OF THE YEAR’ Daily Mail
THIS CRISIS IS AS BIG AS THE ABDICATION – SAYS LACEY, HISTORICAL ADVISOR TO THE CROWN.
The world has watched Prince William and Prince Harry since they were born. Raised by Princess Diana to be the closest of brothers, how have the boy princes grown into very different, now distanced men?
From royal expert and bestselling author Robert Lacey, this book is an unparalleled insider account of tumult and secrecy revealing the untold details of William and Harry’s early closeness then estrangement. It asks what happens when two sons are raised for vastly different futures – one burdened with the responsibility of one day becoming king, the other with the knowledge that he will always remain spare.
How have William and Harry each formed their idea of a modern royal’s duty and how they should behave? Were the seeds of damage sowed as Prince Charles and Diana’s marriage painfully unraveled for all the world to see? In the previous generation, how have Prince Charles and Prince Andrew’s lives unfolded in the shadow of the Crown? What choices has Queen Elizabeth II made in marshalling her feuding heirs? What parts have Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle played in helping their husbands to choose their differing paths? And what is the real, unvarnished story behind Harry and Meghan’s dramatic departure?
In the most intimate vision yet of life behind closed doors, with the family’s highs, lows and hardest decisions all laid out, this is a journey into royal life as never offered before."
"The fascinating royal and social history that inspired the second and third seasons of The Crown, from the show's historical consultant.
In this incredible companion to the second and third seasons of Netflix's acclaimed series The Crown, renowned biographer and the show's historical consultant Robert Lacey takes us through the real history that inspired the drama. Covering two tumultuous decades in the reign of Elizabeth II, Lacey looks at the key social, political and personal moments and the effect they had not only on the royal family, but also on the world around them. From the Suez Canal Crisis and the US/Russia space race to the Duke of Windsor's collaboration with Hitler and the rumoured issues with the royal marriage, the book will provide a fascinating insight into the two decades that the show covers, revealing the truth behind the fiction on-screen.
Extensively researched, this is a unique look behind the history that inspired the show and the years that would prove to be the making of The Queen.
The Crown is now available to watch on Netflix.
The Crown is produced by Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television for Netflix."
"The official audiobook to the Golden Globe and BAFTA award-winning Netflix drama, The Crown, with extensive research, additional material and beautifully reproduced photographs.
'The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep.
So help me God.'
Elizabeth Mountbatten never expected her father to die so suddenly, so young, leaving her with a throne to fill and a global institution to govern. Crowned at 25, she was already a wife and mother. Follow the journey of a woman learning to become a queen.
As Britain lifted itself out of the shadow of war, the new monarch faced her own challenges. Her mother doubted her marriage; her uncle-in-exile derided her abilities; her husband resented the sacrifice of his career and family name; while her rebellious sister embarked on a love affair that threatened the centuries-old links between the Church and the Crown. This is the story of how Elizabeth II drew on every ounce of resolve to ensure that the Crown always came out on top.
Netflix's original series The Crown dramatised Peter Morgan's powerful portrayal of Britain's longest-reigning monarch. Written by royal biographer Robert Lacey, The Crown: The Inside History adds expert and in-depth detail to the events of the series, painting an intimate portrait of life inside Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street. Here is Elizabeth II as we've never seen her before."
"In this splendid account of the world's oldest and richest auction house, Lacey brings to life the personalities, ambition and shrewd business dealings behind the glamour and the glitz. From its beginning in 18th century London as a modest book dealer, Sotheby's owes its rise to a succession of clever and colourful entrepreneurs who knew how to read the winds of economic change and sniff out buyers and sellers of the moment."
"What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium
The Year 1000 is a vivid and surprising portrait of life in England a thousand years ago – no spinach, no sugar, but a world which already knew brain surgeons and property developers, and yes, even the occasional gossip columnist.
Uncovering such wonderfully unexpected details, authors Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger bring this distant world closer than it has ever been before. How did monks communicate if they were not allowed to speak? What punishments could the law impose without stone and iron prisons in which to lock up offenders? Why was July called “the hungry month”? The Year 1000 answers these questions, and reveals such secrets as the recipe for a medieval form of Viagra and an hallucinogenic treat called “crazy bread”.
In the spirit of modern investigative journalism, Lacey and Danziger interviewed the top historians and archaeologists in the field. Their research led them to an ancient and little-known document of the period, the Julius Work Calendar, a sharply observed guide which takes us back in time to a charming and very human world of kings and revellers, saints and slave-labourers, lingering paganism and profound Christian faith.
This exuberant and informative book concludes as the shadow of the millennium descends across England and Christendom. While prophets of doom predict the end of the world, AD 1000 sees the arrival of such bewildering concepts as infinity and zero, along with the abacus – the medieval calculating machine. These are portents of the future, and The Year 1000 finishes by examining the human and social ingredients that were to make for success and achievement in the next thousand years."
"It's the story of the Bible as you've never heard it before: a fast-moving overview of the most published book in history, performed by author, actor, and award-winning broadcaster Rob Lacey. Inspired by the acclaimed book and based on the live performance seen by thousands in the UK, this recording provides a 60-minute tour of the whole Bible. It's fast, insightful…even funny. The classic stories of Scripture are retold with vivid 21st century language-psalms as songs, the Gospels as one story, epistles as emails, and Revelation as seen through a virtual reality headset. It's been described by one BBC producer as "storytelling at it's very best.""
"A fascinating profile of infamous criminal underground figure Meyer Lansky.
Known as the 'Mob's Accountant,' Meyer Lansky (1902-1983) was a significant figure in the criminal underworld for more than fifty years. A member of the Jewish mob, Lansky had his hands in various illegal activities such as money laundering, yet he was never found guilty of a major offense. In Little Man, acclaimed biographer Robert Lacey profiles Lansky and organized crime in the United States from the 1920s through the 1980s. Based on interviews with Lansky's family, his close friends, criminal associates, and law enforcement experts—as well as previously unpublished documents written by Lansky himself—this is both the biography of a mob boss and a social history of American crime."
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