"An exemplary book." --Martin Amis, The New Yorker "In Monarch , Robert Lacey makes you feel like you're right there--in the palace, in the castle...I was absolutely riveted." --Dominick Dunne Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor--who became Elizabeth II, Queen of England on February 6, 1952--has been loved and loathed, revered and feared, applauded and criticized by her people. Still she remained a captivating figure in the British monarchy for over seventy years. In Monarch, a meticulously detailed portrait of Elizabeth II as both a human being and an institution, bestselling author Robert Lacey brings the queen to life as never before: as baby "Lilibet" learning to wave to a crowd in the Royal Mews; as a child "ardently praying for a brother" so as to avoid her fate; as a young woman falling in love with and marrying her cousin Philip; and as the mother-in-law of the most complicated royal of all, Princess Diana. Featuring dozens of photographs, a family tree of the Hanoverian-Windsor-Mountbatten families, and a map that charts the location of royal castles-- Monarch is an engaging, critical, and celebratory account of Elizabeth's reign that no reader of popular history should be without.