Elizabeth Mountbatten never expected her father to die so suddenly, so young, leaving her with a throne to fill and a global institution to govern. Crowned at twenty-five, she was already a wife and mother as she began her journey towards becoming a queen. As Britain lifted itself out of the shadow of war, the new monarch faced her own challenges. Her mother doubted her marriage; her uncle-in-exile derided her abilities; her husband resented the sacrifice...

"Chronicles the Ford Modeling Agency's meteoric rise to the top of the fashion and beauty business, and paints a ... portrait of the uncompromising woman at its helm in all her glittering, tyrannical brilliance. Outspoken and controversial, Ford was never afraid to offend in defense of her stringent standards. When she chose, she could deliver hauteur in the grand tradition of fashion's battle-axes, from Coco Chanel to Diana Vreeland--just ask John...

In this second volume of short essays, renowned historian Robert Lacey opens with Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and the flowering of the modern English language in the final years of the 14th century and ends with the Glorious Revolution of 1688-9, when Parlaiment secured control over the Crown. Along the way we hear about Dick Whittington and his cat, the origin of the V sign at Agincourt, The Wars of the Roses and all the pivotal events that...