A Voyage Around the Queen

‘Brown sees, correctly, that comedy is a part of all that is serious, and by laughing at things we have a better understanding of their nature … Most of all in this magnificent book we have a sense of the monarch being looked at freshly, without any prejudice or point to prove, and with a real understanding of human complexity … It is hard to think that a more thoughtful book on its subject will be published for many years’ PHILIP HENSHER, SPECTATOR 'A very unusual masterpiece … teems with facts, humour and intelligence … I enjoyed A Voyage Around the Queen so much that I wished it were longer than its 672 pages' CHRISTOPHER HOWSE, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Brown gives an astute account of the wellnigh unaccountable public life of an intensely private person … In any case, he has performed the task with admirable zeal. The book is crammed with facts, statistics, anecdotes, and much of it is gloriously bizarre…' JOHN BANVILLE, GUARDIAN 'Rich in vignettes, but also has a revelatory depth … thought-provoking, perhaps even deep … a vivid and remarkably telling study of our late head of state, and even more so of the people she reigned over for 70 years' STEPHEN SMITH, OBSERVER 'Brown is as sharp and dryly funny as his subject … fun, fizzy and told in Brown’s inimitable insidery, gossipy style' HARRIET ADDISON, EVENING STANDARD 'Wonderfully readable … At once sympathetic but clear-eyed, kind but sharp, Brown has given us a serious reflection on the nature of power and why institutions such as the monarchy, in the right hands, can provide a society with stability and a sense of continuity, especially in turbulent times' MARGARET MACMILLAN, NEW STATESMAN 'Celebrated author Craig Brown delves into the fascinating public and private life of the late monarch in this biography that’s witty, sharp and unforgettable'WOMAN’S OWN