Diana
by Julie Burchill
Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours.
Hardcover (June 1998)
Trafalgar Square; ISBN: 029782418X
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 13,363
Avg. Customer Review:
Number of Reviews: 6
Customers who bought this book also bought: Order this Item
- Diana : Her Life in Fashion; Georgina Howell
- The Princess Who Changed the World; Nicholas Davies
- Diana : The Secrets of Her Style; Diane Clehane
Reviews
Book Description Order this Item
In the early hours of August 31st 1997, a beautiful, spirited, and compassionate woman-the most famous in the world-died in a high-speed car chase, pursued through the streets of Paris by the paparazzi who dominated her life. How did this happen? How did a shy kindergarten teacher with no visible talents come to conquer the world in a manner that eclipsed the likes of John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe? In Diana-part love story, part murder mystery, part document of our times-Julie Burchill offers the first rounded, in-depth look at the iconic figure of the century.Burchill, one of Britain's most controversial and high profile writers, has written about Diana for many years. It was she who first coined the phrase "the People's Princess," which later became such a powerful slogan. Fiercely partisan but unsentimental, Diana reflects both the author's love for her subject and the groundswell of popular anger directed at Britain's ruling house. An elegant, clear-sighted portrait, featuring 200 color photos. Julie Burchill has contributed to most of the major newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic. Her most recent book is her autobiography, I Knew I Was Right. 240 pp
9 x 11
200 color photos
Customer Comments
Order this ItemAverage Customer Review:
Number of Reviews: 6
A reader from Massachusetts , November 13,
1998
The best book on Diana
Brilliant, angry, truthful, and full of love for Diana. Author nails the whole situation
on the head, saying all you wish you had said. Those that know all one can know about
Diana will learn something more here. A desert island book, the best book written or
likely to be written about Diana.
A reader from Southern California , October
26, 1998
A superb, evocative portrait of Diana and The Royal Family
An excellent read. DIANA is incisive,sympathetic, and gives the reader the most
well-rounded description of The Queen, Prince Charles, and even Lady Fermoy's selfishness
and coldness and how that stilted behavior affected this valiant young woman. No-one is
spared the veil of illusion, yet at all times we feel for the beleagured young woman who
had the best of intentions... The book shows us that glamour does not make up for love
that is not forthcoming, and how valuable England's Rose truly was to all of us, and why.
It is indeed a requiem, an "unfinished sympathy" to our revered Queen of Hearts.
An accurate and worthwhile book.
A reader from Salt Lake City, Utah, USA ,
October 16, 1998
For the Royal Family, the truth hurts--OUCH!
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! Julie Burchill speaks for every woman--and
Princess Diana was "Everywoman"--in her scathing account of one sweet soul done
wrong by her in-laws. "Diana" is absolutely the most hilarious book ever written
about the Royal Family and one of the most pathetically sad stories of what they did to
one of their own. For those of us who never met Princess Diana, yet still count her among
our friends, we cheer every word written here. I enjoyed it even more on the second
reading and I'm going for a third!
Chloe Ross (trstrap@aol.com) from Los
Angeles, , August 23, 1998
A sharp skewering of the Royals and an Ode to Diana
Julie Burchill has spoken from her heart as she brings us this very personal love letter
to and about the late Princess of Wales. Skewering the Royals and their 16 year reign of
terror in the life of this young woman - Burchill's observations and insights should warm
the heart and ease the sadness of anyone who admired or cared for Diana. The portraits
drawn of the players in this tragedy are accurate and skillful. One comes away with a
sense of righteous indignation at the petty and spiteful behavior of those who pretended
to know, and moreover, be, better. Was Diana the Golden Girl she appeared to be - to a
large extent what we saw, was indeed, what she was. As flawed as she was beautiful -
Burchill is as honest about her shortcomings as she is her strengths. This is an intensely
personal portrait of Diana by a writer who clearly adored her subject fiercely and
thoroughly. We are shown the promises made and broken, the bad decisions and good
intentions and the ineptness of a monarch and her court who should done more yet did
little at all to care for the people closest to them. As simply a person she deserved
better, as the mother of royal princes she deserved better - as the brightness that lit up
the gloom of the House of Windsor she deserved better - Burchill reminds us she got
nothing and worse. It may be that her destiny was to end in the car in the Alma Tunnel and
that no force on earth could have stood in the path of her fate. Julie Burchill, in Diana,
lets us believe, that her tragic end may not have been so inevitable - which makes the
loss only sadder. For both its historical significance and its psychological insight, this
is an important book.
A reader from Cardiff, Wales. , August 2,
1998 
Not exactly objective but hilarious, from the heart.
This is a unique Diana biography, for while it is humourous (and often outrageously rude
about Charlie and Camilla et al) you can feel Burchill's anger, sorrow and sense of
injustice bubbling away just under the surface throughout.
I remember that Julie Burchill always stuck up for Diana in her various newspaper and magazine columns throughout the eighties and early nineties so at least we know that this author isn't one of those (and there seem to be many) who have only become Diana admirers since August 31st 1997.
A refreshingly forthright book, then, and one that will horrify, to borrow one of its more fragrant phrases, `Windsor brown-nosers' everywhere.
A reader from AUSTRALIA , July 28, 1998
A SHARP UNRELENTING ANALYSIS OF THE DESTRUCTION OF A WOMAN
IT MADE LITTLE DIFFERENCE THAT DIANNA WAS HERSELF OF NOBLE BIRTH - SHE WAS IN THE END -
ONLY A WOMAN WHO HAD SERVED THE PURPOSE ROYALTY REQIRED OF HER. HER MISTAKE WAS THAT SHE
BELIEVED IN, AND MARRIED FOR LOVE - SHE WAS NO LONGER NEEDED AND SHE WOULDN'T DISAPPEAR,
SO SHE WAS SYSTEMATICALLY DESTROYED- THE AUTHOR TRACES DI'S DEMISE BY THE CLASS SYSTEM.
Customers who bought titles by Julie Burchill also bought titles by these authors:
