Product Description

Advance Praise

"Fascinating and well researched.... Dr. Swift is the first to concentrate on this unusual subject with such a wealth of sympathetic detail."
–Sarah Bradford, author of America’s Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth: A Biography of Britain’s Queen, and The Reluctant King: The Life and Reign of George VI, 1895—1952

"A splendid addition to our understanding of an extraordinary Anglo-American partnership. Both intimate and expansive, Will Swift’s vigorously researched book is timely, illuminating, and dramatic."
–Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1: 1884-1933 and Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 2: The Defining Years, 1933-1938

"The Anglo-American alliance has long been a bedrock of the global order, and Will Swift’s The Roosevelts and the Royals details an important chapter in that fascinating story with warmth and verve."
–Jon Meacham, author of Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship

"Those who remember only that the Roosevelts served hot dogs to the royals will be fascinated by this well-researched account of an historic and ennobling relationship–a great story!"
–James MacGregor Burns, author of The Three Roosevelts: Patrician Leaders Who Transformed America and Roosevelt: Soldier of Freedom

"A gripping account of four very different lives that were woven together to change the world in wartime."
–Hugo Vickers, author of Cecil Beaton and Alice: Princess Andrew of Greece

"Written in fluid and lucid prose, this book is not only eminently readable but also historically illuminating. It explores the contrasting personalities of the four main protagonists with skill and insight and it is both convincing and refreshingly candid."
–Brian Roberts, author of Randolph: A Study of Churchill’s Son and Cecil Rhodes and the Princess

"This book brings to life my grandmother and her royal friends. Reading it, I found myself reliving the times I shared with them. A wonderful story."
–Nina Roosevelt Gibson, Ph.D., psychologist and granddaughter of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #329793 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This melodramatically subtitled footnote to history by Swift, a longtime writer on royal history for Majesty magazine, focuses on the brief visits, in the summer of 1939, by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Washington, D.C., and Hyde Park. Foreign visits by heads of state are carefully choreographed. This one was especially so, as the president was wheelchair-bound and the king, more withdrawn than his outgoing queen, was a stammerer and still new to his role as sovereign. On both sides of the Atlantic, the abdication of Edward VIII to marry a twice-divorced American was still deplored. The colorless George VI was on probation. Massive press hype—as well as diplomatic reticence—made the brief visits, which also included a stop at the New York World's Fair, a success. King George was still colorless, but few noticed, and his royal style during the war beginning that September was sufficiently self-effacing and quietly steadfast to erase concerns about his authority on the throne. Even stretched with asides, though, the royal progress encompasses only 47 pages. The rest— following the protagonists from the 1880s to the 1950s—is padding. A passionate collector of royal memorabilia, Swift has packaged a book for collectors of royal memorabilia. 44 b&w illus.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Psychologist Swift is an American royal-watcher and contributor to niche publications devoted to monarchical celebrities. Here he assembles meetings that in various permutations occurred among Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, Britain's King George VI and consort Queen Elizabeth, and ancillary members of the four principals' siblings and progeny. He covers a century of chronology, beginning with the youthful Franklin's encounters with British blue bloods and ending with a 2002 trip by Prince Andrew to Roosevelt's Hyde Park home. Prince Andrew went there to commemorate the central event of Swift's compendium, George VI's 1939 visit to the U.S., the public relations highlight of which was Their Majesties' (as Swift loyally denominates his subjects) plebeian consumption of hot dogs. Swift's rendition of that trip captures all details of protocol, whether trumpeted in the press at the time or committed to a diary, and characterizes his presentation of subsequent royal-Roosevelt meet-ups during World War II and afterward. Historical minutiae much of it may be, but Swift's work strikes an undeniably popular chord of interest. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Delicious...engaging...convincing...covers a wide swath of history....you will want to keep reading until it is all gone." -- Albany Times Union

"Realistic...will appeal to those interested in the history of World War II, the British monarchy, and the Roosevelts. Recommended." -- Revised Library Journal excerpt for Will Swift's The Roosevelts and the Royals

Comparative politics involving Great Britain and the United States during the 20^th century forms the background for this book, which traces the lives of two couples, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.  British amateur historian Swift elucidates the monarchical aspect of World War II, which is typical slighted; accounts tend to focus on the American presidency and the British prime ministership. Swift starts with George VI’s visit to the United States shortly before the outbreak – a first for a British monarch. The climax of the four-day visit was on June 11, when the Roosevelts served the king and queen hot dogs at Hyde Park in what became the most famous picnic in U. S. history, symbolizing the two nations’ new democratic bond. The book covers the entire lives of its subjects and presents FDR and the queen as natural politicians from whom their spouses had to learn. Although the subtitle is pure hype, this realistic book will appeal to those interested in the history of World War II, the British monarchy, and the Roosevelts. Recommended for public and academic libraries. – William D. Pederson, Louisiana  State Univ., Shreveport (Library Journal, July 2004)

“…well written, meticulously detailed…a very fine book…” (Royalty Digest, September 2004)

"Realistic...will appeal to those interested in the history of World War II, the British monarchy, and the Roosevelts. Recommended." (Revised Library Journal excerpt for Will Swift's The Roosevelts and the Royals)

"Delicious...engaging...convincing...covers a wide swath of history....you will want to keep reading until it is all gone." (Albany Times Union)

Realistic...will appeal to those interested in the history of World War II, the British monarchy, and the Roosevelts. Recommended. -- Revised Library Journal excerpt for Will Swift's The Roosevelts and the Royals

Customer Reviews

A Great Royal - Roosevelt Read.
An excellent recollection of the relationship between the Roosevelts and the King and Queen of England. This book is filled with fascinating details, stories and antedotes that keeps the reader engrossed from beginning to end. Will Swift clearly has a great understanding not only of British Royal History but American History as well, this knowledge combined with a effortless, free flowing writing style makes this book a pleasure to read. For anyone with a interest in the Roosevelts and/or the King and Queen of England this is a definite must read. Don't miss this book and the story of infamous first royal hot dog.

The Human Dimension of History
We often loose sight of the reality that even the most globally sweeping events in history are ultimately influenced by the individual personalities of the protagonists. Broad political and economic forces are certainly the context and catalysts behind major historical developments, but the actual sequence and nature of events can often be most fully understood by an analysis of the psychological and emotional temperament of the key players in the drama. Will Swift's fascinating study of one paradigm moment in the history of the 20th Century clearly illustrates this premise. In clear, colorful and energetic prose, he unfolds the narrative of the evolving relationships between two of the most influential married couples of the century, Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The fascinating counterpoint of both parallels and contrasts between the respective partners themselves and the two couples, are traced with the evident professional expertise that Dr. Swift brings to this study as a psychotherapist. Of particular interest are his portraits of the First Lady and the Queen. The unsensationalist, candid and sympathetic discussion of Eleanor's intimate relationship with Lorena Hickcok is nothing less than the coming of age of Roosevelt scholarship, which for too long has been unable to confront this dimension of the story with the calm objectivity it calls for. And for those of us for whom the Queen Mother was little more than a silent, smiling, waving icon with extravagant hats for the past fifty years, this portrait brings a remarkably strong and intelligent woman to life.

While the narrative builds up to its symbolic climax with the Windsor's famous visit to Hyde Park in June 1939, all of the complex events, personalities and issues surrounding the alliance of the United States and Great Britain in the years preceding and following World War II, are covered and synthesized with clarity. And while the focus is certainly the War years, the respective chapters offer comprehensive and intriguing personality-centered biographies of the four individuals whose lives they weave together.

I have long been an admirer and student of both the Roosevelts and of British royalty - a combination that is not unlikely, and clearly has contemporary parallels in the popular linkage between Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana and their respective personalities and experiences.I found "The Roosevelts and the Royals" a wonderful addition to the literature of both Anglo-American relations, and the distinctive culture of both countries. It's a great read, fun and even suspenseful as it's subject unfolds... the lavish praise of the leading scholars of the Roosevelts and the Royal Family are richly deserved !

A Brilliant Account of Fascinating Historical Figures
If you like a blend of biography and history as I do, you will love this book. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth are vividly portrayed here. Their alliance and, later friendship, and their commitment to mix charm and duty for the public good are set against Joseph Kennedy and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's self-serving attempts to gain attention and power. The author, a psychologist, shows us the inner workings and motivations of all the main characters without sounding like he is doing a case study.
Most of us are aware how FDR and Churchill worked together to build the "special relationship" between America and Britain, but this book rounds out the story by showing the complicated three-way partnership between Churchill, Roosevelt and the king. I was surprised by how little I knew about the king and queen's role in softening American isolationism and in persuading Roosevelt to send war materials to Britain when it was at the brink of extinction.
I was fascinated by how the king and queen won over Americans in Washington and New York during their 1939 state visit. The author gives us the full drama of the hot dog picnic at Hyde Park and explores how it helped to heal British-American relations.
The Roosevelts and the royal family remained friends until Eleanor's death in 1962. There is a wonderful vignette in the book about Eleanor's visit with her granddaughter to Buckingham Palace for tea with Queen Elizabeth II in 1957. The Roosevelt- royal connection has recently been revived by Prince Andrew on visits to Hyde Park.
The author has obviously done his homework- with careful research at both the FDR Library and Windsor Castle- and has talked to many of the Roosevelt grandchildren. Like Jon Meacham's Franklin and Winston, and Doris Kearns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time, this book brings historical relationships to life, and provides an accurate depiction of a period in time. This is a truly impressive biography of four of the twentieth century's greatest leaders.