Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch

　「這是一本優秀而全面的新傳記，像一道光線般照亮君主人生中那些不為人知的角落。」──《紐約時報》

　　從她在二十五歲時登基那刻開始，
　　伊莉莎白二世就一直是人們無以倫比的欽佩對象，並承受難以言喻的放大鏡檢視。
　　在層層魅力和八卦迷霧的籠罩下，我們如何真正觸及這位世界上最聞名遐邇的君主？

　　透過無數訪談和從未揭露的文獻，廣受好評的傳記作家莎莉．貝德爾．史密斯拉開簾幕，鉅細靡遺地描繪這世上最令人傾倒的女性之一，並展現其神秘的公私生活兩個層面。

　　在《伊莉莎白女王傳》中，我們見到一位年輕女孩在她伯父放棄王位時，突然成為「准王儲」。我們也看見，年輕的女王在恪守盡職和作為兩位幼小子女的母親角色間，掙扎著力求平衡。我們得以窺見女王的日常生活慣例，以及與她結褵六十四年的丈夫菲利普親王之間的私人關係。而菲利普親王是女王的此生摯愛。我們還能讀到女王與她孩子間的關係起伏，她對後者災難連連的婚姻的反應，以及她如何對待孫子和朋友。

　　經過一絲不茍的研究而寫成的《伊莉莎白女王傳》讀來令人不忍釋卷，提供這位活潑、優秀和堅毅的女性之近身觀察。若不是有此書，讀著將只能從遠處仰望她。此書並打開一扇魔法般的窗戶，通往這個最後一位偉大君主的人生大戲。
 
(簡介來自廣場出版《伊莉莎白女王：一位現代君主的傳記》書籍介紹)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - This ＂excellent, all-embracing＂ (The New York Times) biography of Queen Elizabeth II is a magisterial study of the woman known only from a distance--and a captivating window into her decades-long reign.

From the moment of her ascension to the throne in 1952 at the age of twenty-five, Queen Elizabeth II was the object of unparalleled scrutiny. But through the fog of glamour and gossip, how well did we really know the world’s most famous monarch? Drawing on numerous interviews and never-before-revealed documents, acclaimed biographer Sally Bedell Smith pulls back the curtain to show in intimate detail the public and private lives of Queen Elizabeth II, who led her country and Commonwealth through the wars and upheavals of the last twentieth and twenty-first centuries with unparalleled composure, intelligence, and grace.

In Elizabeth the Queen, we meet the young girl who suddenly becomes ＂heiress presumptive＂ when her uncle abdicates the throne. We meet the thirteen-year-old Lilibet as she falls in love with a young navy cadet named Philip and becomes determined to marry him, even though her parents prefer wealthier English aristocrats. We see the teenage Lilibet repairing army trucks during World War II and standing with Winston Churchill on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on V-E Day. We see the young Queen struggling to balance the demands of her job with her role as the mother of two young children.

Sally Bedell Smith brings us inside the palace doors and into the Queen’s daily routines--the ＂red boxes＂ of documents she reviewed each day, the weekly meetings she had with twelve prime ministers, her physically demanding tours abroad, and the constant scrutiny of the press--as well as her personal relationships: with her husband, Prince Philip, the love of her life; her children and their often-disastrous marriages; her grandchildren and friends.

Sally Bedell Smith is the author of bestselling biographies of William S. Paley; Pamela Harriman; Diana, Princess of Wales; John and Jacqueline Kennedy; and Bill and Hillary Clinton. A contributing editor at Vanity Fair since 1996, she previously worked at Time and The New York Times, where she was a cultural news reporter. She is the mother of three children and lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Stephen G. Smith.