Robert Lacey is a British historian celebrated for his immersive research, often living alongside his subjects to gain unparalleled insight. He is the author of numerous international bestsellers that delve into the lives of significant figures and institutions. Lacey's approach, earning him the moniker of a "method actor" of biographers, involves deep personal engagement with his material, resulting in definitive studies of monarchy and other complex societal structures. He currently serves as the historical consultant for the acclaimed Netflix series "The Crown."
The collection features 82 cherished nursery rhymes, enhanced by Ben Coppin's vibrant illustrations inspired by Claud Lovat Fraser's original drawings. Robert Lacey delves into the enchanting world of nursery rhymes, exploring their deeper meanings and historical significance. This blend of art and insightful commentary celebrates the timeless magic and complexity of these beloved verses, revealing their rich cultural heritage.
The story explores the life and reign of a powerful monarch, delving into the complexities of leadership and personal sacrifice. It highlights the Queen's relationships with family, advisors, and the public, revealing the challenges she faces in maintaining her authority amidst political intrigue and societal change. Themes of duty, resilience, and the balance between personal desires and royal obligations are intricately woven throughout, offering a captivating glimpse into the inner workings of a royal life.
"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 insider, biographer and historian Robert Lacey, this book reveals the untold details of William and Harry's closeness and estrangement, asking 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 both agreed and diverged in their views of what a modern royal owes to their country? Were the seeds of damage sowed by Prince Charles and Princess Diana as their marriage unraveled for all the world to see? In the previous generation, how have Prince Charles and Prince Andrew's own relations strained under the Crown? What role has Queen Elizabeth II played 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 its highs, lows and discretions all laid out, this is a journey into royal life as never offered before"--Publisher's description
Can’t get enough of The Crown? In this must-have exploration of the history behind seasons 2 and 3 of Peter Morgan’s Emmy-winning Netflix drama, the show’s historical consultant answers all your questions alongside beautifully reproduced archival photographs. In this eye-opening companion to seasons 2 and 3 of Netflix’s acclaimed series The Crown, renowned biographer and historical consultant Robert Lacey takes us through the real history that inspired the drama. Covering two tumultuous decades in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, Lacey looks at the key social, political, and personal moments and their effects—not only on the royal family but also on the world around them. From the Suez Crisis and the U.S.–Soviet space race to the legacy of the Duke of Windsor’s collaboration with Hitler, along with the rumored issues with the royal marriage, the book provides a thought-provoking insight into the historic decades that the show explores, revealing the truth behind the on-screen drama. Fascinating and fast-paced, 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 companion to the Emmy-winning Netflix drama chronicling the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and starring Claire Foy and John Lithgow, The Crown by Peter Morgan, featuring additional historical background and beautifully reproduced archival photos and show stills 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 twenty-five, she was already a wife and mother as she began her journey towards becoming 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; and 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. Written by the show’s historical consultant, royal biographer Robert Lacey, and filled with beautifully reproduced archival photos and show stills, The Crown: The Official Companion: Volume 1 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.
Tracing a path through the Persian Gulf War and the events of 9/11 to the oilmarket convulsions of today, "Inside the Kingdom" gives readers a modern history of the Saudis in their own words, revealing a people attempting to reconcile life under religious law with the demands of a rapidly changing world.
A feast for history lovers--the whole colorful parade of English history brilliantly captured in a single volume.From ancient times to the present day, the story of England has been laced with drama, intrigue, courage, and passion. In GREAT TALES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY, Robert Lacey recounts the remarkable episodes that shaped a nation as only a great storyteller can: by combining impeccable accuracy with the timeless drama that has made these tales live for centuries. This new paperback edition is encyclopedic in scope, gathering together all of Robert Lacey's great tales previously published in three separate hardcover volumes. The book comprises 154 delectable stories, each brimming with insight, humor, and fascinating detail. Bite-sized history at its best, GREAT TALES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY belongs on every Anglophile's bookshelf."An informative, trustworthy distillation, less a debunking than an entertaining, wryly lucid reconstruction of the facts. . . . The tales weave a narrative as finely thatched as an English cottage." -Tennessean"Eminently readable, highly enjoyable. . . GREAT TALES should appeal to the reader who appreciates individuals and their personalities more than mere mass movements." -St. Louis Post-Dispatch"Beautifully written, full of things you didn't know, and well worth a read if you want a new view on stories you thought you'd already understood." -Living History
From ancient times to the present day, the story of England has been laced with drama, intrigue, courage and passion - a rich and vibrant narrative of heroes and villains, kings and rebels, artists and highwaymen, bishops and scientists. Now, in Great Tales of English History, Robert Lacey captures one hundred of the most pivotal moments: the stories and extraordinary characters who helped shape a nation. This first volume begins in 7150 BC with the life and death of Cheddar Man and ends in 1381with Wat Tyler and the Peasants' Revolt. We meet the Greek navigator Pytheus, whose description of the Celts as prettanike (the 'painted people') yielded the Latin word Britannici. We witness the Roman victory celebrations of AD 43, where a squadron of elephants were paraded through Colchester. And we visit the New Forest, in 1100, and the mysterious shooting of King William Rufus. Packed with insight, humour and fascinating detail, Robert Lacey brings the stories that made England brilliantly to life. From Ethelred the Unready to Richard the Lionheart, the Venerable Bede to the Black Prince, this is, quite simply, history as history should be told.
