The Windsors: A Royal Family

In 1917, the British royal family reinvented itself, replacing their politically incorrect German surname (Battenberg, among the various) with the inoffensive Windsor. It was the first in a series of media-conscious steps profiled in The Windsors: A Royal Family, a four-part program combining archival film, interviews, and commentary from eyewitnesses and royal watchers that provides an in-depth, nicely produced look at the reigns of George V, Edward VIII, George VI, and Elizabeth II. Sporting photo ops from the Delhi Durbar to the Golden Jubilee, as well as coverage of personal crises such as the abdication of Edward VIII, his Nazi associations, and the romantic entanglements of Princess Margaret Rose, this miniseries length recap should find an appreciative audience amongst Anglophiles. With the surfeit of sensational material on the British royal family available in various media ranging from tabloids to trash-TV-level videos, it is refreshing to see a serious and balanced study of an institution that may be on the brink of extinction. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Reed)