This U.S. title (UK title: Diamond Queen: Elizabeth II and Her People) is misleading. What Marr (The Making of Modern Britain), host of an eponymous BBC Sunday morning interview program, offers up is an enjoyable book about the British monarchy as embodied by Queen Elizabeth II, who will celebrate her Diamond Jubilee-the 60th anniversary of her accession-next June. There are no intimate revelations and no unmasking of the Queen as different from what we'd guessed. Quite the contrary, Marr reinforces our sense of Queen Elizabeth as a woman of constancy, possessed of enormous endurance and self-discipline. He shows how deeply she keeps herself aware of the ship of state, even if she is not in any real sense its captain. With anecdotes and quotations (many also in Sally Bedell Smith's Elizabeth the Queen, reviewed below), Marr takes a thematic approach, e.g., "The Queen in the World," along an overall chronological path. VERDICT Recommended for fans of today's British monarchy, who will come away further admiring the queen's mind for detail, her openness for enabling the royal household (and her tax obligations) to evolve, her nuanced relationship with 13 successive prime ministers, and her strong marriage. Those who just love the gossip may prefer to look elsewhere. [See Prepub Alert, 7/18/11.]-Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

According to Marr (Making of Modern Britain), Britain's Elizabeth II is a complex woman: shy, humble, and a devout Christian who believes her reign is a religious calling. Hardworking and shrewdly intelligent, she is cautious, but also a wicked mimic who enjoys political gossip. The queen has been involved in controversy not only surrounding Diana's death but also over political matters such as Britain's role in the 1950s Suez conflict. Elizabeth "act[ed] as queen first and sister second" in crushing Princess Margaret's romance with a divorced man; she outsmarted a postmaster general determined to remove her head from commemorative stamps. Cheekier and making use of more insider palace sources than Sally Bedell Smith's Elizabeth the Queen, British television journalist Marr's effort is likewise engrossing and perceptive, and similarly leaves the queen a remote, unknowable figure. He also devotes much space to George V and Edward VIII, while he practically ignores Charles's siblings. 8 pages of color photos and 16 pages of b&w photos. Agent: Ed Victor (U.K.). (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Making of Modern Britain, 2010, etc.) could not overcome these obstacles, which is just as well. Rather than serve up more warmed-over family soap opera, the author provides a comprehensive and lively history and analysis of the British monarchy as a political and social institution from the World War I to the present, more than half of which time has been taken up by Elizabeth's reign. During this period the monarchy has had to adapt to Britain's transition from ruler of a vast empire to head of the Commonwealth of Nations, and to the nation's steady decline in global influence. Elizabeth has also had to guide the change in the social role of the royal family from the starchy and unrealistic model of conventional middle-class family values promoted at the time of her accession to one more accepting of human failings in the wake of her children's divorces. Marr describes in thorough detail Elizabeth's diligent exercise of her constitutional duties as sovereign through the crises of almost six decades, including her relationships with more than a dozen prime ministers. He also ably discusses her activities as head of state, her efforts to cope with her children's marital problems and controversies surrounding the royal finances in the context of the ongoing debate about the sovereign's proper role in a modern democratic society. A perceptive history of the British monarchy under the management of the current Queen--just not the "intimate" one promised by the title.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.