This book was a mixed bag for me, alternating between compulsively readable and an utter slog. The personal history of the queen was meant to be the framework of this combination modern British history/contemplation of the monarchy/study of twentieth century British politics. Yet too often the personal got drowned by a sea of political and social context, not to mention the author's personal interpretation of all the above. Instead of providing the thematic thread of humanity, HRH came across as a paper doll, flat and lifeless.

Despite the many good points of this book, I had three major problems which kept me from enjoying it more and giving it a much higher rating. First, the author on occasion displayed a near-Soviet level of sticking to the party line. Certain major events were passed over lightly (exactly as the Palace wished them to be), most notably the breezy, barely-ruffled-the-waters, hardly-worth-mentioning treatment given The Abdication.

Second, the author's tendency to expound on a thought to the point of insensibility. Having made the point, he kept bring it up throughout the book, re-explaining it each time. I, for example, immediately understood the problems with the Civil List and the queen not disclosing her personal wealth; I didn't require an explanation every time it was brought up. And it was brought up many times. (Thanks for that, Parliament.)

The final problem I had with this book was the unholy, saccharine fatuousness that was Chapter 26, regarding the aftermath of Princess Diana's death. Princess Charlotte Augusta? Royal touching? I still suspect that someone else wrote that chapter, perhaps a teenaged niece of the author's.

All in all, there are better biographies and political histories that aren't mixed with biographies. I'd recommend you find one of those. ( )

The author of this biography Ben Pimlott was better known for writing authoritative and very readable biographies of Labour figures such as Harold Wilson and Hugh Dalton, both of which I read many years ago, so it may seem surprising that he turned his biographical skills in the 1990s to our Queen. Indeed, in an afterword his widow Jean Seaton says that he was faced with rudeness, snickers, and warnings that he was risking irreversible damage to his reputation by doing so. This is a weighty and absorbing read tracing both the life and reign of its subject alongside changing attitudes towards the monarchy as an institution and to the Queen as an individual from: the breathless reverence of the 1950s; the loosening of that attitude in the 60s and 70s; through the scepticism and sometimes open contempt from the mid 80s and through the 90s as the Queen's children's marriages broke up, and royal wealth came under the microscope; and to the respectful but more distant and fairly indifferent attitude that came along in the early 2000s at the time of the Golden Jubilee and indeed that seems to prevail today as the Queen enters her 90s and the era must, inevitably, be nearing its end. The evolving relationship between the Crown and the Commonwealth, both collectively, and as individual countries is also interesting. The original 1996 edition was updated in the early 2000s to include the death of Princess Diana and the Golden Jubilee period, which also encompassed the deaths of the Queen's sister and mother. The discussion of the bizarre and hysterical reaction to Diana's death is examined in great and, in my view, excessive detail and this was perhaps the part of the book I found the most tiresome. Overall, this is an excellent read and it is difficult to see this being bettered, though no doubt there will be a slew of new biographies when the inevitable happens in the not too distant future. ( )

A very well researched and written book showing the official and personal triumphs and problems of Queen Elizabeth II. I wouldn't have Her Majesty's job for the world but am very glad she has it. Long to Reign Over Us. ( )

Elizabeth....A role model for the 20th - 21st century ( )

I bought this 651-page book for my Mum's birthday. She never read it.