The life of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's extraordinary and longest-lived monarch The reign of Queen Elizabeth II was exceptional for many reasons: among them her remarkable longevity, her enduring marriage to Prince Philip, her astonishing success in concealing her opinions on virtually any contentious subject, and the many representations of her in many media, which meant she was the most depicted human being ever to have lived in the entire history of the world. Elizabeth II was a global superstar who met almost any person who mattered, she was Head of the Commonwealth, head of state of such realms as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and queen of the United Kingdom. She embodied dutifulness and service and continuity in a rapidly changing world. During the course of her reign, the United Kingdom ceased to be a great power in the world, and evolved into a multi-cultural, multi-faith, multi-ethnic society, and the country in which she died was very different from that in which she had been born. This book offers a concise but authoritative account of her life and reign, set against the background of these extensive and disruptive domestic and international changes.

Factually sound, judicious in its assessments, superbly written and, above all, entirely fair. Sir David Cannadine does ample justice to Britain's longest-reigning monarch. * Simon Heffer, Author of The Age of Decadence *
In this masterpiece of distillation and carefully crafted judgements on an extraordinary life lived in turbulent times for her country, her Commonwealth, and her family, David Cannadine brings his special gifts as a biographer and obituarist to every page. * Peter Hennessy, Author of Having It So Good: Britain in the Fifties *
Here is a work that generations will turn to in order to understand not just the long and inimitable life of Elizabeth II, but crucially the incredible transformative span of history she reigned over. Cannadine is our peerless guide to the modern Elizabethan Age. * Harshan Kumarasingham, Author of A Political Legacy of the British Empire *
Cannadine has produced a brief yet impressively rich and vivid biography. He has skilfully circumvented the limitations of royal biography by weaving into his book the extraordinary British, imperial and world history with which the late queen's life was entwined. * Harshan Kumarasingham, Literary Review *
This lovely little volume may prove one of the hits of the year because it does so much so effortlessly, and in not too many words. It will appeal to a much broader public than more concentrated, academic books. * Richard Lofthouse, QUAD *
A capsule biography can turn into a mere timeline, but Cannadine exploits the medium's advantages. With little more than a page for each year of the Queen's life, he brings out better than any other royal biographer the flux that engulfed this most steadfast-seeming of figures … Cannadine is a master of extracting meaning from incidentals, whether the Queen's choice of a dance partner or her enthusiasm for jigsaws. * , David GelberTimes Literary Supplement *
A brief yet impressively rich and vivid biography. * The Oldie *

Sir David Cannadine has taught history at the Universities of Cambridge, Columbia, London, and Princeton. He has published many books, among them The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy (1990), G. M. Trevelyan: A Life in History (1992), Ornamentalism: How the British Saw their Empire (2001), Mellon: An American Life (2006), The Undivided Past: History Beyond our Differences (2014), and Victorious Century: The United Kingdom 1801-1906 (2018). He has served as Director of the Institute of Historical Research, President of the British Academy, and Chairman of the Trustees of the National Portrait gallery, as well as General Editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography since 2014.