Author(s): Martin Williams

History

The Times Book of the Week

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'I could read Martin Williams all day. He is a staggeringly communicative historian; this book throws shafts of light on recent history almost repeating itself, giving vivid glimpses into monarchy and the way things were, and are. Compulsory reading.' --- Dame Joanna Lumley

'A social historian and gifted storyteller, Williams is by turns moved and amused as he reflects on the poignancy and rituals of a nation united (pretty much) in grief...' --- The Times

'Vivid, panoramic, skilfully written, this gripping book is an insight into a time and an age'. --- Kate Williams

'Martin Williams has written a fascinating and absorbing account of the Edwardian era, the demise and funeral of the King, and the iconic Black Ascot that followed it. He has brought a lost age grippingly to light'. --- Hugo Vickers

'witty, informative and immensely readable... captures the spirit of the times'. --- Miranda Seymour

'A tour de force'. --- Dr Kate Strasdin

'We tend to think that Cecil Beaton single-handedly invented the Edwardian Age. Martin Williams shows us succinctly and elegantly that perhaps it was the King himself.' --- Nicky Haslam

'... moves with unflagging wit and style. A fresh perspective on a brilliant life and a lost era beautifully evoked, it is impossible not to be swept away by this gem of a book. Pure pleasure.' --- Robin Muir



Unforgettable as it was, the public response to the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 was not without precedent. When her great-grandfather King Edward VII - glamorous, cosmopolitan and extraordinarily popular - died in May 1910, the political, social and cultural anxieties of a nation in turmoil were temporarily set aside during a summer of intense and ritualised mourning.

In The King is Dead, Long Live the King! Martin Williams charts a period of tension and transition as one era slipped away and another took shape. Witnessed by a diverse but interconnected cast of characters - crowned heads and Cabinet ministers, debutantes and suffragettes, artists and murderers - here is the swansong of Edwardian Britain. Set against a backdrop of bereavement and parliamentary crisis overshadowed by the gathering clouds of war, we see a people caught between past and future, tradition and modernity, as they unite to bid farewell to a much-loved monarch who had personified his age.

From Buckingham Palace to Bloomsbury, and from the lying-in-state in Westminster Hall to a now legendary Royal Ascot enveloped in black, this is a vivid evocation of a world on the brink of seismic upheaval.