Sarah Bradford's Elizabeth is the definitive biography of the Queen, revealing the real woman behind the public figure

The Queen lived through nearly a century of immense change and upheaval. Her own family experiences, a mixture of happiness and crisis, weddings and divorces, and, in the case of Diana, violent death, have been lived in the glare of tabloid headlines. More than 2 billion people watched the wedding of her grandson Prince William to Catherine Middleton in 2010 shortly before she made the first State Visit to Ireland by a British monarch for 100 years. Our world has changed more in her lifetime than in any of her predecessors': and before her death, the Queen remained a calm presence at the centre, earning the respect of monarchists and republicans. How did she do it?

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'The only book that could overtake it is the autobiography, which in this case will never be written' Spectator

'Bradford has a real grasp of history and the ability to make it spark into new life' Sunday Telegraph

'Bradford's forte, ever since she was a history-mad girl, is thinking herself into other lives' Daily Telegraph