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Joe Bryan

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The Windsor Story: An intimate portrait of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor Kindle Edition

by J. Bryan III (Author), Charles J. V. Murphy (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.1 137 ratings

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When King Edward VIII gave up the throne for Mrs Simpson in 1934, the whole world was gripped.

American Wallis Simpson was twice divorced – and the Royal Family would not countenance a divorcee as Queen. So, Edward took the monumental decision to abdicate. Given the title Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the couple embarked on a life of exile. Never had a man given up so much: not just the throne, but sovereignty over the British Empire as well.

Charles Murphy and Joe Bryan were successful, well-connected American journalists, who interviewed the Duke and Duchess and formed friendships with them. Murphy was commissioned by Life magazine to write the Duke’s memoir – an arduous task due to Edward’s inability to focus. He was then engaged by the Duchess to write her story – a project which also became fraught with difficulty and was completed in the end by another writer.

The two journalists, fed up with the couple’s capriciousness, laziness, avarice and narcissism, then got together to tell the truth about the Windsors’ ill-fated union. They reveal the sad fact that, despite the Duke’s huge sacrifice, Wallis never really loved him. Trapped into marriage by Edward’s obsessive devotion she took to taunting and bullying him, even embarking on a bizarre affair of sorts with gay millionaire playboy Jimmy Donahue. Their association with Hitler is documented, as well as the Duke’s dismal tenure as Governor of the Bahamas. Unable to succeed at any role offered, they were doomed to a life of endless partying.

As confidants of the couple, Murphy and Bryan had unique access. Their analysis of the Duke and Duchess comes from first-hand knowledge of both, as well as personal acquaintance with many of their circle. Detailed, meticulous, but also highly entertaining. Originally published in 1979, this remains the definitive account of the Windsor story and a fascinating inside picture of the British Royal Family.

‘The best documented and least inhibited account we are ever likely to get of the long, lonely years the Windsor’s spent in exile’ – New York Times

‘Just a fantastic book - written by two American journalist/authors who were employed by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to "ghost" their memoirs. The two writers spent considerable time with the couple, and can therefore speak from their personal experience of the Windsors both individually and as a couple’ – Amazon review

Joseph Bryan was a distinguished American journalist and author, a graduate of Princeton. He held editorial positions with Time magazine and The New Yorker. He died in 1993.

Charles JV Murphy entered Harvard at the age of sixteen but left without graduating to join The Associated Press in Manhattan in 1925. He went on to have a distinguished career as a journalist and author, writing mainly for Life magazine. He died in 1987.

Print length

801 pages
Language

English
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Publication date

June 22, 2022
File size

2330 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B4WJ3GMJ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lume Books (June 22, 2022)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 22, 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2330 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 801 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #62,025 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #28 in Biographies of Royalty (Kindle Store)
- #55 in Biographies of Presidents & Heads of State (Kindle Store)
- #73 in Royalty Biographies

Customer Reviews:
4.1 137 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

137 global ratings

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kc sweets

Entertaining

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2023

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This was an easy read. I like the way that the authors chose not to trash her, but still manage to portray the both of them as supremely superficial people. Most people prefer to make Wallis the bad person, but at anytime the Duke could have abandoned her…and the crowd would have followed him. So, you have to believe that there was true love on someone’s part. Definitely worth reading.

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Saint Exupery

Catty Catnip: "Meow!"

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2014

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Nearly three years ago I tracked down this bio via Amazon- few copies then, the hardback fairly expensive, but found a somewhat tattered paperback for about $2. Normally paying shipping plus $2 for a not in very good condition paperback is [and was] unthinkable. But copies never turned up in library sales, so I went for it. So utterly glad I did. It's a hoot - can be picked up and read a chapter here, a chapter there or, of course, all the way from soup to nuts [and they were, sad, narcissistic, and a good bit crazy in love with their own egos].

Have probably read it three times over the years and I adore the cheekiness, the "real story" tales, the gossip, and just all the fly-on-the wall reports of high living, low intrigue, and a pair of empty lives topped off with the best champagne, as long as the Duke could get someone else to pay for it.

If the Windsor Duo had not been the Duke and Duchess, they would simply have had their own reality television show - warts without the riches...annoying, brainless, dull, and so utterly full of themselves that you would just have to watch, even if in secret, because of their mesmerizing king-&-wannabe-queen-sized egos. A kind of British Honeybooboo [sic], not a bit Downton Abbey. My paperback has been worn, repaired and today - at a library sale - I found the hardback, in very good condition, for $1. Lovely.

23 people found this helpful

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Anne in London

The Lost Opportunities

Reviewed in Canada on August 30, 2022

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This is a well written and researched book into the lives of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. However, in many ways it is not a pleasant read. These two self-absorbed people managed to get through 35 years of marriage after the abdication without accomplishing anything except being leaders of the jet set. They could have had meaning self directed meaning in their lives, but chose not. All in all, the great romance was a sad romance.

John

Majestic!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2023

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This is a magnificenyly written book which will keep the reader enthralled from page one. Despite the wealth of information and meticulous description together with the extensive length of the book, the easy flow of the writer's style carries the reader along seamlessly. The lives of Wallis and the Duke are presented with sympathy, vividness and honesty and the sadness of their strivings to survive with some meaning, will stay with the reader long after the book is closed.

mrs w

Well researched Historical work that enlightens

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 2, 2023

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Not sycophantic but measured research with interpretations offered in the downfall of this narcissistic pair.

tim

Good book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2018

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Great

Kindle Customer

Disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2023

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This edition was published 2022, which is why I read it, however it was written in 1979. I expected that it would have had a brief update of the intervening years. No!
This is time that I will never get back, yes there was
information about their lives but many pages of names of the people who attended dinner parties and shared their lives, that were unnecessary I persevered thinking that it would improve, it didn't. Not really worth the effort of reading

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