Mountbatten: Eighty Years In Pictures

by Louis Mountbatten

, Eighty Years In Pictures

Genres: Biography, Royalty, History, British Literature

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1979

About the author

Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (the husband of Elizabeth II). He was the last Viceroy of India (1947) and the first Governor-General of the independent Union of India (1947–48), from which the modern Republic of India would emerge in 1950. From 1954 until 1959, he was the First Sea Lord, a position that had been held by his father, Prince Louis of Battenberg, some forty years earlier. Thereafter, he served as Chief of the Defence Staff until 1965, making him the longest serving professional head of the British Armed Forces to date. During this period, Mountbatten also served as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee for a year.

In 1979, Mountbatten was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), who planted a bomb in his fishing boat, the Shadow V. This was the fourth vessel sunk underneath him. His first, the HMS Kelly, was sunk on 23 May 1941 during the Battle of Crete.

Reviews

[Ryan Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book. In light of Prince Phillip's death, I thought I'd read up on his family history. The book was a gift from my wife's grandfather who also passed recently.
As a descendant of Victoria and Albert, 'Admiral of the Fleet'Louis Mountbatten, was a British Royal Navy officer and statesman, an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and second cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II. Mountbatten's history is one of elitist birthright but also an esteemed history in the navy, a technology champion, a governor of British ruled India (pre and post-partition) and he was also very close to Prince Charles. A fascinating insight into a history that, quite frankly, I don't think we will ever see again in the once great, Great Britain.

[Gail Marchant · Rating 4 out of 5]

It says his life in pictures over 80 yrs
It is interesting to read of the connections between the Royal families in Europe & beyond
And the influence he had on our own royal family