The Crown in Crisis is a very well researched account of the abdication of King Edward VIII to wed Wallis Simpson. I've read a few books on this subject, it's always interesting to see how each author compiles and presents their information.

This book focuses on the abdication of Edward VII. It was very detailed and comprehensive. However, it had no new details that I already from the biographies of Wallis Simpson. The book is perfect for the general reader, but not for those that are already familiar with the infamous Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

This was a well researched book that I read over a period of time. The story is very familiar, and the author shows different perspectives that I hadn’t seen before. I’ve read historical fiction books on this subject, but they tend to focus more on the romance and less on the act of abdication and what it meant to the UK.
If you’re interested in British royalty this book is for you. I enjoyed it, 4 stars.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

Go back in time and experience the abdication of the British throne, which led to QUeen Elizabeth becoming the heir and eventual Queen of England. Bringing in source materials that are familiar as well as never before seen accounts of meetings, letters, and other documents provides an insider point of view to the reader. For anyone wondering what more could be said about King Edward's decision to abdicate and marry Wallis Simpson, you'll be surprised at the gems uncovered by the author. The information is shared with a storytellers gift for language. In light of the recent events of Prince Harry choosing to step down from royal service, it's interesting to look back on the history of his ancestors and see how their experiences may have influenced his choices.

I was fascinated by The Crown in Crisis: Countdown to the Abdication. I give it four and a half stars.

I enjoy reading about the British monarchy. This book, so well researched and written, did not disappoint. It is an intimate behind the scenes look at this story that some of us are old enough to remember hearing about while people were still adamantly taking sides. There are old facts and some new revelations, at least for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the behind the scenes, every day look into the minds and hearts of those closest to this empire shaking event.
Thank you NetGalley.

An excellent overview of a historic time for the crown that modern royal watchers have forgotten. There are modern lessons to be learned.

I love reading and learning about The Royal family and truly appreciated the authors detail to facts and historical events. While I knew about some I did learn more about the abdication of King Edward VIII and the relationship he had with Nazi's. While I still have more questions I loved the way the book flowed and look forward to reading more books by This author and this subject. Thank you St Martin's press for my copy.

This book chronicles the reign of Edward VIII and the circumstances that led up to his abdication. It is filled with details of the events from various points of view - the King, Wallis Simpson, and numerous courtiers. Yes, the information is well delivered bringing the reader to the events.

However, it got to be extremely tiring to be constantly looking up words because it seemed the writer was trying to either give the reader a vocabulary lesson or he was trying to show off his own vocabulary. Maybe there should be a limit to the 5 syllable words in any book, but definitely a limit on each page. Fortunately, I had an e-book were I could automatically click on the word and get a definition. Foreign phrases were also very prevalent. Once I would look up the definitions insert those to the sentence the book moved along, however, the constant lookup caused the book to read extremely slow.

Informative, well-researched, but not well-written.

I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review
Unable to fulfill his duties without the women he loves. King Edward VIII was a fool. Getting a little more insight into the abdication crisis was quite interesting. In the long run its probably a good thing they didn't succeed otherwise England may have become a German puppet state since they were Nazi sympathizers.

What an excellent book! I love to read anything I can get my hands on about King George VI because I think he is a compelling example of the world sometimes getting the leader they need, when needed, rather than the one they expect. This book offered fascinating new insights into the drama the surrounded the abdication of Edward VIII. I highly recommend this book to those who are interested in the inner workings of the monarchy and who like a twisted family drama.

Thank you very much to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for honest feedback. I am a big fan of books about Britain and British history generally, but I will admit to not knowing as much about the modern royal family as one would think. I'm not really interested in the drama or personal lives of the royals aside from the impacts of these elements on historical events. So, this book was about all that, but in an academic way that looks at how these things impact on another. I think that many people actually don't know about what happened in this major outlier in British history, especially considering it was modern. The popular TV show "The Crown" actually touches on this event quite often, so I think this book is timely and well-researched enough to tell the whole picture, rather than painting it in one light as people often do when emotionally invested in people's lives.

Wow! I am impressed by Alexander Larman's writing style and overall content of the book! I love history, and The Crown in Crisis deepened my understanding of King Edward's rule. Amazing!

