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Victoria: A Life
When Queen Victoria died in 1901, she had ruled for nearly sixty-four years. She was a mother of nine and grandmother of forty-two and the matriarch of royal Europe through her children’s marriages. To many, Queen Victoria is a ruler shrouded in myth and mystique, an aging, stiff widow paraded as the figurehead to an all-male imperial enterprise. But in truth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch was one of the most passionate, expressive, humorous and unconventional women who ever lived, and the story of her life continues to fascinate.
A. N. Wilson's exhaustively researched and definitive biography includes a wealth of new material from previously unseen sources to show us Queen Victoria as she’s never been seen before. Wilson explores the curious set of circumstances that led to Victoria's coronation, her strange and isolated childhood, her passionate marriage to Prince Albert and his pivotal influence even after death and her widowhood and subsequent intimate friendship with her Highland servant John Brown, all set against the backdrop of this momentous epoch in Britain’s history — and the world’s.
Born at the very moment of the expansion of British political and commercial power across the globe, Victoria went on to chart a unique course for her country even as she became the matriarch of nearly every great dynasty of Europe. Her destiny was thus interwoven with those of millions of people — not just in Europe but in the ever-expanding empire that Britain was becoming throughout the nineteenth century. The famed queen had a face that adorned postage stamps, banners, statues and busts all over the known world.
Wilson's Victoria is a towering achievement, a masterpiece of biography by a writer at the height of his powers.
A. N. Wilson's exhaustively researched and definitive biography includes a wealth of new material from previously unseen sources to show us Queen Victoria as she’s never been seen before. Wilson explores the curious set of circumstances that led to Victoria's coronation, her strange and isolated childhood, her passionate marriage to Prince Albert and his pivotal influence even after death and her widowhood and subsequent intimate friendship with her Highland servant John Brown, all set against the backdrop of this momentous epoch in Britain’s history — and the world’s.
Born at the very moment of the expansion of British political and commercial power across the globe, Victoria went on to chart a unique course for her country even as she became the matriarch of nearly every great dynasty of Europe. Her destiny was thus interwoven with those of millions of people — not just in Europe but in the ever-expanding empire that Britain was becoming throughout the nineteenth century. The famed queen had a face that adorned postage stamps, banners, statues and busts all over the known world.
Wilson's Victoria is a towering achievement, a masterpiece of biography by a writer at the height of his powers.
656 pages, Hardcover
First published September 4, 2014
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About the author
A.N. Wilson
117 books242 followersAndrew Norman Wilson is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views. He is an occasional columnist for the Daily Mail and former columnist for the London Evening Standard, and has been an occasional contributor to the Times Literary Supplement, New Statesman, The Spectator and The Observer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 282 reviews
June 27, 2016
This is an interesting and exhaustive biography of Queen Victoria.
I sought this out because I've long been fascinated by Victoria and Prince Albert, and also by the 19th century. Born in 1819 and living for 81 years, Victoria experienced a truly amazing period of history. The vast expansion of the British Empire. The Industrial Revolution. Not to mention the incredible amount of art and music and literature that was created in the 1800s.
Sidenote: I recently visited England, and apparently I'm not the only one keen on Victoria and Albert. There are tributes and monuments to them all over the place!
This was the first A. N. Wilson book I've read, but it won't be the last. Wilson has a sly sense of humor, and I enjoyed his humorous references to the present day or other worldly events that related to the old queen. This work is extensively researched and noted, and I especially liked the excerpts from Victoria's personal letters and diaries that were included. Also, if you've seen the movies "The Young Victoria" (starring Emily Blunt) or "Mrs. Brown" (starring Judi Dench), you may get as excited as I did by the details in those films that turned out to be true.
Topping 600 pages and filled with detailed stories of British and European politics, this book could seem overwhelming. But if you really want to get immersed in Victoria's life, you'll probably enjoy this as much as I did.
I sought this out because I've long been fascinated by Victoria and Prince Albert, and also by the 19th century. Born in 1819 and living for 81 years, Victoria experienced a truly amazing period of history. The vast expansion of the British Empire. The Industrial Revolution. Not to mention the incredible amount of art and music and literature that was created in the 1800s.
Sidenote: I recently visited England, and apparently I'm not the only one keen on Victoria and Albert. There are tributes and monuments to them all over the place!
This was the first A. N. Wilson book I've read, but it won't be the last. Wilson has a sly sense of humor, and I enjoyed his humorous references to the present day or other worldly events that related to the old queen. This work is extensively researched and noted, and I especially liked the excerpts from Victoria's personal letters and diaries that were included. Also, if you've seen the movies "The Young Victoria" (starring Emily Blunt) or "Mrs. Brown" (starring Judi Dench), you may get as excited as I did by the details in those films that turned out to be true.
Topping 600 pages and filled with detailed stories of British and European politics, this book could seem overwhelming. But if you really want to get immersed in Victoria's life, you'll probably enjoy this as much as I did.
February 22, 2015
There are some very long books that I wish would never end. This is not one of them.
October 26, 2025
Story of an Icon
The story of Queen Victoria is the story of an age. Everyone has heard of the Victorians, the name interchangeable with the last two thirds of the nineteenth century and with many of my friend from around the world they too often describe their histories in the sense of ‘The Victorian Age’.
Victoria: A Life encapsulates this perfectly, showing how a woman sat atop of a ‘man’s world’. Growing from an ‘ignorant silly girl’ as Sir John Conway would say to that matriarch of the royal dynasties of Europe to who all were in awe of. It is also great to read alongside other great histories of the nineteenth century such as Sir Richard J Evans ‘Pursuit of Power’ or Sir David Cannadine’s ‘Victorious Century’. Both are great and all tell the same story.
A N Wilson is a famous biographer and it is easy to see why here. The book is beautifully written and not difficult to follow. Victoria stays central to the plot. He does a great job in showing how Victoria starts as a naive young girl dominated by the men around her, to the icon we know today who formed the modern monarchy in connection with the public, and allowed it to become the constitutionalise institution revered today. She started the reign in the aftermath of her ‘dreadful uncles’ when the crown was under scrutiny for its farcical reputation as a house of drunken spendthrift. It ended with huge respect.
Drawing on letters, diaries, and newly available archival material, Wilson paints a vivid portrait of Victoria’s inner life, her relationships with Prince Albert, her children, and key political figures of her time. His prose is elegant and engaging, making dense historical material accessible to general readers without sacrificing scholarly rigor. Furthermore, Victoria: A Life excels in contextualising Victoria within the broader social and political transformations of the 19th century, offering a balanced blend of biography and history.
