A great insight on how this man wasted his life!

Very well written and the story flowed. An astonishing life of two very sad and degenerate people. I don’t think anything has changed over the years. Elites protecting their own. If only the public had known what these two were doing during the war years. Looking forward to reading the next book about Mountbatten.

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1 person found this helpful

Well researched and fascinating story

An interesting history that pulls back the superficial outer layer of the lives of the former king and his wife.

Terrifying to think what could have been had he not abdicated.

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1 person found this helpful

Interesting

Very interesting into the history of the times and the implications for some and not for others

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Interesting study of a many dimensional man.

Edward and Wallis were spoiled childish and stupid. This is a great insight into tragedy

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Weakness, Entitlement and Power

A good weighty case for the cessation of inherited titles and any vestiges of the ‘ruling classes’ in power.

Marriages into the same bloodlines must inevitably produce what it had done.

Wallace got what she hadn’t bargained for and he got a Mummy - to entertain and boost his confidence at all times.

A terrible thought that this man could have possibly sat on the throne as King.

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Really Excellent.

A great insight into a thoroughly flawed character. One can only thank Wallace Simpson in attracting the very weak and underdeveloped boyish English Royal to resign as King. We may now be living in a very different world if this had not occurred. This biography may not be the last and, as Lownie indicates more damning evidence of Edward and Simpson’s fascist inclinations may yet surface.

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3 people found this helpful

A Riveting read for social history enthusiasts.

Lownie's book allows us entre into the world of this pathetic man and his concubine.
Both David and Wallis emerge as trivial and wanton.
If Royalty is one's 'thing' the abdication of this dullard king must be the very best thing that has happened to the monarchy in 200 years...
To imagine that David and Wallis were permitted to reign conjures only horror.
An intriguing listen..
One tiny annoyance in the reading is the pronunciation of 'women'...
perhaps it is my device but it constantly ones across in pronunciation as 'woman' and not 'wimmen'

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OK

This book was ok. I learnt a lot that I didn’t know but I would have preferred more detail on their lives in the non war period not such a heavy focus on the Hitler connection.

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Great read

Great read, well researched and read. What a despicable couple! All I can say is bring on the republic!

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Heavy on irrelevant gossip, light on substance

I was naively expecting an historian to provide historical evidence to justify his use of the word 'traitor' in the title. What we have instead is gossip, innuendo, anecdotes, and unsubstantiated rumour about every aspect of the Windsors' lives except actual treachery. With the surveillance on this couple by spy agencies around the world, surely there would be a taped conversation or an authentic official transcript or record showing that Edward committed a treasonous act? The fact that prior to US entry into the war Edward advocated and worked for a negotiated settlement in order to avoid WWII after the devastation of WWI does not set him apart - many in the UK were of the same view - but that, apparently, made him a traitor. But instead of hard evidence of any kind to support the 'traitor' allegation, we get chapter and verse on the Windsors' lavish spending on themselves and tight-fistedness with everyone else, their rudeness and self-centeredness, their sex lives and their anti-Semitism (also not uncommon in that era), Edward's and Wallis's positive attributes and actions are mentioned but are lost in the sea of petty opinionated nonsense spouted by anyone who ever came across them in any setting or exchanged a few words with them. Andrew Lownie does not have the presentation skills to narrate this book and some very odd mispronunciations detract further. All in all, very disappointing - especially after his excellent book on Guy Burgess.

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