In 1977, Robert Lacey's bestselling MAJESTY was the first serious biography of Elizabeth II, defining the affection for the Queen that underlay the popular success of the Silver Jubilee. Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of her accession, ROYAL brings her remarkable story up to date. It provides a fresh portrait of her relationship with Prince Philip, and its effect on their children; it describes how the Queen has worked to live up to and maintain her strongly held beliefs, shaped over the years by the wishes and dreams - and sometimes the anger and unhappiness - of the people; and it explains how and why the monarchy continues to enjoy such enduring support. In addition, the Jubilee Paperback edition has been updated to reflect all the fast-changing events of the Jubilee year, specifically: * The controversy over the work activities of Prince Edward and Sophie * Prince Harry's escapades with drink and drugs * The death of Princess Margaret * The death of royal critic Lord Altrincham
THE YEAR 1000 is a vivid evocation of how English people lived a thousand years ago - no spinach, sugar or Caesarean operations in which the mother had any chance of survival, but a world that knew brain surgeons, property developers and, yes, even the occasional group columnist. In the spirit of modern investigative journalism, Lacey and Danziger interviewed the leading historians and archaeologists in their field. In the year 1000 the changing seasons shaped a life that was, by our standards, both soothingly quiet and frighteningly hazardous - and if you survived, you could expect to grow to just about the same height and stature as anyone living today. This exuberant and informative book concludes as the shadow of the millennium descends across England and Christendom, with prophets of doom invoking the spectre of the Anti-Christ. Here comes the abacus - the medieval calculating machine - along with bewildering new concepts like infinity and zero. These are portents of the future, and THE YEAR 1000 finishes by examining the human and social ingredients that were to make for survival and success in the next thousand years.
This biography is based on extensive research into Grace Kelly. The book looks at her early life, with her numerous lurid affairs and relationships with all the Hollywood greats, and the contrast this made with her later years with Prince Rainier and her difficult family.
Spanning more than a hundred years and four generations, the story of Henry Ford, the automobile company he created, and the dynasty he founded is one of the great dramas of our time, yet never before has it been told from beginning to end in all its richness. Now Robert Lacey has captured in one volume the public achievements and the private tragedies, the feuds, affairs, and personalities that make up this epic tale. Ford is above all the story of a handful of powerful individuals whose ambitions have helped shape modern American society: Henry Ford I, the founder, one of history's great figures, whose legendary achievements - the Model T, the moving assembly line, the Five Dollar Day, the Peace Ship - and down-home folk wisdom are recounted in school civics courses. Here for the first time Lacey reveals the extraordinarily complex and contradictory man behind the public icon Henry Ford was at once a dedicated pacifist and a war profiteer; a champion of the rights of minorities and a virulent anti-Semite; a dedicated family man who supported a mistress and an illegitimate son; a loving father who hounded and bullied his only legitimate son into an early grave.
First published to mark the Queen Mother's 87th birthday, God Bless Her. has been revised and expanded, and is republished in this commemorative edition with portraits and photos by luminaries such as Augustus John, Cecil Beaton and Lord Snowdon.
The accession of Henry VIII was greeted with rapture by his subjects: young, handsome and open-handed, the new King seemed the antithesis of his careful and suspicious father, and he lost no time in making his Court the most colourful and extravagant in Europe. Yet this glamorous exterior only partly disguised the unpredictable and savagely ruthless nature of the King, and as his reign developed, these traits were to become increasingly evidence. Henry's desperate efforts to father a legitimate male heir for his kingdom led him to marry six times, to make himself Supreme Head of the English Church as well as absolute ruler of the State, and to cut down or cast aside all those who stood in his way, or who failed to carry out his wishes.
The Kingdom is the story of a country--a country of astonishing contrasts, where routine computer printouts open with the words "In the name of God," where men who grew up in goat-hair tents now dominate the money markets of the world, and where murderers and adulterers are publicly executed in the street. By its own reckoning, this country is just entering the fifteenth century. The Kingdom is also the story of a family--a family that has fought its way from poverty and obscurity into wealth and power the likes of which the world has never known, a family characterized by fierce loyalty among its members, ruthlessness toward its enemies, and dedication to one of the world's most severe and demanding creeds. The Kingdom is Saudi Arabia--the only country in the world to bear the name of the family that rules it.
The world dreams of taking tea with her. She is the living embodiment of grandeur that was, and is, England. In this brilliantly researched book, Robert Lacey combines the sweep of history with the intimate nuance of individual lives to raise the curtain on the royal mystique. Here is the personal side of a Queen who adores the Beatles' Yellow Submarine and watches Kojak on the telly - and an enthralling view of the passions and drama behind the world's greatest remaining monarchy.
