cover image Abdication

Abdication

Christopher Warwick. Pan MacMillan, $24.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-283-99351-0

This royal pictorial presents once again the tale of King Edward VIII, who quit the British throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson. Unlike many such books, this contains interesting biographical information about the backgrounds of both the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, though little if any of the material appears here for the first time. Edward, we're told, had an unhappy childhood and a cool relationship with his distant father, King George V. As heir apparent, he is described as democratic but moody, often depressed, and as beginning to feel distinctly uneasy about the prospect of being king (""What modern man wants that sort of life?'') even before meeting Wallis, who came from a family of Baltimore aristocrats. Illustrated with dozens of black-and-white photos, but only eight color plates, the book follows the story through the abdication and lives of the Duke and Duchess in exile.(December 10)