KING EDWARD VIII: THE OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY. [Author SIGNED copy.]

UK,thick 8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn.FINE/FINE.Neat black ink familial gift presentation inscrptn to half-title page,author's handwritten,black ink signature - without dedication - to title page and price-clipped dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated, subject's monochrome portrait photographic illustrated front panel of dw/dj with gilt+white lettering,rear panel with colour illustration/ painting of subject; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound - near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation. Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered, publisher's original plain dark blue cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain pale lilac endpapers.UK,thick 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,xi-xivpp+1-654pp [paginated] includes acknowledgements,29 chapters,profuse contemporary auto+biographical b/w photographs interspersed throughout the text and the book,nomenclature,notes, bibliographical notes,an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title,author SIGNED title page,separate contents and illustrations lists/tables, title separator page,and a double-page Royal Family tree. When King Edward VIII acceded to the throne in January 1936, Stanley Baldwin hailed him as the best qualified of British monarchs.The British people needed no such reassurance.They knew him to be widely travelled; to be good-looking,eloquent,quick-witted,charming beyond the normal measure of humanity; to have concerned himself with patently sincere good will in the problems of unemployment,poverty and homelessness which plagued his people.Only those closest to him suspected that this radiant image would not endure; only the best-informed were not startled and appalled when the reign ended eleven months after it had begun. For the first time this extraordinary story is told by someone who has enjoyed unrestricted access to the treasure house of the Royal Archives; has seen the private papers of courtiers hitherto jealously guarded by their descendants; studied the secret Cabinet documents of the period,the reports of the police and security services,the embargoed papers of such statesmen as Chamberlain, Baldwin and Winston Churchill' as important as anything,has read the 2,000-odd letters the Prince wrote to his beloved Freda Dudley Ward between 1920 and the advent of Mrs Simpson.Only in the light of these letters can the Prince's feelings for Mrs Simpson properly be understood. Patiently,skilfully,Philip Ziegler demolishes the monstrous jungle of myth which has grown up,and establishes what must be as near the truth as will ever be attained.In the process many favourite fantasies are destroyed,others reinforced.At the very heart of his book lies the ultimate conundrum - could Edward VIII have been a good King,and if so what went wrong? For the first time the facts of this deeply moving story are set out with sympathy,objectivity and total honesty. A heavy tome - 1.5Kg unpackaged - will incur extra postage+ insurance,subject to it's eventual destination. Please contact seller @ rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight/value of this item for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.