The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy »

Peter Conradi's books include The Red Ripper: Inside the Mind of Russia's Most Brutal Serial Killer, Mad Vlad: Vladimir Zhirinovksy and the New Russian Nationalism, and Hitler's Piano Player.

The true story behind the award-winning movie of the same name, The King's Speech is 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 events.

It's the eve of World War II, and King Edward VIII has abdicated the throne of England to marry the woman he loves. Never has the nation needed a leader more. But the new monarch, George VI--father of today's Queen Elizabeth II--is painfully shy and cursed with a terrible stammer. How can he inspire confidence in his countrymen when he cannot even speak to them? Help arrives in speech therapist Logue, who not only is a commoner, but Australian to boot. Will he be able to give King George his voice? This stirring book tells an inspiring tale of one man’s rise from obscurity in 19th-century Adelaide to fame in Britain between the wars, and of the unlikely friendship between a reluctant king and the charismatic subject who helped save the British throne.