However, Victoria: A Life does have some weaknesses, which takes it away from five stars for me. For example, Wilson’s interpretive approach leans too heavily on speculation, particularly in his psychological analyses, which at times feel more novelistic than strictly historical. His tendency to impose his own judgments sometimes distracts from the subject herself, therefore I found the narrative meanders in places. Personally I like more heavy biographies that really deep dive the character and the events they played a part in. Here Victoria: A Life is fast flowing which may suit a lot of people. However, I found at times events came and went in the blink of an eye.
Having said that, there is a lot to learn from this book and really got a sense of her personality, involvement in politics and current events, what she thought about her subjects (she was loving of all citizens of the empire) and her interactions with the people around here. Her relationship with Prince Albert, John Brown, Gladstone, Disraeli, Edward VII, her daughter Victoria and grandson Wilhelm II are discussed in detail to name a few. Victoria: A Life is a great book about a great woman and I thoroughly recommend it.
The story of Queen Victoria is the story of an age. Everyone has heard of the Victorians, the name interchangeable with the last two thirds of the nineteenth century and with many of my friend from around the world they too often describe their histories in the sense of ‘The Victorian Age’.
Victoria: A Life encapsulates this perfectly, showing how a woman sat atop of a ‘man’s world’. Growing from an ‘ignorant silly girl’ as Sir John Conway would say to that matriarch of the royal dynasties of Europe to who all were in awe of. It is also great to read alongside other great histories of the nineteenth century such as Sir Richard J Evans ‘Pursuit of Power’ or Sir David Cannadine’s ‘Victorious Century’. Both are great and all tell the same story.
A N Wilson is a famous biographer and it is easy to see why here. The book is beautifully written and not difficult to follow. Victoria stays central to the plot. He does a great job in showing how Victoria starts as a naive young girl dominated by the men around her, to the icon we know today who formed the modern monarchy in connection with the public, and allowed it to become the constitutionalise institution revered today. She started the reign in the aftermath of her ‘dreadful uncles’ when the crown was under scrutiny for its farcical reputation as a house of drunken spendthrift. It ended with huge respect.
Drawing on letters, diaries, and newly available archival material, Wilson paints a vivid portrait of Victoria’s inner life, her relationships with Prince Albert, her children, and key political figures of her time. His prose is elegant and engaging, making dense historical material accessible to general readers without sacrificing scholarly rigor. Furthermore, Victoria: A Life excels in contextualising Victoria within the broader social and political transformations of the 19th century, offering a balanced blend of biography and history.
However, Victoria: A Life does have some weaknesses, which takes it away from five stars for me. For example, Wilson’s interpretive approach leans too heavily on speculation, particularly in his psychological analyses, which at times feel more novelistic than strictly historical. His tendency to impose his own judgments sometimes distracts from the subject herself, therefore I found the narrative meanders in places. Personally I like more heavy biographies that really deep dive the character and the events they played a part in. Here Victoria: A Life is fast flowing which may suit a lot of people. However, I found at times events came and went in the blink of an eye.
Having said that, there is a lot to learn from this book and really got a sense of her personality, involvement in politics and current events, what she thought about her subjects (she was loving of all citizens of the empire) and her interactions with the people around here. Her relationship with Prince Albert, John Brown, Gladstone, Disraeli, Edward VII, her daughter Victoria and grandson Wilhelm II are discussed in detail to name a few. Victoria: A Life is a great book about a great woman and I thoroughly recommend it.
October 17, 2014
I was a little disappointed in A.N. Wilson's Victoria: A Life. Okay, I was a lot disappointed, because I was hoping to get some new insight into the life of Victoria. In writing this book, Wilson had access to Victoria's writings and other documents from the era to which other biographers have not been privy. However, I found that Wilson's writing tended to be jumpy and disjointed-- a timeline, genealogical chart, and cast of characters would have been immensely helpful in getting through this book. Since I was reading an advanced review copy, it is possible that those are included in the final, published version. I hope so as it will make things so much easier for the reader.
At times, Wilson manages to humanize Victoria- showing her as a passionate newlywed, a woman with a rather quirky sense of humor, and one who was keenly interested in politics- and who wanted to do well by her subjects. Too much of the time, however, the book gets bogged down by the minutia of the politics of the time-- probably inevitable given that Victoria ruled during a pivotal time in British history. I found myself having to turn to Wikipedia often while reading this book to try to keep the characters straight.
Having recently read Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard, I found that book a much more accessible and humanizing portrait of Victoria, so I can't even say that I gained any fresh knowledge of Victoria from Wilson's book. I have read other biographies of Victoria, although it has been several years. I think the most I can say about Wilson's book is that it certainly is a comprehensive picture of Victoria and her reign, but if you are really wanting to know what the queen was like, you might be better served by reading Kate Hubbard's book.
At times, Wilson manages to humanize Victoria- showing her as a passionate newlywed, a woman with a rather quirky sense of humor, and one who was keenly interested in politics- and who wanted to do well by her subjects. Too much of the time, however, the book gets bogged down by the minutia of the politics of the time-- probably inevitable given that Victoria ruled during a pivotal time in British history. I found myself having to turn to Wikipedia often while reading this book to try to keep the characters straight.
Having recently read Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard, I found that book a much more accessible and humanizing portrait of Victoria, so I can't even say that I gained any fresh knowledge of Victoria from Wilson's book. I have read other biographies of Victoria, although it has been several years. I think the most I can say about Wilson's book is that it certainly is a comprehensive picture of Victoria and her reign, but if you are really wanting to know what the queen was like, you might be better served by reading Kate Hubbard's book.
November 25, 2014
I finished this with a great deal of regret as it is to me a masterly biography of someone who combined a great deal of empathy and humanity with being a monstre sacre of sublime selfishness. He doesn't hide her many faults and examines the rumours of her marriage to John Brown with the right degree of scepticism but finds her fascinating and intelligent.
March 5, 2015
Victoria has been a magnet for biographical rereading in the eleven decades since her death. In the 1990s academic scholars got hold of the Queen and the results were a post structuralist Victoria. It is now twenty years since the last serious flurry of biographical interest. Wilson picks up the pieces and puts the jigsaw back together again, creating in the process a Victoria for our own time.
Wilson went to the archives in Sax-Coburg and reconnected the taproot of Victoria and Albert’s plan for a united, moderate German. Wilson shows that after the death of Albert, Victoria continued “the Coburg Project.”
When the Schleswig-Holstein crisis blew-up in the early 1860s, she understood, in a way that her prime minister, Palmerston, did not, that buried in the parochial squabble between Prussia and Denmark were the first signs of the Bismarckian aggression that would eventually rip Europe apart. It was only thanks to the wise Queen, suggests Wilson that Britain did not blunder into war with Germany at the point, fifty years before it was capable of winning.
