A King's Story: The Memoirs of HRH The Duke of Windsor KG

The Reprint Society London, 1953 (first published by Cassell & Co, 1951)

Why?

I've read so many books involving the political and social set surrounding Edward VIII / The Duke of Windsor that when I found this in a second hand bookshop for £2, it was a must-buy.

Also, it's a Reprint Society edition - a key feature of twentieth-century publishing history. The Reprint Society (World Books) was one of many "bookclubs" formed during the twentieth century, offering special editions and / or a discount on retail price in a world when the net book agreement still held. Most of the clubs were consolidated under Book Club Associates (BCA), and I handled this account at Hodder & Stoughton during its last days at the turn of the century.

Enjoyment factor

The Duke of Windsor's decision to write this memoir in 1952 was no doubt spurred by a desire to "set the record straight". Although it doesn't specify, I would say that it's ghost-written, as indeed I would expect it to be. It's a fast read, full of fascinating detail of day-to-day life as a royal from Edwardian times to the abdication, just before the Second World War.

Needless to say, it doesn't go anywhere controversial and always paints the King / Duke in the best light, but it did fill in a few gaps for me.

It left me thinking

What an absolute period piece this is. Like the advent of the popular press, led by the Daily Mail, the advent of the bookclubs between the wars truly democratised reading - and this title was ideal for their audience.

Also, that this sits in a genre with one other book, Spare by Prince Harry, as the only straight autobiographies written by front-line royals. One is as benign and conciliatory as can be, whereas the same can't be said of the other, but the parallels can't be ignored, especially in light of the divisiveness of both royals in question.