She came to the throne in 1952 when Britain had a far-flung empire, sweets were rationed, mums stayed home, and kids played on bombsites. Seventy years on, everything has changed utterly-except the Queen herself, ageing far more gracefully than the fractious nation over which she so lightly presides. How did we get from there to here in a single reign? To cancel culture, anti-vaxxers and Twitter feeds? Matthew Engel tells the story-starting with the years from Churchill to Thatcher-with his own light touch and a wealth of fascinating, forgotten, often funny detail.
"Delivers equally sharp observations of Teddy Boys, hanged murderers, the British Empire, swinging London, National Service and Mrs Thatcher's ascent to power... A powerful illumination of a lost world that is nevertheless part of living memory."
'Books of the year', Daily Telegraph
"Masterly... Consistently entertaining, frequently surprising and sometimes provocative."
