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A magnificent biography of Queen Victoria by International New York Times columnist Julia Baird. Drawing on previously unpublished papers, 'Victoria: The Queen' is a stunning new portrait of the real woman behind the myth--a story of love and heartbreak, of devotion and grief, of strength and resilience. When Victoria was born, in 1819, the world was a very different place. Revolution would begin to threaten many of Europe's monarchies in the coming decades. In Britain, a generation of royals had indulged their whims at the public's expense, and republican sentiment was growing. The Industrial Revolution was transforming the landscape, and the British Empire was commanding ever larger parts of the globe. Born into a world where woman were often powerless, during a century roiling with change, Victoria went on to rule the most powerful country on earth with a decisive hand. Fifth in line to the throne at the time of her birth, Victoria was an ordinary woman thrust into an extraordinary role. As a girl, she defied her mother's meddling and an adviser's bullying, forging an iron will of her own. As a teenage queen, she eagerly grasped the crown and relished the freedom it brought her. At twenty , she fell passionately in love with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, eventually giving birth to nine children. She loved sex and delighted in power. She was outspoken with her ministers, overstepping boundaries and asserting her opinions. After the death of her adored Albert, she began a controversial, intimate relationship with her servant John Brown. She survived eight assassination attempts over the course of her lifetime. And as science, technology, and democracy were dramatically reshaping the world, Victoria was a symbol of steadfastness and security--queen of a quarter of the world's population at the height of the British Empire's reach. Drawing on sources that include fresh revelations about Victoria's relationship with John Brown, Julia Baird brings vividly to life the fascinating story of a woman who struggled with so many of the things we do today: balancing work and family, raising children, navigating marital strife, losing parents, combating anxiety and self-doubt, finding an identity, searching for meaning. This sweeping, page-turning biography gives us the real woman behind the myth: a bold, glamorous, unbreakable queen--a Victoria for our times, a Victoria who endured.--Jacket.… (more)
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Victoria was not supposed to be queen. There were several uncles and their possible children between her and the throne. By the time she was thirteen though, it was apparent that Victoria was the future queen of England. Until she inherited the throne and became queen, she was tightly controlled by her mother and her mother's Sevengali like employee, Sir John Conroy. They plan to control the throne by controlling Victoria. Best laid plans and all that.
The book details how Victoria asserted her own authority, found her own advisers and eventually chose her own husband. One of the things I learned from the book is that the Victorian values owes more to her husband Prince Albert than to Victoria herself. She was less concerned about the moral fiber of her people than the day to day ruling of her people. Albert was the one who had extremely rigid morality.
Ms. Baird also details Victoria's relationship with her children, her prime ministers and her foreign counterparts. As she marries her children off into other European and Russian royalty, she creates a large extended family with it's head sitting on the English throne. I really enjoyed the book. The details I craved after reading the historical fiction book were all found in Victoria: The Queen. It was wonderful to have every part of Victoria's life covered in one book. Before you watch PBS's new mini-series Victoria, read Ms. Baird's Victoria" The Queen so you can separate the fact from the fiction.
I received Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Victoria gave birth to nine children at a time when childbirth was often dangerous. She was not particularly loving to them when they were infants, but Albert was a hands on and loving father. As they grew older, she became very involved in their upbringing and always wanted the best for each of them.
This book is thick and heavy with almost a fourth dedicated to the notes of research. The author was able to actually research in the royal archives which provides much intimate, interesting, and personal stories of the Queen who was a voluminous writer.
The death of Albert put her into mourning which lasted the rest of her life; however, her relationship with a Scottish servant, John Brown, meant a great deal to her and it was often assumed that they were more than friends. Her relationship with the Indian man, Abdul Karim known as the Munshi, was a great source of concern by her family so many of those records were destroyed.
Victoria's relationship with the Prime Ministers of England varied in relationship with how much they were able to charm her. Disraeli was the master; Gladstone, on the other hand, was hostile and she in return did everything to keep him from power.
This story is as readable as a novel, filled with interesting stories, and so well researched. The history of England through most of the 19th century and the Industrial Revolution can be seen in this wonderful book. Highly recommend.
Victoria was not the
When she became Queen, she initially relied heavily on the counsel of Her Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, to whom she was greatly attached. He was a good mentor for Victoria, except in three areas, says Baird. He should have persuaded her to deal even-handedly with Britain’s political parties, not favoring one over another; he could have encouraged more concern for the poor; and he should have helped her repair relations with her mother.
By the time of her marriage, this headstrong young woman was accustomed to being queen. Yet she was deeply attached to Albert, who chafed under his limited role in British affairs of state, and they struggled to find a useful place for him. Ultimately, he worked tirelessly for the benefit of her country and its evolution into a modern society. Had he not died young, the 1800s would have been called “the Albertine era,” Baird says. But Albert did die when he and the queen were in their early 40s, and she wore black for the rest of her life. Her template became, Baird says, “weep with the women and dictate to the men, all while cushioning herself with a dramatic large grief.”
Victoria, too, worked hard. She wrote some 2,500 words a day—about 60 million words in her lifetime—letters, memoranda, diaries. Unfortunately, her voluminous papers were carefully “edited” by her family after her death. Daughter Beatrice, Victoria’s youngest child, who lived until 1944, took on the job of rewriting her mother’s diaries, turning the Queen’s interesting, quirky observations into dry prose, then burning the originals. Baird terms this “one of the greatest acts of historical censorship of the century.”
