This was a good read. It was pretty superficial and I wish there had been more detail.

Before reading this biography of Queen Elizabeth II, I had very little knowledge of the English monarchy and how it operates. After finishing this biography, I am now very much interested and will very likely be looking for more books to read on the subject, so I am open to any suggestions if you have them!

This well-written book is a detailed biography of the young princess, lovingly called “Lilibet” because she couldn’t pronounce her name properly as a child. At the age of eleven, Princess Elizabeth found that she was heir to the throne, due to her uncle (the king) abdicating the throne. Kate Williams gives us a greater understanding of the Queen’s childhood and young adult years, as well as the English monarchy and the English empire in general in the early to mid-twentieth century. I felt it was highly informative and a very intriguing read, and I enjoyed it immensely. I listened to this one on audiobook, which was read by the author, and Kate Williams’s lovely British accent made it a very pleasurable experience!

Perhaps I've read too much about the royal family, I don't know, but Young Elizabeth was an Audible Plus selection, so I decided to give it a whirl. I did not realize until Kate Williams started narrating that I had in fact seen some of her other work in documentaries about the British royal family.

There's really nothing new here, and this book was written a decade before Queen Elizabeth II's death, but it's a nice overview of her early life. I do have to say that a good portion of the book dealt with her parents and uncle David's abdication, so the focus wasn't solely on Elizabeth's young life, but rather the events surrounding her that led to her path to the throne.

Made it halfway through. Nothing wrong with it just started a class and got bogged down with other reading

I loved Kate Williams' book about Young Victoria, so of course I had to pick this up too. I've read some other reviews that say this book doesn't really say anything new. That may be true, but as someone who knew mainly the broad strokes of Elizabeth II's early life, but not the details, I found it interesting and easy to read. A solid 3.5 stars.

I read this book for the reason I suspect many others have - because I just binged The Crown on Netflix and wanted more backstory than the show gave. While I've read about the Queen's early years before, I haven't done so for some years, and this was a pleasant refresher. Williams gives the reader a smooth experience, drawing on a wide range of sources, and I enjoyed the book.

The ending is the least successful - abrupt and a bit slapdash, primarily concerned with a short and disorganized discussion of Margaret's love-life. I think it would probably have been more successful to end with the Coronation and a more polished and retrospective conclusion. But rounding off a book like this one seems like it'd be one of the most difficult elements to land, so that's understandable.

Overview of the queen's early life, basically through her coronation -- although there is a quick summary of the years since that is covered in the last few pages.

This is a typical "royal biography" in that it is sympathetic to the subject, draws heavily on previously published sources, and caters to the public's interest in behind-the-scenes happenings at the palace. It does provide a view of the queen of which most people who are under 60 are unfamiliar. I found it useful for placing bits and pieces of information I'd picked up within the larger picture of twentieth century and early twenty-first century royal history.