cover image The King’s War: The Friendship of George VI and Lionel Logue During World War II

The King’s War: The Friendship of George VI and Lionel Logue During World War II

Peter Conradi and Mark Logue. Pegasus, $27.95 (320p) ISBN 978-1-64313-192-4

This touching and nostalgic work, a follow-up to The King’s Speech, continues the tale of the unconventional relationship between Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue and King George VI. Drawing on letters and diary entries, Logue (Lionel’s grandson) and Sunday Times journalist Conrad take readers though the long, dark, bitter days of WWII. Faced with difficult wartime decisions, constant radio addresses, and parliamentary appearances, King George VI, “Bertie,” once again turns to his speech therapist and confidant, Logue. The authors intimately depict the two men writing and preparing addresses to a nation depressed by the Nazi invasion of France, relieved at the escape of Dunkirk, besieged by the constant bombing of London, and, ultimately, triumphant about the events in Normandy. Broadcasting from a dark bomb shelter beneath Buckingham Palace, Bertie, a man once beset by a stammer and fear of public address, becomes a confident and reassuring king capable of bolstering and calming his subjects. The authors also recount Lionel and his wife Myrtle’s wartime and postwar experiences: rationing, the Nazi bombings, the enlistment of their three sons, and eventually their respective deaths in 1945 and 1953, respectively. Fans of The King’s Speech will be thrilled with this poignant sequel. [em]Agent: Rebecca Folland, Hodder. (Sept.) [/em]