The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown (2007, Hardcover)

Tina Brown, former editor-in-chief of the Tatler-England’s most famous gossip magazine, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker has written a fresh and interesting biography of Diana Spencer/Princess Diana. This is an authoritative, engrossing, and revealing factual and psychological study of the events in Diana’s life that shaped her, and the women around her. We are given unprecedented access of the nice country girl who becomes the popular and famous woman on the planet. We are provided with colorful and rich details of Diana’s character from many insiders, giving the reader a detailed portrait of this remarkable woman. Brown’s comprehensive information and detailed research make this book rich with previously unknown information, which traces her barely marked birth, housekeeping/nanny positions, to her marriage and finally her rise to the world stage. Brown’s detailing of emotional intelligence and ability to connect with people is particularly striking. Diana’s ability to recognize and create memorable moments, and her ability to inspire the common man, gives us a case study of a Cinderella that became a humanitarian, ambassador and global celebrity. Diana is portrayed as intuitive, intense, compassionate, and yet flawed as she was unable to keep the man that she loved.

Brown is an excellent writer, with lots of amusing stories and anecdotes that make this book interesting. Her study of the psychological underpinnings of not only Diana, but many of the other figures in her life, make this a must read. Engrossing and revealing, this is good dish for the summer. I recommend this book.

Although initially reluctant to read anything more on the subject of Princess Diana because I knew that it would stir up memories of her death, I can honestly say that I am very glad that I read this book. A page-turner right from the beginning, Ms. Brown offers her readers an engrossing & well-researched psychological study not only of Diana but also of all the people around her and the choices & events throughout her life that culminated in her untimely death. A former editor of The Tatler as well as an Oxford graduate, Ms. Brown's command of her subject as well as the English language is to say, at the very least, impressive. Couple this with her subject matter, and you've got a biography lover's dream book that is almost impossible to put down.
I do take exception with a previous reviewer who states that Diana was flawed because she couldn't keep the man she loved. And one thought the Dark Ages were over! The man had a mistress, honey!!! He also had about as a dysfunctional childhood as she did, if not worse. Why does this reflect only upon Diana? Obviously these were two deeply scarred people who both had inadequacies that contributed to the demise of their marriage. Obviously, Prince Charles' lust for Camilla Parker-Bowles was not the very least of them although the basis for this is totally beyond most people's conception.
In the final analysis, The Diana Chronicles is a superb biography that will keep your attention from beginning to end, provide you with plenty of information that you didn't know before about Charles & Diana and the people around them and make you bloody glad you never married into the Royal Family!

I would rate this book very good. Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of several high-powered magazines including the New Yorker, has created a very comprehensive biography of the Princess of Wales and the key persons in her life.

There were so many times I caught myself laughing out loud- sometimes to the point of tears in the way Ms. Brown describes the royal family.

Ms. Brown, not only a very witty and clever writer, is also quite capable of going into depth about the Spencer family history- a dynamic, dysfunctional and elite family in English history.

Being an inside journalist herself, Ms. Brown has astutely detailed the role of the reporters, Camilla Parker and the Royals in shaping the final destiny of the Princess of Wales.

The final chapters were difficult for me as the 10th anniversary of her death has just passed. After reading about a woman that lived such a controversial life, those final chapters of her death once again brought up the sorrow I felt the day she died in 1997.

This was the first biographical book I have read on the Princess of Wales and I am very pleased this was the book I chose.

I'm not that far into the book but so far I've read some tidbits that I've not read before regarding Diana's family. Its been an interesting read so far. Not so clinical as most books when reviewing her family's past.
Its interesting.

I have not read this book as yet but am looking forward to doing so. I am still fascinated about anything to do with "Princess Diana" and when I saw this book, I just felt that I would like to read the story......