Wilson had access to Victoria’s diaries and voluminous correspondence, as well as other archival documents. The book is well researched. Wilson covers her life from childhood to death and her relationships with her nine children. The author states Victoria was a prolific writer and if she was a novelist she would have written 700 novels. I was surprised to learn that Victoria was an amateur painter and that she particularly enjoyed working with watercolors.
Wilson explains how Victoria inherited her uncle’s throne when she was a teenager. She was surrounded by warring court fractions. Victoria was faced with a series of fragile coalition governments, labor unrest at home, a famine in Ireland, revolution on the other side of the Channel, a spectacularly mismanaged war in the Crimea and that’s just in the first two decades of her reign. She was unscathed by nine childbirths as she was by eight assassination attempts.
This is a well written and well researched book. If you are interested in British history or Victoria this is an excellent read. Be warned the book is long at 21 hours or about 600 pages. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Clive Chafer narrated the book.
Wilson went to the archives in Sax-Coburg and reconnected the taproot of Victoria and Albert’s plan for a united, moderate German. Wilson shows that after the death of Albert, Victoria continued “the Coburg Project.”
When the Schleswig-Holstein crisis blew-up in the early 1860s, she understood, in a way that her prime minister, Palmerston, did not, that buried in the parochial squabble between Prussia and Denmark were the first signs of the Bismarckian aggression that would eventually rip Europe apart. It was only thanks to the wise Queen, suggests Wilson that Britain did not blunder into war with Germany at the point, fifty years before it was capable of winning.
Wilson had access to Victoria’s diaries and voluminous correspondence, as well as other archival documents. The book is well researched. Wilson covers her life from childhood to death and her relationships with her nine children. The author states Victoria was a prolific writer and if she was a novelist she would have written 700 novels. I was surprised to learn that Victoria was an amateur painter and that she particularly enjoyed working with watercolors.
Wilson explains how Victoria inherited her uncle’s throne when she was a teenager. She was surrounded by warring court fractions. Victoria was faced with a series of fragile coalition governments, labor unrest at home, a famine in Ireland, revolution on the other side of the Channel, a spectacularly mismanaged war in the Crimea and that’s just in the first two decades of her reign. She was unscathed by nine childbirths as she was by eight assassination attempts.
This is a well written and well researched book. If you are interested in British history or Victoria this is an excellent read. Be warned the book is long at 21 hours or about 600 pages. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Clive Chafer narrated the book.
February 9, 2017
Sloppy, disjointed and rather dismissive in parts, but revealing nonetheless. Concurrently in reading this book, I also watched several documentaries on Victoria and her children, and it's interesting the many different takes people have on her character and reign. I chose this book to read, because it was the largest, and I hoped the most comprehensive, but I think back to the drawing board. If anything, this book seemed to be mostly centered around Victoria's relations with her prime ministers, than anything else.
Oddly, I think, this book minimized the roles of the villainous Sir John Conroy and her governess Lehzen in Victoria's life when other sources emphasize them. And I think it made the Kensington system as insignificant/later justification by Victoria and her mother as saintly, with all those nice letters as proof to her mother's devotion. I can totally see why Victoria was estranged from her mother--her mom openly chose Conroy over her--why sort of unclear--was she that weak willed? I also think it's hard to argue on her mother's behalf too much, which is why this part seems somewhat skipped over. Victoria, even though she was 3/4s German, did resemble her Hanovarian father, and I liked whenever the author pointed out various behaviors of her and Bertie that resisted the prim Albert side.
Between her letters and her journals, Victoria wrote 60 million words in her lifetime, the equivalent of 700 volumes; one documentary said she exchanged 7,000 letters with her daughter Vicki, who exchanged 2,000 more letters with her granddaughter. It does make you see how her secretaries, who often had to make the copies for her, because her handwriting somewhat illegible, died all broken aged men before their time. And it gives authors and historians a lot of material to work with--not just in the strange highly charged character of Victoria herself, but also because so much was lost or destroyed or recopied and edited. But there is so much material, it is impossible to censor or control completely. And she was a larger than life character at the head of the world's largest empire during a period of total flux and change, spanning a globe, so I think I need to do more reading on her.
With her huge family, 9 children, whom all had lots of children, the family tradition of everyone being married off to their first cousins, it can get easy to lose track of people. I don't think A.N. Wilson helped--sometimes calling people by first name, or nickname, or title, without referencing back to maybe what branch of the family they are, since lots of Alices and Alberts and Ernsts and Leopolds. The author himself loses track: "So while Ducky -- Affie's [Victoria's 2nd son] daughter Victoria Melita, went off for seven years of stultifying boredom in Darmstadt, her two sisters were now both bound for Russia. Ella was already the Grand Duchess Elisabeth, Alicky was to become Alexandra Feodorovna..." -- which is wrong. Ella & Alicky were daughters of Victoria's second daughter, the sad anorexic Alice. But errors like this I found popping up all over the book, and that always makes me wonder.
Of all her kids, and actually all the personages in this book, it made me want to read more about Empress Vicky more, the mother of the Kaiser, and by all accounts one of the most tragic doomed figures in history. I feel so bad for her. Also, mildly annoying I noticed in 2 documentaries on the Prince of Wales never credited for cranking up the pressure on the first born son, since she was a child prodigy, and how her attachment and accomplishments to both her parents rather spoiled things a bit for the kids next in line. Arthur and Louise are barely mentioned in this book. With Arthur being her favorite son, I found the brief mentions of him (and usually referencing his role in the military) a little odd.
I think Victoria is a person who is hurt by grand pronouncements and is seen falsely as being a crabby old lady. She was stuffy sometimes, but off the clock liked whiskey and trashy novels. I loved how whenever she used the word "surprised" it really meant she was beyond pissed off. I think the author is correct in assuming that her attachment to John Brown (I think she did marry him) and Munshi were because she had lots of subjects and family members, but few friends. I would have liked more on Empress Eugenie. The author states she never saw Napoleon III while he was in exile in England, but Eugenie seems to pop up with some frequency--and I found it adorable that Victoria, while hopelessly dowdy even as a young woman, didn't begrudge or was threatened by fashionable or beautiful women. I would have liked to read more on her female friends--but beyond Eugenie, none were really mentioned. I liked how she wasn't racist, and if anything her views on race were the opposite of her time and I wonder if her attachment to all her subjects was a factor in the stability of her Empire, or if that wasn't known at the time.
