“Our Times: The Age of Elizabeth II” by A.N. Wilson
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People say you’ve got your mother’s eyes. Hers sparkle when she’s happy, and so do yours.

From your father, you got your strong chin and the Family Nose. Some say you favor your grandfather but have a sense of humor like that of a favorite aunt.

So imagine getting a job from your uncle, in a roundabout way; one you never wanted and that would be no fun at all. Would you step up to the plate anyhow?

In the new book “Our Times: The Age of Elizabeth II” by A.N. Wilson, you’ll get a feel for what it’s like to have such a job.

In other words, it’s not easy being Queen.

When Queen Elizabeth II inherited the British crown from her father, George, on February 6, 1952, she inherited more than just a bunch of bling.

World War II had been particularly hard on the British Isles, and at the time of the coronation, rationing was still being enforced and rebuilding was on-going. Winston Churchill was Prime Minister (as he had been for quite some time and would remain for even longer). The British Empire was vast and scattered, but throughout the Queen’s reign, all these — and more — have changed.

First of all, Wilson indicates, it was with keen embarrassment that Great Britain wasn’t in the space race. “The British could not afford spaceships and rockets,” he says, but they could afford spies. Espionage, Wilson says, reflected “a hatred of America” aimed at challenging “the military muscle… of Washington.”

Perhaps some of that “hatred” stemmed from the Kennedys. Joseph Kennedy, patriarch of what has been called America’s Royalty, had been an Ambassador at the Court of St James, but when his daughter, Kathleen, married an heir to the Duke of Devonshire, the Kennedys made several mistakes, in British eyes.

That was scandalous. But then, so was an extremely racist Prime Minister, and a Church minister who promoted sex education at a time when the “S” word was almost taboo. Likewise, there were famous and infamous scandals (Profumo, anyone?) that plagued the Royal Family through the years, politically and personally. Overall, says Wilson, the governing Establishment and rule of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 was vastly different than that of 2009.

If you look at the cover of this book and note the title, you’re probably going to think like I did: Cool. A new book about the Queen.

And you’ll be disappointed, too.

Author A.N. Wilson fulfills the words of his subtitle (“The Age of Elizabeth II”) to the letter, and that’s the problem for Queen watchers. This book is all about the British Empire in the years that Elizabeth II has been Monarch – including lots of political wrangling, a few fairly interesting anecdotes, and some rather stodgy history — but there’s, sadly, very little about the Queen herself.

Mama told you not to judge a book by its cover, and that’s never been truer than it is here. Unless you’re an Anglophile with emphasis on government, “Our Times” should just be throne.

The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was 3 years old and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books.

Tags: 2010, 37-07, EARLY APRIL