The Crown in Crisis gives us a glimpse into one of the most contentious times in British Royal history, one that set the course for what the modern British royal family is today. Larman uses previously undiscovered documents to reveal a Britain on the edge of chaos, and that the storied love affair between King Edward and Wallis Simpson was not the ideal match that has been described. It shows the political maneuvering and the complicated legal processes that went into the abdication and the global ramifications it had. For people who enjoy learning about the political aspects of this scandal, this is a good book to read.

I love everything about Britain, the tea, the pints, the history, the pints (!) and particularly the royal family. This book is a lovely addition to the large canon of books that have already been written on King Edward VIII's abdication.
It was written more from the perspective of the government's role in aiding, or should I say forcing, the King to leave his post, but it also included accounts of the time period from Wallis Simpson, the King, his family and other members of royal family.
It was very interesting, and as with all good non-fiction books, it made me want to delve deeper into the subject matter.

Publish Date: January 17 2021

Many know the story of King Edward VIII’s abdication of the throne. This book dives deep into what was going on behind the scenes at the time. While it is a little dry, I find it utterly fascinating. I would recommend to anyone who loves history or the English royalty.

#theroyalmonarchy #thekingsdpeech #wallissimpson #crownincrisis

When I first heard of the Abdication as a teenager, the entire story of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson seemed liked a romantic and tragic tale. A handsome KIng gives up all for “the woman I love”. It was not until later in life, as I read and learned more, I realized there was much more to this fable, as fable it was. It was more a sad story of someone who has been given gifts few can even imagine who squanders it from lack of character and puts the country he was sworn to defend into chaos so that he could achieve his own selfish goals.. As it turns out, Britain dodged a bullet when Edward abdicated and this book looks into the details that led up to and included that precarious moment.

The book is remarkably fair, even painting Wallis in an almost favourable light. Yes, she was a gold digger. Yes, she orchestrated the entire proceedings and in fact was the one in charge in the early stages. But once she realized how dangerous things had become, she did try to bow out and prevent Edward from self destruction. He, however, did not believe the word “no” had any relevance in his vocabulary and pushed ahead to the inevitable end. She comes across as not a particularly nice person to put it mildly. He comes across as a shallow narcissistic man whom, once his charming surface is scratched, turns out to be, what one pundit called it, “sand”.

Even knowing the details and the outcome, the reader is nonetheless swept along by the narrative. There were so many people trying to do the right thing and help resolve the issues. Up until days before the abdication, the British press kept silent while the international press had a field day. There were agendas on both sides but at the heart of it, there seems to have been that cadre of people whose only goal was to protect The Monarchy and to settle things in the least disruptive manner. The behind the scenes efforts of so many people is fascinating but doomed to failure because of the nature of the man in the middle.

As it turned out not three years later, the Nation could rejoice that the person on the Throne was George and not Edward for history might have been changed dramatically and not for the better. It is sad though that a man who was not groomed to be King would carry such a heavy burden and have his health and his life cut short because of it, whilst his brother would swan on for decades.

For the student of history or just someone who enjoys a very well told story, this book is recommended highly. And if the reader sees some similarities in future generation of Royalty, who shall remain nameless, so be it. Five purrs and two paws up.

3.5 Stars

I have read numerous books about the abdication of King Edward VIII so he could marry the American double divorcee, Wallis Simpson. This particular book is heavily researched and chock full of minute details involving various government officials and quotes from their memoirs. While I respect the intensive work that must have fueled this literary work, I have enjoyed this version of the story the least. Other works I’ve read on the subject are historical fiction novels or accounts that humanize the situation between these two parties. This book was just a little too “dry” for my taste; heavy on facts and quotes but remote in emotion. I’m sure I’m an outlier and this is a fine book, but it’s just a matter of taste and I choose to DNF this at 60% to move on to something more enjoyable.

I’ve been on a “Crown” binge and “The King’s Speech” is always worth watching. That’s why I requested this.

Alexander Larman provides a lot of insight with his research, digging deep into various archives that have recently surfaced. The historical context observes the voluntary abdication of King Edward VIII and the events leading up to it. The details surrounding his affair with socialite Wallis Simpson astonishing to say the least, but the biographical content of Edward heightens up the book for me. I knew the man was mad, but this was a completely different experience, most notably the controversy surrounding the nazi party.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC

"The Crown In Crisis" presents a well-researched, readable work about the abdication of King Edward VIII from the throne of England, in order to continue his association with the American divorcee Wallis Simpson. The author includes historical content to further explain the political and world situations that were occurring at the time. Part drama and part history, the book will provide an intriguing read for those interested in history and the royal family.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.