I didn't get this author's love for Gladstone--I can sort of see why weekends he stayed at the Queen's house were awkward and they could go days without speaking to each other. But I don't know--maybe because it's me, and I secretly find British government affairs a little bit on the boring side, governments seem to be constantly overthrown with majorities and multiple parties and coalitions, and just seems vague and amorphous. I mean it works for them I'm sure, but I can't read about how Melbourne's crazy obese wife was like off limits, and he was really into S&M, so he'd pay the workhouse money to send him orphan girls to spank for his sexual pleasure, but he was a really nice guy. Followed by many chapters about him and his policies--but he's now wrecked for me as a child abuser. Same thing with Lord Harcourt--I guess his diaries are witty and lively depiction of Victorian England, but he was also a pedophile of both sexes, who killed himself when it came out. All this felt glossed over, but maybe I was so repulsed by both men, all the glowing testaments later annoyed me.
This book does something frequently that I am going to start calling out in all future history books--when you reference a picture, and analyze it, and go on to say how it's the perfect representation of a period in life, etc., and then do NOT have that in the photograph section, it makes me want to tear my hair out. I went to google to look up various photographs (for example the photo of Bertie as a young man he talks about) and paintings (such as the famous one of Victoria & Albert when they were recently married) because they are not in this book. And this book has a photo section! So no excuse, but the captions for many of them--not sure if sarcastic.
This photo was in the book captioned "Victoria and Albert in their thirties. Already the bloom of Albert's youth has faded, while she retains her girlishness." I don't know about you, but that photo does not say girlishness to me.
Victoria changed as a person during her life, so I think that alone makes any book on her interesting. The author points out she was in better health in her 60s than she was in her 40s. He also claims she went through an alcoholic period in her 40s (John Brown's influence of whiskey) but did that continue throughout her life? I liked how upset she was over Jack the Ripper and sent the police an itemized list of things she wanted done, besides better lighting on the streets:
"-Have the cattle boats and passenger boats been examined?
- Has any investigations been made as to the number of single men occupying rooms to themselves?
- The murderer's clothes must be saturated with blood and must be kept somewhere.
- Is there sufficient surveillance at night?
These are some of the questions that occur to the Queen on reading the accounts of this horrible crime"
Will definitely have to read more books on her--maybe best to stick to ones that just focus on a particular time or feature in her life.
Oddly, I think, this book minimized the roles of the villainous Sir John Conroy and her governess Lehzen in Victoria's life when other sources emphasize them. And I think it made the Kensington system as insignificant/later justification by Victoria and her mother as saintly, with all those nice letters as proof to her mother's devotion. I can totally see why Victoria was estranged from her mother--her mom openly chose Conroy over her--why sort of unclear--was she that weak willed? I also think it's hard to argue on her mother's behalf too much, which is why this part seems somewhat skipped over. Victoria, even though she was 3/4s German, did resemble her Hanovarian father, and I liked whenever the author pointed out various behaviors of her and Bertie that resisted the prim Albert side.
Between her letters and her journals, Victoria wrote 60 million words in her lifetime, the equivalent of 700 volumes; one documentary said she exchanged 7,000 letters with her daughter Vicki, who exchanged 2,000 more letters with her granddaughter. It does make you see how her secretaries, who often had to make the copies for her, because her handwriting somewhat illegible, died all broken aged men before their time. And it gives authors and historians a lot of material to work with--not just in the strange highly charged character of Victoria herself, but also because so much was lost or destroyed or recopied and edited. But there is so much material, it is impossible to censor or control completely. And she was a larger than life character at the head of the world's largest empire during a period of total flux and change, spanning a globe, so I think I need to do more reading on her.
With her huge family, 9 children, whom all had lots of children, the family tradition of everyone being married off to their first cousins, it can get easy to lose track of people. I don't think A.N. Wilson helped--sometimes calling people by first name, or nickname, or title, without referencing back to maybe what branch of the family they are, since lots of Alices and Alberts and Ernsts and Leopolds. The author himself loses track: "So while Ducky -- Affie's [Victoria's 2nd son] daughter Victoria Melita, went off for seven years of stultifying boredom in Darmstadt, her two sisters were now both bound for Russia. Ella was already the Grand Duchess Elisabeth, Alicky was to become Alexandra Feodorovna..." -- which is wrong. Ella & Alicky were daughters of Victoria's second daughter, the sad anorexic Alice. But errors like this I found popping up all over the book, and that always makes me wonder.
Of all her kids, and actually all the personages in this book, it made me want to read more about Empress Vicky more, the mother of the Kaiser, and by all accounts one of the most tragic doomed figures in history. I feel so bad for her. Also, mildly annoying I noticed in 2 documentaries on the Prince of Wales never credited for cranking up the pressure on the first born son, since she was a child prodigy, and how her attachment and accomplishments to both her parents rather spoiled things a bit for the kids next in line. Arthur and Louise are barely mentioned in this book. With Arthur being her favorite son, I found the brief mentions of him (and usually referencing his role in the military) a little odd.
I think Victoria is a person who is hurt by grand pronouncements and is seen falsely as being a crabby old lady. She was stuffy sometimes, but off the clock liked whiskey and trashy novels. I loved how whenever she used the word "surprised" it really meant she was beyond pissed off. I think the author is correct in assuming that her attachment to John Brown (I think she did marry him) and Munshi were because she had lots of subjects and family members, but few friends. I would have liked more on Empress Eugenie. The author states she never saw Napoleon III while he was in exile in England, but Eugenie seems to pop up with some frequency--and I found it adorable that Victoria, while hopelessly dowdy even as a young woman, didn't begrudge or was threatened by fashionable or beautiful women. I would have liked to read more on her female friends--but beyond Eugenie, none were really mentioned. I liked how she wasn't racist, and if anything her views on race were the opposite of her time and I wonder if her attachment to all her subjects was a factor in the stability of her Empire, or if that wasn't known at the time.
I didn't get this author's love for Gladstone--I can sort of see why weekends he stayed at the Queen's house were awkward and they could go days without speaking to each other. But I don't know--maybe because it's me, and I secretly find British government affairs a little bit on the boring side, governments seem to be constantly overthrown with majorities and multiple parties and coalitions, and just seems vague and amorphous. I mean it works for them I'm sure, but I can't read about how Melbourne's crazy obese wife was like off limits, and he was really into S&M, so he'd pay the workhouse money to send him orphan girls to spank for his sexual pleasure, but he was a really nice guy. Followed by many chapters about him and his policies--but he's now wrecked for me as a child abuser. Same thing with Lord Harcourt--I guess his diaries are witty and lively depiction of Victorian England, but he was also a pedophile of both sexes, who killed himself when it came out. All this felt glossed over, but maybe I was so repulsed by both men, all the glowing testaments later annoyed me.
This book does something frequently that I am going to start calling out in all future history books--when you reference a picture, and analyze it, and go on to say how it's the perfect representation of a period in life, etc., and then do NOT have that in the photograph section, it makes me want to tear my hair out. I went to google to look up various photographs (for example the photo of Bertie as a young man he talks about) and paintings (such as the famous one of Victoria & Albert when they were recently married) because they are not in this book. And this book has a photo section! So no excuse, but the captions for many of them--not sure if sarcastic.
