When I first heard about Jane Dismore's Princess (The Early Life of Queen Elizabeth II) I hoped it would complement Philip Eade's Young Prince Philip: His Turbulent Early Life. The Eade biographical was a masterful study that provided a lot of new and comprehensive information about the young Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.
Dismore's book is well-researched with plenty of endnotes and an excellent bibliography. She certainly did her homework with a conscientious and precise culling of facts from diverse sources.
I was pleased to see that Dismore corresponded with Lady Butter (Myra Werhner) as I want to see more biographers and historians acknowledge that Philip and Elizabeth grew up other together, were in the same small social circle that included Myra and her siblings, Georgina and Alex.
At times, Princess is a compelling read, although I found Dismore's writing style a bit dismal. The premise is good: focusing on Elizabeth's early life before she succeeded to the throne, but I would have preferred a book where I did not have to force myself to finish reading it.
It is a good read, well-researched, but not in the same league as Philip Eade's superb book on Prince Philip's early years.
The book has been published in the United States by Lyons Press: $26.95