Victoria is great-great-great-great-great grandmother to the children of England’s Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton. It’s hard to believe so many generations have passed when Victoria remains so vivid in our cultural memory, for reasons this book amply justifies.
Most of the book is, of course, nothing new. Her reign has been well documented already. Baird’s writing style leaves something to be desired- she will be writing about one subject, then take off on a tangent like a dog going “Squirrel!”. Some things are out of chronological order, which is confusing. But I found the book mostly very interesting (I really had little interest in the details of her dealings with Parliament), despite already knowing a fair bit about Victoria. Don’t expect anything earthshaking, but rather a portrait of a complex woman about whom many myths have been woven.
Drawing on sources previously unavailable, Baird gives us an intimate look at the Queen who defined and gave name to an entire era. I will admit, I am a huge fan of the Victorian Period from a historical/literary
Victoria: The Queen is a monster of a book, at over five hundred pages. We follow the Queen-to-be from birth, through her long and illustrious life. Far from the dour and reclusive person that is the common perception, Victoria was a fiery, strong-willed woman with a stubborn streak a mile long. It was the continuing contention from the era previous, and down through the Victorian, that women were supposed to be meek and submit to the men in their lives. That Victoria ruled the greatest Empire of the time, and often refused to give in to the 'well-meaning’ men in her life speaks volumes to her character. I think she would have been wonderful to have met in person.
Interspersed throughout are snippets from Victoria’s own journals, and historic notes of the times. I can empathise, across the ages, with Victoria’s frustrations and antagonistic relationship with her mother. My own has been rather similar. It was quite interesting to see the later parallels between Victoria's relationship with her mother, and her own later relationships with her own children. Via nature and nurture, for better or worse, Victoria shared many traits with her mother. The stubbornness for one, and a need for control that caused others to chafe at times. Victoria was lucky to find such a perfect balanced opposite in her husband, Prince Albert. Here’s another figure I knew very little about. He, too, seems a fascinating person. From his description, he seems more introverted than Victoria, prizing deep conversation to frivolity.
Some of the more detailed historical notes of the times I just had to shake my head at, such as the notions surrounding pregnancy,birth, and women’s sexuality. There were plenty of 'wtf’ moments, to be sure. For a time of such 'enlightenment', the people of the times seem pretty dense when it came to a lot of things. While the Victorian Era will likely always fascinate me, would I want to live during this time? Absolutely not! Haha. I did find Baird's intimations that Albert shaped more of the era than most realise, and that, had circumstances played out differently, we may well have had an era named for him instead!
Baird pulled no punches with this exhaustive biography, to be sure. We see Victoria and her best, and her worst, at her most regal, and her most human. She ascended the throne at a young age, and had need to mature as a monarch. Mistakes were made, some serious, such as the incident with Lady Flora, early in her reign. But from most mistakes, Victoria did learn and grow, leaving behind an enduring legacy.
📚📚📚📚📚 Highly recommended, if you have an interest in the Victorian Era, Queen Victoria herself, or are a history buff in general.
Having studied this period previously, there were sections
This is a master-work, and the best biography of Victoria that the general reader of our age is ever likely to meet. It is very well presented too; I only found two awkward expressions in the entire work, and I noticed them particularly because they are so rare (at one place, Victoria writes 'torrents of letters' twice in succession; in the other, she is described as a 'spiky muse' twice in one para).
A great achievement.
After viewing three seasons of Victoria of Masterpiece Theater on PBS, I felt I wanted to know more. This well-researched account examines Victoria’s relationships, with her mother, her beloved prince/ husband, Albert, her feelings about motherhood and her children, while she was also dealing with the affairs of state, and her -- sometimes prickly-- prime ministers. Also explored, her over-powering grief after Albert’s death and Victoria’s late-in-life friendship with John Brown, revealing her burial wishes and a few prior unknown. Julia Baird, whose background is journalism, adroitly summarizes historical events and places them within the context of Queen Victoria’s life. It’s a piece of craftsmanship that helps boost the book’s pacing. So, even though I’ve admittedly only read one biography on Queen Victoria, this is the one I’m glad I decided on. I highly recommend.
This was a wonderful book about a very well-known, Queen of Britain. Victoria was a unique monarch who had quite a bit of tragedy in her life. Since she was so well-known it is difficult to find a biography with any new information on her. This one did have a bit, which
Sometimes she comes across as selfish and self-pitying, while her low opinions of some of her children (usually because of their looks) is
For me, the most engaging years of Victoria’s life are her childhood and her married life (1819–61). After Prince Albert’s death in 1861, the biography becomes less appealing, owing to Victoria all but giving up on life. Her love for Albert was infinite, and I do admire her devotion.
The parts that didn’t appeal to me were those that took me away from Victoria’s personal sphere. For instance, I didn’t like extended info about politics, or when there’re lengthy sections devoted to individuals like William Gladstone and Major-General Gordon. I like biographies to stay on topic.
Despite finding the subjects discussed in the period 1862–1901 to be less engaging, I feel this book deserves five stars because of the material covering the early part of Victoria’s life, plus the author writes in an engaging way throughout.