This photo was in the book captioned "Victoria and Albert in their thirties. Already the bloom of Albert's youth has faded, while she retains her girlishness." I don't know about you, but that photo does not say girlishness to me.
Victoria changed as a person during her life, so I think that alone makes any book on her interesting. The author points out she was in better health in her 60s than she was in her 40s. He also claims she went through an alcoholic period in her 40s (John Brown's influence of whiskey) but did that continue throughout her life? I liked how upset she was over Jack the Ripper and sent the police an itemized list of things she wanted done, besides better lighting on the streets:
"-Have the cattle boats and passenger boats been examined?
- Has any investigations been made as to the number of single men occupying rooms to themselves?
- The murderer's clothes must be saturated with blood and must be kept somewhere.
- Is there sufficient surveillance at night?
These are some of the questions that occur to the Queen on reading the accounts of this horrible crime"
Will definitely have to read more books on her--maybe best to stick to ones that just focus on a particular time or feature in her life.
November 8, 2015
I went into this book without much knowledge of Queen Victoria outside of a few general details. I have not read anything else that focuses on the woman, but I can't help but feel that this book does not do her justice.
It is a dry read, and one that skips around in strangely disjointed ways. Wilson does not handle transitions with any grace, and tangential information is thrown in willy-nilly in a way that rather jarringly interrupts the narrative. (I occasionally found myself backtracking to be sure that I had not missed a page, as a result.) The main story, that of Victoria, is often thrown into the background in favor of long expositions on the lives and politics of her Prime Ministers which, while relevant to her world and her reign, come off like flavorless chapters in a high school history textbook.
I felt the handling of her childhood and her marriage was interesting, but everything after the death of Albert fell flat. I do not feel left with a good sense of who the widowed queen was as a person or as the dynastic matriarch of much of Europe's ruling class. I am not satisfied by this biography and will have to find other sources.
It is a dry read, and one that skips around in strangely disjointed ways. Wilson does not handle transitions with any grace, and tangential information is thrown in willy-nilly in a way that rather jarringly interrupts the narrative. (I occasionally found myself backtracking to be sure that I had not missed a page, as a result.) The main story, that of Victoria, is often thrown into the background in favor of long expositions on the lives and politics of her Prime Ministers which, while relevant to her world and her reign, come off like flavorless chapters in a high school history textbook.
I felt the handling of her childhood and her marriage was interesting, but everything after the death of Albert fell flat. I do not feel left with a good sense of who the widowed queen was as a person or as the dynastic matriarch of much of Europe's ruling class. I am not satisfied by this biography and will have to find other sources.
December 27, 2014
Victoria's reign is far too long, and too detailed to have a single, definitive biography. But if you're looking for something to act as an ideal survey-course-between-two-covers, then you won't go wrong reading this surprisingly detailed yet surprisingly easy-to-read epic. A story of Victoria's reign more than Victoria the person, it does offer incredible insights into her psychological make-up...and some fascinating observations about her relationships with her family, friends, and enemies. Extremely satisfying all around.
April 19, 2015
Less a biography of Victoria than a biography of the Victorian Age, the authors tendency to analyze Victoria's personality is often tedious and repetitious. I believe this was intended either for scholars well versed in the specifics of Victoria and her age, or perhaps an English/British audience already conversant with the details of the era. Overall a pleasing work, but one that leaves much to be desired regarding Victoria's family life, children, and the specific role of Albert and her "favorites", as the author terms them.
February 10, 2017
Very boring, strangely uninformative book.
The author seems to assume a lot of knowledge on the part of the reader, so he doesn't explain basic things. For example, he notes that she had a strange education and was poorly prepared to be queen, but doesn't describe what her education involved. He says her and Albert's project was to revive and strengthen the monarchy, but he doesn't explain the role of the monarchy in England in that period.
I gave up after about 150 pages.
The author seems to assume a lot of knowledge on the part of the reader, so he doesn't explain basic things. For example, he notes that she had a strange education and was poorly prepared to be queen, but doesn't describe what her education involved. He says her and Albert's project was to revive and strengthen the monarchy, but he doesn't explain the role of the monarchy in England in that period.
I gave up after about 150 pages.
September 27, 2023
An in depth biography of a monarch who served for 64 years and was grandmother to major royal families across Europe. A fascinating lens through which to observe parliamentary politics.
June 6, 2016
I got the ARC via Penguin's First to Read program. The subject of this book is fascinating, the structure of the book could have been improved. At points there was so much trivial information being thrown at the reader, some of it as an aside, that what place and time being discussed was hard to figure out. The book doesn't uncover all the mysteries Queen Victoria left behind, at certain points she is still a puzzle, and because her children did their best to censor and hide the more salacious pieces of trivia from her correspondence, the author and reader are left with unanswered questions. It is an odd biography in some ways, intimate and yet distant. Perhaps it is fitting since that seems to be the best way to describe Victoria herself.
October 25, 2016
Dense and, to be honest, rather dull. Focuses rather heavily on the politics of the era and the author comes off as dismissive of Victoria more often than not. I listened to this on audio and it was easy to lose track of Victoria's eleventy-billion relations - although it was interesting in hindsight to see how the various family squabbles and resistance to reform (in some quarters) led us down the nightmare path that became World War I (and later World War II).
A decent research book, and authors working in this era will probably find the background on all the political "stuff" useful - but for the casual reader? Not so much.
A decent research book, and authors working in this era will probably find the background on all the political "stuff" useful - but for the casual reader? Not so much.
December 21, 2014
This is one of the best biographies of any person I've ever read, and I've read a great many. The author weaves in a clear history--social, economic, and political--of the periods of Victoria's life. It is difficult to keep track of her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, etc., because of the propensity to repeat names over generations. I disagree with the author's conclusion that she was mentally ill in the 1860s and 70s--I think that's a male reaction to what was surely the time of her menopause. But this is a well-fleshed out biography otherwise and thoroughly edifying.
January 10, 2020
I enjoyed this idiosyncratic, affectionate portrait of the monarch whose personality dominated my favorite era. It's definitely aimed at those already familiar with the Victorian age--I wouldn't recommend it as the first Victoria biography you read, and Wilson makes few concessions to readers from other countries who might sometimes wonder what on earth he's talking about, so densely British is his Britishness.
As a reader who feels at home in the nineteenth century, though, I got a lot out of this book. It draws heavily on diaries, letters, and other manuscript sources, as well as an impressive array of publications, many of them from the early twentieth century when memories of Victoria's times were still pretty fresh. This gives it an intimacy and an understanding of the Victorian mindset that a more straightforward biography might not have. Wilson isn't explaining Victoria to us; this is far more of a personal reflection on what Victoria and the Victorians have bequeathed to the world order, in particular by inadvertently putting all the pieces in place for the first World War. Wilson often drops back a few decades or jumps forward in time to make his points, which I can see could be confusing for the general reader.
