King George VI

"John W. Wheeler-Bennett ... has evoked a portrait of a king that is at once fascinating and definitive. Here is the intimate story of a man's struggle for achievement. It is no secret that Prince Albert was not trained to lead. His childhood was sheltered and when at thirteen he entered the Royal Naval College at Osborne, his natural shyness was intensified by poor health. Yet even at this early age, he overcame both handicaps with the same quiet courage and perseverance that characterized his career as naval officer, royal representative, and Britain's King. [This book] tells also of a younger son's success. Prince Albert, as Duke of York, accepted his public position with a sense of loyalty and responsibility. ('By your quiet useful work you have endeared yourself to the people ...' wrote his father in a rare tribute at the time of his marriage.) In spite of his doctor's warning he fought at Jutland World War I. He learned to fly. He toured the world.^ He mastered a severe stammer and spoke well in public, though public speaking frightened him. Then, as a stunned Commonwealth and Empire watched Edward abdicate, he found he possessed a throne that he never dreamed he would occupy. At forty-one the new King exhibited that capacity of rising to an emergency which marked him throughout life. As his first official act he settled with wisdom the extremely delicate matter of Edward's future. Faced with an international crisis, he summoned his energy. He made an unprecedented state visit to President Roosevelt and became the first reigning British Sovereign to see America. Six years after those quiet hours at Hyde Park--when the Czech crisis, the fall of France, Britain's fight for existence and the victory of World War II had altered the world--he again linked his country and the United States by meeting with President Truman. In an impressive way George VI grew with being King.^ During the war he fortified the Allied leaders: Eisenhower, Clark, De Gaulle, King Haakon, the many European monarchs and presidents in exile, and Winston Churchill. He braced Britain's morale (Londoners never forgot that he refused to leave the city in the shattering Blitz)--and set an example of courage for a frightened world. Magnificently documented from the author's unrestricted access to the Royal Archives and superbly illustrated with nearly 100 rare photographs and paintings, here is majesty measured in this century."--Jacket.