Victoria: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who
Ruled an Empire. Julia Baird. Random
House Publishing Group. November 2016. 752 pp. ISBN#: 9781400069880.
Victoria
the Queen, from the moment she was born, defied tradition. She lived during an age when women were
possessions of their husbands and thought to be dim-witted enough to need a
man’s decisions, protection and directions in order to survive, let alone be
called successful. But Victoria also grew
up to live in an age when warfare took away men and women began to envision a
future of meaning and interesting living.
So Julia Baird’s biography of this intriguing young woman, devoted wife
and lover, and formidable Queen is riveting reading indeed!
To
begin with, Victoria’s mother is a domineering creature whose eye is on the
prize of royalty but who believes she will be Regent who will control all of
England. Through those frustrating
years, Victoria sets to learn all she can about the kingdom she knows she will
eventually inherit. This provides some
rowdy, contentious scenes but as we later learn, Victoria is built of sturdier
mettle than even her mother realizes.
Upon
marriage, Victoria turns into a workhorse but one who is perhaps overly
amenable to her counselor, the Prime Minister, who is really more of a father
figure than subject of the Queen. This
troublesome relationship ends with her marriage to Prince Albert, who little by
little assumes Victoria’s duties as she is so busy carrying, birthing and
raising nine of her children. Yet
somehow Victoria keeps hold on a certain amount of ruling until that becomes
total upon Prince Albert’s death.
Victoria seems to have suffered from recurring bouts of melancholia,
aggravated immensely by her husband and some of her children’s deaths.
The
remaining, many years of Victoria’s rule are rife with friction and deep love
from other men, Disraeli on the positive side and Gladstone a fearsome
opponent, just two examples. Victoria
had very strong opinions and this at times led her to support conflicts with
gruesome consequences and ignore events that turned out to be momentous,
history-changing conflicts. Her determination to control her children produced
both love and discord that literally also affected the future course of European
history. As Victoria’s kingdom expands into India and Africa, so does her
responsibility and love for these lands.
More
than all the above, this is the life story of a very down to earth, proud,
strong and weak, faithful, loyal, dependent and independent enigma of a woman
who ruled the Kingdom of England for almost as long as the present Queen
Elizabeth. You will experience all
possible thoughts and emotions while experiencing all of the vicissitudes of
this remarkable and worthy Queen of a magnificent empire! Julia Baird has crafted an exceedingly
well-researched (notes, glossary and bibliography are included), intriguing
biography that tells the truth in all its failures, successes and in-between
moments that constitute the life of royalty.
Highly recommended historical biography!!! Wonderful!