Wilson's Victoria is all too human--eccentric with periods of outright mental illness (and possibly alcohol abuse) and remarkably idle compared to today's hard-working royalty. A woman who saw marriage and motherhood as supremely important but who didn't do too well at either, partly because of her job but mainly because of her Hanoverian ego and temper (of which she was well aware, and often repented). But Wilson frequently reminds us of the insecurities that stoked those personality flaws: an isolated German child, bred especially to stop the royal succession from going in the wrong direction, and raised fatherless in a country that wasn't her mother's, would be likely to cling on to every shred of everything she had and react with furious fear when it was threatened.
And cling she did. I was quite touched by the enumeration of the objects Victoria wanted put in her coffin; it's clear from Wilson's study that it was people, not power, that really motivated this monarch, and she was just as interested in the common people--of whatever race--as in her own family. And yet she was also minutely interested in the overseas conquests and conflicts that marked the Victorian expansion of Britain's power over the globe, as well as the political upheavals at home (and there were many). But she was interested mostly, I think, in the human dimension; often the family dimension, since she married her children and grandchildren into as many European dynasties as possible so that her interest in European (and by colonial extension, world) politics was personal.
Wilson discusses British and world politics at length, but he always relates them back to Victoria. He has an odd way of segueing from one topic to another; it's a bit like listening to a learned and enthusiastic professor chatting in a stream-of-consciousness way about the subjects that fascinate him, and he clearly just expects the reader to be able to keep up. The text is sprinkled with nuggets of information that I, at least, didn't know, and flavored with Victoria's own words--often in German, or in an English that would have appeared quaint and old-fashioned by the late 19th century. Altogether good fun for the initiate.
As a reader who feels at home in the nineteenth century, though, I got a lot out of this book. It draws heavily on diaries, letters, and other manuscript sources, as well as an impressive array of publications, many of them from the early twentieth century when memories of Victoria's times were still pretty fresh. This gives it an intimacy and an understanding of the Victorian mindset that a more straightforward biography might not have. Wilson isn't explaining Victoria to us; this is far more of a personal reflection on what Victoria and the Victorians have bequeathed to the world order, in particular by inadvertently putting all the pieces in place for the first World War. Wilson often drops back a few decades or jumps forward in time to make his points, which I can see could be confusing for the general reader.
Wilson's Victoria is all too human--eccentric with periods of outright mental illness (and possibly alcohol abuse) and remarkably idle compared to today's hard-working royalty. A woman who saw marriage and motherhood as supremely important but who didn't do too well at either, partly because of her job but mainly because of her Hanoverian ego and temper (of which she was well aware, and often repented). But Wilson frequently reminds us of the insecurities that stoked those personality flaws: an isolated German child, bred especially to stop the royal succession from going in the wrong direction, and raised fatherless in a country that wasn't her mother's, would be likely to cling on to every shred of everything she had and react with furious fear when it was threatened.
And cling she did. I was quite touched by the enumeration of the objects Victoria wanted put in her coffin; it's clear from Wilson's study that it was people, not power, that really motivated this monarch, and she was just as interested in the common people--of whatever race--as in her own family. And yet she was also minutely interested in the overseas conquests and conflicts that marked the Victorian expansion of Britain's power over the globe, as well as the political upheavals at home (and there were many). But she was interested mostly, I think, in the human dimension; often the family dimension, since she married her children and grandchildren into as many European dynasties as possible so that her interest in European (and by colonial extension, world) politics was personal.
Wilson discusses British and world politics at length, but he always relates them back to Victoria. He has an odd way of segueing from one topic to another; it's a bit like listening to a learned and enthusiastic professor chatting in a stream-of-consciousness way about the subjects that fascinate him, and he clearly just expects the reader to be able to keep up. The text is sprinkled with nuggets of information that I, at least, didn't know, and flavored with Victoria's own words--often in German, or in an English that would have appeared quaint and old-fashioned by the late 19th century. Altogether good fun for the initiate.
September 23, 2014
A Comprehensive View of Queen Victoria's Life
Queen Victoria was a complex woman. One of the strengths of Wilson's biography is that through the use of her letters and journals he is able to show us the internal life of the Queen.
Victoria was married, presumably happily, to Prince Albert. They produced nine children, and his death left her prostrate. Albert was a strict Victorian husband treating Victoria often as a child and using severe methods to raise the children. Although Victoria loved Albert, her love for her children was less pronounced. Her relationship with her heir, Bertie, was particularly fraught with unpleasantness.
After Albert, she engaged in two relationships that could be described as scandalous. She spent many years with John Brown, Highland John, and may have been married to him, but if so the record or such an alliance has been destroyed. Her later relationship with Munshi, her Indian Secretary, paints the picture of a lonely old woman taken in by a successful conman. However, seeing Victoria in these three relationships makes her more of a real person.
The author is adept at bringing the political situation into the biography. He shows how Victoria both shaped events and was shaped by them. For me, this was the best part of the book.
I did learn some interesting things about Victoria's childhood. She believed that she had a lonely childhood, but using her journals, the author shows that she grew up with the stepbrother and stepsister, the children of her mother's first marriage.
This is a long book and the writing is often scholarly to the point of dryness. However, if you're interested in Queen Victoria or the Victorian Age, it's well worth reading.
I reviewed this book for the Amazon Vine Program.
Queen Victoria was a complex woman. One of the strengths of Wilson's biography is that through the use of her letters and journals he is able to show us the internal life of the Queen.
Victoria was married, presumably happily, to Prince Albert. They produced nine children, and his death left her prostrate. Albert was a strict Victorian husband treating Victoria often as a child and using severe methods to raise the children. Although Victoria loved Albert, her love for her children was less pronounced. Her relationship with her heir, Bertie, was particularly fraught with unpleasantness.
After Albert, she engaged in two relationships that could be described as scandalous. She spent many years with John Brown, Highland John, and may have been married to him, but if so the record or such an alliance has been destroyed. Her later relationship with Munshi, her Indian Secretary, paints the picture of a lonely old woman taken in by a successful conman. However, seeing Victoria in these three relationships makes her more of a real person.
The author is adept at bringing the political situation into the biography. He shows how Victoria both shaped events and was shaped by them. For me, this was the best part of the book.
I did learn some interesting things about Victoria's childhood. She believed that she had a lonely childhood, but using her journals, the author shows that she grew up with the stepbrother and stepsister, the children of her mother's first marriage.
This is a long book and the writing is often scholarly to the point of dryness. However, if you're interested in Queen Victoria or the Victorian Age, it's well worth reading.
