That Woman

Twenty five years after her death, Wallis Simpson exerts a more powerful fascination than ever. That Woman is the first full scale biography written by a woman about the Duchess of Windsor, one of the most glamorous and vilified women of the last century and a key character in the recent blockbuster film, The King’s Speech.

In order to understand the real person behind the iconic image, historian Anne Sebba explores the mind and motivations of this enigmatic American divorcee who nearly became Queen of England. Her new material reveals the Jewish roots of her second husband Ernest Simpson and provides a fresh interpretation of what really happened during the abdication crisis. Anne Sebba also gives us a fascinating insight into the painstaking job of the biographer as investigator.

Anne Sebba is a biographer, lecturer, journalist and former Reuters foreign correspondent. She has written eight books, several short stories and introductions to reprinted novels. She has presented documentaries on BBC R3 and BBC R4, is a member of the Society of Authors Executive Committee.

Jane Ridley is a professor of history at the university of Buckingham and the author of The Young Disraeli described by Andrew Marr in the Independent as 'a rich, dense and thoughtful biography which may-become the definitive one' . She is also the author of Edwin Lutyens and is Lutyens's great-granddaughter. Her life of Edward VII will be published by Chatto in August 2012.