The King's Speech was written by London Sunday Times journalist Peter Conradi and Mark Logue-grandson of Lionel Logue, whose recently discovered diaries and correspondence contain fascinating details about these true events. At the urging of his wife, Elizabeth, the Duke of York (known to the royal family as "Bertie") began to see speech therapist Lionel Logue in a desperate bid to cure his lifelong stammer. Little did the two men know that this unlikely friendship-between a future monarch and a commoner born in Australia-would ultimately save the House of Windsor from collapse. Through intense locution and breathing lessons, the amiable Logue gave the shy young Duke the skills and the confidence to stand and deliver before a crowd. And when his elder brother, Edward VIII, abdicated the throne to marry for love, Bertie was able to assume the reins of power as King George VI-just in time to help steer the nation through the dark waters of the Second World War.

Reviews

Published to coincide with the Oscar-winning film of the same name, this memoir by the grandson of speech therapist Logue (memorably played by Geoffrey Rush) retells the story of George VI's triumph over a speech defect from a more intimate, familial perspective. Simon Vance, familiar to many readers for his work on Stieg Larsson's novels, offers such a fluent and silky reading, it's as if he, too, had practiced his speechmaking with Logue. The audiobook's highlight is the recording of the speech delivered on September 3, 1939. Having been so lavishly informed of the struggles that went into the preparation of the speech, its delivery, the listener hears each pause and intonation with the greatest drama. A Sterling paperback. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Hollywood's take on Lionel Logue's relationship with King George VI was a compelling drama but only the tip of the iceberg. Narrated by Simon Vance, this volume by Logue's grandson recounts the man's whole story. More than teacher and pupil, he and the man who would be king were true friends. (LJ 6/15/11) (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.