I'm a huge fan of The Crown Netflix series, and when I saw a book that was going to tell me all the secrets about the series -- where it was inaccurate and what it left out, I was excited.
However, The Crown: The Official Companion Volume 1 was far more detailed and repetitive than I had hoped. It tells the entire story that was being conveyed, adding more details for sure. I didn't want to read the entire story again...I just wanted a tell-all that indicated "this is what really happened" or "this is what we didn't show."
Also, I found the organization of the book to be ungainly. Right in the middle of a story (each chapter covers an episode), there would be a vignette (or several) about one of the characters or events that would take up one, or sometimes many more, pages. And it would include some of the events already described in the general chapter, albeit from a different perspective. I found the interruptions jarring and couldn't figure out how to smoothly fit them into my reading.
There are a lot of photos from the series as well as genuine historical pictures. Some of them of the same event, which for me was the best part of the book.
I ended up skimming most of the book, and therefore will not be counting this one on my list of books and pages read. I also won't be giving a rating, since I really didn't read the whole thing. Judge for yourself...you may want to just skim this for the pictures if you are a fan. If you are diehard and need to know everything about The Crown, you may be interested in the entire text.
The book for season two has been published, but I probably won't bother.
Published by Crown Archetype, 2017
Copy obtained from the library
336 pages