I reviewed this book for the Amazon Vine Program.
February 9, 2015
This seems to be a well-researched book giving a three-dimensional portrayal of Queen Victoria as a complex person with both good and bad qualities, and it recounts the important facts of her life and her family, including the often brilliant Prince Albert. The author has an obvious fascination with his subject that makes this book eminently readable. I had not read much about Queen Victoria before, so I don't have much to compare it to.
Some of the details were hard to grasp for a U.S. reader with little knowledge of inherited titles or British slang -- it assumed background knowledge that I didn't have, for example the British slang term "side," which I found defined as "arrogance." Also, I kept confusing different relatives with similar names and had to consult the genealogy in the front of book to determine which member of the royal family was being discussed.
The most surprising facts that I learned was that Victoria often conversed in German with her children, and that she may have married John Brown, one of her servants, after the death of Price Albert. I also learned that it was a myth that she was prudish, although Albert may well have been.
All in all, this was a competently-written that I enjoyed reading and would recommend to others. My husband brought it home and I was looking for something to read.
Some of the details were hard to grasp for a U.S. reader with little knowledge of inherited titles or British slang -- it assumed background knowledge that I didn't have, for example the British slang term "side," which I found defined as "arrogance." Also, I kept confusing different relatives with similar names and had to consult the genealogy in the front of book to determine which member of the royal family was being discussed.
The most surprising facts that I learned was that Victoria often conversed in German with her children, and that she may have married John Brown, one of her servants, after the death of Price Albert. I also learned that it was a myth that she was prudish, although Albert may well have been.
All in all, this was a competently-written that I enjoyed reading and would recommend to others. My husband brought it home and I was looking for something to read.
October 1, 2019
Quite an interesting biography of Queen Victoria. There is a lot of detail about the politics of her reign, less about her personally. I would have liked to see more detail about some things- for instance, although Wilson mentions in his introduction that Victoria had a good sense of humour, there are very few examples given in the book. Not much is said about her great love of music - for instance there is mention of the Queen attending a concert by Jenny Lind without any mention of the great admiration Victoria had for Miss Lind. Charles Dickens is mentioned without any indication of the great enthusiasm Victoria had for his novels. Wilson is rather dismissive of Victoria’s relationship with her children - he doesn’t for instance make any mention of the fact that Victoria and Albert spent far more time with their children that most upper class parents did in that era, nor of the amusements they devised for them - like their enchanting cottage at Osborne for example. He is more interested in politics than in such personal details. But for myself, I prefer a biography to have a little less politics and a little more of the personal.
June 2, 2020
Be forewarned, Victoria: A Life is not for anyone looking for an intimate biography of Queen Victoria. It is rather, as the publisher described it, a "definitive biography" that I found to be unsatisfying. As with any book that attempts to cover 81 years of, essentially, British history, Wilson made choices about what to include and with how much detail she would describe events. Unfortunately, I felt that the much of Victoria’s personal life was sacrificed in order to paint a more detailed picture of the political landscape of Victorian era. Perhaps more frustrating, however, was the fact that, while a majority of the books 642 pages are spent dealing with political maneuvering, Wilson, in many instances, does not include quite enough detail for the casual reader to understand precisely what it going on. So while I think that any one looking for a portrait of Victoria will be disappointed, I also think that someone looking for an exhaustive history of Britain’s great monarch will also feel the book misses the mark.
September 14, 2016
"What fools we mortals be!" The "great" Victorian age - hanging by a broken branch or a young green leaf throughout Victoria's reign.....Oh so British! Oh so mundane! Those are my words, not those of the biographer, who was really very tolerant of the Queen for most of the book. The strongest impression I had at the end was the astonishingly high level of incompetence shared by many of the queen's acquaintances, advisors, children and government officials. Not Prince Albert, not Brown, not her secretary and not Disraeli, to name a few, but,
In short it was a miracle the Empire survived!
Earlier I read Catherine, the Great, by Massie. That ruler was a passionate, intelligent, well read, and forceful woman who came into her own after a horrendous time of introduction to her new county, new husband and new family nexus.
Both biographies were well written and scholarly. I enjoyed the story of Catherine and admired her more than Victoria.
In short it was a miracle the Empire survived!
Earlier I read Catherine, the Great, by Massie. That ruler was a passionate, intelligent, well read, and forceful woman who came into her own after a horrendous time of introduction to her new county, new husband and new family nexus.
Both biographies were well written and scholarly. I enjoyed the story of Catherine and admired her more than Victoria.
February 20, 2018
A solid, relatively new biography, backed by very good research and an understanding of the labyrinthine networks of European monarchies and oligarchies of the time. The one glaring omission is a discussion of what King Leopold of Belgium (Victoria's uncle) was doing in the Congo at the time: namely, directing one of the most depraved, inhuman, murderous, and rapacious colonialist projects on record. Leopold was responsible for 8-10 million deaths in the Congo--genocide of holocaust proportions. Joseph Conrad based Heart of Darkness on what he witnessed on one trip there and what he learned from others about what Leopold's underlings (including Stanley of Livingston and Stanley fame) were perpetrating. There is not a whisper about this in Wilson's book.
October 28, 2014
I thought the book was really interesting, however I was still rather disappointed. It was heavily researched and the author was clearly interested in the topic, but it read more as a history text that then told you what Victoria was doing while all this other stuff happened. At times it was disjointed and jumped around a lot, so if you were not already familiar with the history of the period it could be difficult to follow. There were however some insights into who the Queen was and some insight into why she ruled the way she did. Overall I give the book a 3/5.
November 22, 2014
If anyone could successfully take up the task of making Victoria's story new, surprising, and fresh, it's Wilson. In this he succeeds on all levels by focusing on Victoria's greatest and most lasting relationship: that with her pen and paper. A truly moving portrait.
May 4, 2021
Interesting but a little dry at times.
July 4, 2020
This is an oddly structured book about a fascinating and peculiar little woman in a bonnet. There is plenty of really interesting content that paints the Victorian world in great detail with all the complex nuances of the time. Queen Victoria had a morbid turn of mind, a deep streak of obsessive puritanical thinking and a deep, inborn and overwhelming belief that she is always right. These three strong characteristics where also those of the whole Victorian age, she really was both a reflection and leader of the era.
I did enjoy this book, but I thought it wandered about between the start and end of the reign too much. I prefer a more linear history. We meet all the Royal children but do not learn very much about them. We also have to meet every single Prime Minister and senior politician through Victoria's reign, many of whom were mind numbingly boring and very alike. I would have liked to spend more time with her children and maybe followed them abroad a bit more.
It is very well written with a lively, often affectionate tone and I learned to admire Prince Albert, which did surprise me.
