Victoria: An Intimate Biography
by Stanley Weintraub

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Book Reviews of Victoria: An Intimate Biography

Book Review: The queen who gave her name to an era
Summary: 4 Stars

The best part of the book is about her marriage to Saxe-Coburg Prince Albert, who was "hired" by Victoria as her consort but found himself in love with the diminutive German-English queen. They exchanged paintings (Victoria loved male nudes and was always smitten by male beauty), they read novels and poetry outloud to each other. Victoria handed over a key to the dispatch boxes wherein lay the documents of State, and the unpopular German prince soon was an invaluable right-hand man and man behind the throne.

Sadly, Prince Albert died (whether from exhaustion after his successful staging of the Crystal Palace exhibition) or from stomach cancer) and Victoria plunged the Throne into interminable mourning. Afterward, her role in the affairs of state, even with important events such as the Sepoy Rebellion and the Boer War, seemed less intense.

The biography focuses on the domestic Victoria, less so on her children, especially the wastrel Edward (Bertie) and strives to keep history as a backdrop to Victoria's life. In this, the biography succeeds admirably, but those interested in English history will want to read other accounts to fill in the events and political intricacies that are only sketched out here.

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