Ben Pimlott was the Professor of Politics and Contemporary History at Birkbeck College, London. He was the author of Labour and the Left in the 1930s (1977), Hugh Dalton (1985) which won the Whitbread Prize for Biography, Harold Wilson (1992) and Frustrate Their Knavish Tricks (1994). He was a political columnist for The Times, New Statesman and Sunday Times and reviewed regularly for the Independent on Sunday, Guardian and Observer.
There are a number of good biographies of Elizabeth II, but this one is different. Pimlott is primarily a political biographer, and while other works have focused on Elizabeth the woman, he goes further, exploring the role of the queen and how the events of the past few decades have changed it. Is the monarch just a figurehead, or are there specific governmental actions she can take? How did the royal family lose its privacy, along with much public respect? Pimlott tackles these questions and other historical, psychological, and sociological issues surrounding the queen and her family. This well-documented, compelling look at the British monarchy will be appreciated by readers seriously interested in Britain's heritage and future.‘Katharine Garstka, Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala.
Pimlott (Harold Wilson) speculates that the 71-year-old Elizabeth II could become the last British sovereign. He views the queen as bringing nothing to her role but continuity. Despite political and societal upheaval since she ascended the throne in 1952, she has opted, in his view, for cautious passivity, permitting the monarchy to become, at best, a bore and, at worst, a perch for celebrity royals who inspire unflattering media coverage. Pimlott sees squandered opportunities for meaningful metamorphosis of the throne in the failures of the queen to exploit her limited powers but unlimited mystique, but he concedes her dedication to duty as she perceives it in a period of imperial decline. Although his research comes up with nothing strikingly new, Pimlott colorfully describes here the fading of the fantasy that once sustained the ceremonial monarchy. He is less compelling when he lavishes pages on political minutiae meant for his British audience but likely to make Americans yawn. Illustrations. (Sept.)
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