Traitor King, Andrew Lownie
Traitor King, Andrew Lownie
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Traitor King
The Scandalous Exile of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor

Author: Andrew Lownie

Narrator: Andrew Lownie

Unabridged: 8 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/05/2022

Synopsis

December 11, 1936. The King of England, Edward VIII, has given up his crown, foregoing his duty for the love of Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée. Their courtship has been dogged by controversy and scandal, but with Edward's abdication, they can live happily ever after.

But do they? This is a story of a royal shut out by his family and forced into exile; of the Nazi attempts to recruit the duke to their cause; and of why the duke, as Governor of the Bahamas, tried to shut down the investigation into the murder of a close friend. It is a story of a couple obsessed with their status, financially exploiting their position, all the while manipulating the media to portray themselves as victims.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were, in their day, the most glamorous exiles in the world, flitting from sumptuously appointed mansions in the south of France to luxurious residences in Palm Beach. But they were spoiled, selfish people, obsessed with their image, and reveling in adulterous affairs. Drawing upon previously unexplored archives, Lownie shows in dramatic fashion how their glittering world was riddled with treachery and betrayal—and why the royal family never forgave the duke for choosing love over duty

About Andrew Lownie

Andrew Lownie first became interested in the Cambridge Spy Ring when, as President of the Cambridge Union Society in 1984, he arranged an international seminar on the subject. After graduating from Cambridge University, where he won the Dunster Prize for History, Lownie went on to take a postgraduate degree in history at Edinburgh University. He is now a successful literary agent, and has written or edited several books, including an acclaimed biography of John Buchan.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Melindam on May 01, 2025

I recently read … And What Do You Do?: What The Royal Family Don't Want You To Know by Norman Baker and it used some of the research by Andrew Lownie, which in turn lead me to this book. It is extremely well-researched and uses a gamut of sources from archives: official documents by US and UK offici......more

Goodreads review by Blaine on October 10, 2021

There is a lot covered in this brand new look at the former King Edward VIII of England. What differentiates this book from all the others is that it begins with his Abdication and then takes an intimate, very intimate look at his personal life in the newly created title as the Duke of Windsor. Of c......more

Goodreads review by *TUDOR^QUEEN* on June 29, 2022

2 Stars / DNF @ 35% This is the audio version of the book, narrated by the British author. Normally I would love this (being an anglophile), but I found his delivery plodding and boring. I've read about various factions of The Windsors extensively over the years, so a lot of the history is already fa......more

Goodreads review by Ant on March 27, 2022

I was quite disappointed by Traitor King. There was loads of new information about the numerous questionable periods in the Duke of Windsor's post-King life, which could and should have been used to make a more readable book. Andrew Lownie isn't the first biographer to fall into the trap of simply u......more

Goodreads review by Catherine on October 24, 2021

What a remarkable read! Andrew Lownie is a historian I really admire, having read his previous nonfiction exploration of The Mountbattens. When I got a birthday voucher, my choice was a no-brainer, realising Andrew’s newest book looked at Edward and Wallis, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Thanks to An......more

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