Do Let's Have Another Drink

Readers who enjoyed The Crown and Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret will find a similar appetite for behind-the-scenes royal detail here. The book gathers 101 anecdotes about Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, with one entry for each year of her life. Her reputation for sharp remarks, shrewd commentary and a deadpan manner of speaking runs through the stories, presenting her as a witty personality as well as a royal figure.

The entries follow her long life in order. They begin with her youth during the First World War and move through the abdication of her brother-in-law, which unexpectedly altered her own position. Later chapters cover the fifty years she spent as a widow while her daughter reigned over the United Kingdom. Along the way the book offers new revelations and lively stories about her character.

The society photographer Cecil Beaton once described her with a memorable image that paired sweetness with unyielding toughness, and that contrast shapes the portrait assembled here. Written as a celebration of one of the royal family's most enduringly popular members, the book will appeal to royal watchers and to anyone who enjoys short, witty accounts of the past.