Philip Ziegler Bücher

Hunderttausende Besucher sind es, die Jahr für Jahr in den Londoner Buckingham Palace und nach Windsor Castle strömen, angezogen von dem Bild einer ungewöhnlichen Frau: Königin Elizabeth II., die seit mehr als einem halben Jahrhundert eine bemerkenswerte Rolle im Weltgeschehen spielt. Die Konturen dieses Bildes sind vor allem jenen Fotografen zu verdanken, die während der vergangenen acht Jahrzehnte die Porträts der Queen schufen – von der gerade ein paar Monate alten Prinzessin über die Zeit des Zweiten Weltkriegs, ihre Verlobung und Hochzeit, ihre Thronbesteigung und Krönung bis zu den großen Staatsreisen und signifikanten Momenten der letzten Jahre. Seit ihrer Geburt 1926 wurde sie von den berühmtesten Fotografen ihrer Zeit aufgenommen, darunter Cecil Beaton, Karsh, Lord Snowdon, Lichfield, Jane Bown, Anthony Crickmay und Rankin. Das Ergebnis ist ein faszinierend genauer Blick auf die Königin als Symbol und als Mensch, als Monarchin und als Frau. Philip Ziegler, gefeierter britischer Biograf, erzählt klug und gewandt die Lebensgeschichte der Königin. Selten gezeigte Dokumentarfotos begleiten seine Texte, die sowohl alltägliche königliche Pflichten als auch weltpolitische Ereignisse ins Blickfeld rücken.

"Hollywood superstar; Oscar-winning director; greatest stage actor of the twentieth century. The era abounded in great actors - Gielgud, Richardson, Guinness, Burton, O'Toole - but none could challenge Laurence Olivier's range and power. By the 1940s he had achieved international stardom. His affair with Vivien Leigh led to a marriage as glamorous and as tragic as any in Hollywood history. He was as accomplished a director as he was a leading man: his three Shakespearian adaptations are among the most memorable ever filmed. And yet, at the height of his fame, he accepted what was no more than an administrator's wage to become the founding Director of the National Theatre. In 2013 the theatre celebrates its fiftieth anniversary; without Olivier's leadership it would never have achieved the status that it enjoys today. Off-stage, Olivier was the most extravagant of characters: generous, yet almost insanely jealous of those few contemporaries whom he deemed to be his rivals; charming but with a ferocious temper. With access to more than fifty hours of candid, unpublished interviews, Philip Ziegler ensures that Olivier's true character - at its most undisguised - shines through as never before."--Publisher's description

Providing a social history of London's experiences of war from 1939 to 1945, this book describes the Phoney War, the blackouts, the first evacuations and the horrors of the Blitz, followed in the last days of the war by the terror of the doodlebugs. Through it all, a spirit of defiance united all sections of London society, and the book, based on published sources as well as interviews, letters and diaries, presents a record of a population under siege.

Written by Philip Ziegler, one of Britain's most celebrated biographers, George VI is part of the Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers in a collectible format If Ethelred was notoriously 'Unready' and Alfred 'Great', King George VI should bear the title of 'George the Dutiful'. Throughout his life, George dedicated himself to the pursuit of what he thought he ought to be doing rather than what he wanted to do. Inarticulate and loathing any sort of public appearances, he accepted that it was his destiny to figure conspicuously in the public eye, gritted his teeth, battled his crippling stammer and got on with it. He was not born to be king, but he made an admirable one, and was the figurehead of the nation at the time of its greatest trial, the Second World War. This is a brilliant, touching and sometimes funny book about this reluctant public figure, and the private man. Philip Ziegler is the author of the authorised biographies of Mountbatten, Harold Wilson and Edward Heath. His other books include The Duchess of Dino, William IV, The Black Death and most recently Olivier. Initially a diplomat, he worked for many years in book publishing before becoming a full-time writer.

H. G. Wells trug sich erstmals 1918 mit dem Gedanken, eine Weltgeschichte zu schreiben. Er wollte die »Geschichte als die Geschichte vom Menschen« erzählen, entwarf so ein moralisches Programm, das von höchster Aktualität ist: »Wir wollen die Völker der Erde die Wahrheit lehren: daß sie alle einen gemeinsamen Ursprung haben, daß sie alle an einem gemeinsamen Werk beteiligt sind.«

A series of natural disasters in the Orient during the fourteenth century caused the most devastating period of death and destruction in European history. One third of the people in Europe were killed over a period of just three years, and there was social and economic upheaval on an unparalleled scale. Philip Ziegler's acclaimed overview of this critical event synthesises the records of contemporary chroniclers and the work of later historians in a masterly volume. His accessible and readable style is complemented with contemporary illustrations to present the full horror and destruction wreaked by this disease and its contribution to the disintegration of an age.

The author has had access to all the papers in the Royal archives for this biography. Crucial letters to and from Queen Mary, and Edward's brother, George VI, plus diaries and letters of others in the household are quoted for the first time. Ziegler has also written the biography, "Mountbatten".