Victoria
A Life
A. N. Wilson
- “[A]
- shimmering
- and
- rather
- wonderful
- biography.”
- —The
- GuardianWhen
- Queen
- Victoria
- died
- in
- 1901,
- she
- had
- ruled
- for
- nearly
- sixty-four
- years.
- She
- was
- the
- 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.
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