Queen Victoria s Children
£6.08
An Interesting Book - The Victorian era was probably one of the most extraordinary in British History. The country went through enormous changes due to the impact of Industrialisation and Politic and Economic change. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert produced nine children and most of them had an impact not only on British History, but European History as well since many of them married into European Families such as the Hohenzollerns which had such an effect on the growing militarism leading to World War 1 in 1914. It must not be forgotten that Victoria s children were human, and they experienced the triumphs and tragedies which befall so many families. Indeed she outlived at least three of them, Alice, Leopold and Alfred who all died tragically young. And of course, her eldest son Bertie, Prince of Wales, whom she kept frustrated throughout most of his adult life by denying him a more important role in British and European affairs, became acknowledged as the Uncle of Europe and the Peacemaker of Europe. A fascinating volume, not an academic study though, very easy to read which will appeal to many readers who wish to find out more about the Victorian family. Supplemented with many good photographs too.
A Very Interesting Book About A Human Family - Over many decades now, the Royal Family have always been put on a pedestal except perhaps during the past 20 years or so when a certain Diana Spencer married into the Royal Family in 1981. Of course, in Queen Victoria s time, media exposure of the sort to which we are acusstomed to nowadays did not exist. So the public came to acknowledge that the Royals, because they were remote figures, were special people with extraordinary talents. We now know of course this was not true. What books like this does though is convey to the reader is that the Royals are human just the same as we are. Of course, they are priviledged, but they are not immune to the ups and downs like so many of us are. In fact, they have the triumphs and tragedies same as we do although in a different manner. This book reveals the very human side of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert s nine children, all of whom in more ways than one, had such influence on European History. Who could have known for example that upon Queen Victoria s death in January 1901, that two of her grandsons George V and Kaiser Wilhelm II and a blood relation Tsar Nicholas II would all become embroiled in a terrible European War in 1914? A fascinating book about a fascinating family. Armchair Historians would welcome this without a doubt. Very well researched and an easy to read format makes it a very good buy indeed.
A moving account of power, love and sadness. - John Van Der Kiste should be congratulated on this thoughtful and well written biography of Victoria and her children. The book appears to be written emphatically and really conveys the heartbroken Queen Victoria as a deeply sad widow but at the same time sees her as a defiant politician during a turbulent time in history as well as being a proud, loving and protective Mother.The pace of Van Der Kiste s book is perfect, dealing with each child in turn and allowing the reader to embrace each child s character, life and mainly the relationship with their mother.A brilliant book that i read within days of buying it.
Entertaining portrait - After reading Jerrold Packard s book about the Queen s daughters, I was glad to be able to buy an updated edition of John Van der Kiste s work about all nine children. Daphne Bennett wrote one with the same title in 1980, but it only covered them until their marriages. This one covers the whole story from the birth of the Princess Royal in 1840 (with a prologue on the early life of Victoria and Albert) to the death of Beatrice in 1944. The spotlight falls individually on each in turn, in a way which I don t think anyone has attempted before. It s good to see the younger siblings getting some attention as well as their better-known elders - there can t be much more to say about the Empress Frederick or Edward VII. It s an entertaining portrait, written with warmth, sympathy, and soundly researched - and a book I for one will certainly treasure on my royalty bookshelves.