One of the great revelations of William Shawcross's official biography was the Queen Mother's private correspondence. Indeed The Sunday Times described her letters as 'wonderful.. .brimful of liveliness & irreverence steeliness & sweetness.' Now drawing on the vast wealth of material in the Royal Archives at Glamis Castle & elsewhere Shawcross has put together a selection of those letters. A prolific correspondent from her earliest childhood to the very end of her life her letters offer readers a vivid insight into the person behind the public face. Full of wit hilarity acute observation & a deeply held sense of duty Queen Elizabeth's letters constitute a chronicle both of her long life & of the twentieth century.