I did enjoy this book, but I thought it wandered about between the start and end of the reign too much. I prefer a more linear history. We meet all the Royal children but do not learn very much about them. We also have to meet every single Prime Minister and senior politician through Victoria's reign, many of whom were mind numbingly boring and very alike. I would have liked to spend more time with her children and maybe followed them abroad a bit more.
It is very well written with a lively, often affectionate tone and I learned to admire Prince Albert, which did surprise me.
February 13, 2018
Kindlasti üks tõeliselt põhjalik raamat, mille käigus saab ammendava ülevaate kuninganna Victoria eluajal toimunud poliitikast, tema pärandist ja kõigest muust, mis nende rohkem kui 60 valitsemisaasta jooksul Briti Impeeriumi jaoks oluline oli.
Kuninganna Victoriast endast jäi aga, vabandust väljendi eest, ühe vastiku naisterahva mulje. Impulsiivne ja kontrollimaut, kes tegeles väga palju mitte millegi tegemisega. Ja muidugi tema suhtumine lastesse ja nendel vahet tegemine. Muidugi ei saa tänapäevaseid kasvatuspõhimõtteid toonasesse aega ümber kanda aga kui üks tema (üheksast) lapsest suri, siis ta teatas oma teisele lapsele, kui kahju, et head ära võetakse ja halvad alles jäetakse. Igal juhul tegi ta väga selgeks, kes tema lastest on lemmikud ja kelle olemasolust tal on lihtsalt kahju.
Kes raamatu kätte võtab, olgu aga valmis pikaks lugemiseks. Ma ei mäleta isegi millal mul viimati ühe raamatu läbilugemine niivõrd kaua aega võttis aga loetud see lõpuks sai!
Kuninganna Victoriast endast jäi aga, vabandust väljendi eest, ühe vastiku naisterahva mulje. Impulsiivne ja kontrollimaut, kes tegeles väga palju mitte millegi tegemisega. Ja muidugi tema suhtumine lastesse ja nendel vahet tegemine. Muidugi ei saa tänapäevaseid kasvatuspõhimõtteid toonasesse aega ümber kanda aga kui üks tema (üheksast) lapsest suri, siis ta teatas oma teisele lapsele, kui kahju, et head ära võetakse ja halvad alles jäetakse. Igal juhul tegi ta väga selgeks, kes tema lastest on lemmikud ja kelle olemasolust tal on lihtsalt kahju.
Kes raamatu kätte võtab, olgu aga valmis pikaks lugemiseks. Ma ei mäleta isegi millal mul viimati ühe raamatu läbilugemine niivõrd kaua aega võttis aga loetud see lõpuks sai!
July 24, 2018
This biography is actually pretty astounding in its scope. Not only do you get a great sense of Queen Victoria's personality, but you also get a general political history of 19th century Britain. As the book details her innumerable family members, British politicians, continental rulers etc etc - from what seemingly is just a biography of one woman, emerges a book covering most major events in European and British history from the Parliamentary Reform Act of the early 30s to the Boer War in the late 1890s.
One slight issue with the book is that there are a lot of names, because there is a lot of history. The author is not exactly forgiving and doesn't really always remind you exactly who he is speaking of - this is particularly confusing when he intermittently decides to use nicknames for people, or when he simply refers to them as Duke of X etc. This is especially vexing once you hit the later stages of the book, and are trying to keep on top of the multiple grandchildren and their spouses.
However, the point of this book is Queen Victoria herself and Wilson does a good job of dispelling the general mythos of the Queen as an austere melancholic. Instead, he deconstructs the incredibly varied aspects of her personality and her reign - showing her in her grief but also in her joviality, in her foolishness and her wit. One point of particular interest for me is in just how un-English Victoria was. Many elements of her life convey her outsider status, from her youth in England with only her German mother and nanny for company, to her later life companions of the Scott, John Brown, and her 'Munshi', Abdul Karim as well as her interest in the countries they came from.
The portrait that emerges of Victoria from this book is one of an incredibly enigmatic woman, and by the time I came to the conclusion I was sad to see her go (although, obviously, I had already guessed the ending.)
One slight issue with the book is that there are a lot of names, because there is a lot of history. The author is not exactly forgiving and doesn't really always remind you exactly who he is speaking of - this is particularly confusing when he intermittently decides to use nicknames for people, or when he simply refers to them as Duke of X etc. This is especially vexing once you hit the later stages of the book, and are trying to keep on top of the multiple grandchildren and their spouses.
However, the point of this book is Queen Victoria herself and Wilson does a good job of dispelling the general mythos of the Queen as an austere melancholic. Instead, he deconstructs the incredibly varied aspects of her personality and her reign - showing her in her grief but also in her joviality, in her foolishness and her wit. One point of particular interest for me is in just how un-English Victoria was. Many elements of her life convey her outsider status, from her youth in England with only her German mother and nanny for company, to her later life companions of the Scott, John Brown, and her 'Munshi', Abdul Karim as well as her interest in the countries they came from.
The portrait that emerges of Victoria from this book is one of an incredibly enigmatic woman, and by the time I came to the conclusion I was sad to see her go (although, obviously, I had already guessed the ending.)
abandoned-dnf
November 21, 2019DNF @5%
Not going to rate this since I read sooooo little of it.
Tried listening to it on audio and I didn't love the audio, first of all. It wasn't bad but there were some aspects of the audio that had already started to annoy me.
And secondly there was so much bouncing around when it came to events that I was getting confused quickly. There would be a bit of info about Victoria before or right at the start of her reign and then in the next couple sentences it was post her death. If it had only happened a couple of times it wouldn't be that big of a deal but it happened multiple times in the first 2 chapters that I got through.
I want to learn more about Queen Victoria but I'll get a different book in the future.
Not going to rate this since I read sooooo little of it.
Tried listening to it on audio and I didn't love the audio, first of all. It wasn't bad but there were some aspects of the audio that had already started to annoy me.
And secondly there was so much bouncing around when it came to events that I was getting confused quickly. There would be a bit of info about Victoria before or right at the start of her reign and then in the next couple sentences it was post her death. If it had only happened a couple of times it wouldn't be that big of a deal but it happened multiple times in the first 2 chapters that I got through.
I want to learn more about Queen Victoria but I'll get a different book in the future.
September 11, 2022
Well written, informative, detailed, contains everything you could possibly want to know about this awful woman. Most startling for me was the author's conclusion that nobody could be in any doubt that they had been in the presence of [Victoria's] 'greatness'. Has he read his own book? She was quite the diarist, so there's no need for exhaustive interpretation, you can discern her pettiness, conceit, entitlement, small-mindedness and entirely unmerited superiority from her own words, yet somehow this equates, in the final analysis to greatness. Baffled.
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