Added by: Maria | Karma: 3098.81 | Non-Fiction | 16 August 2008
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To his mother, Queen Victoria, he was “poor Bertie,” to his wife he was
“my dear little man,” while the President of France called him “a great
English king,” and the German Kaiser condemned him as “an old peacock.”
King Edward VII was all these things and more, as Hibbert reveals in
this captivating biography. Shedding new light on the scandals that
peppered his life, Hibbert reveals Edward’s dismal early years under
Victoria’s iron rule, his terror of boredom that led to a lively social
life at home and abroad, and his eventual ascent to the throne at age
59. Edward is best remembered as the last Victorian king, the monarch
who installed the office of Prime Minister.
Queen Victoria: A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert Book Description
First time in paperback: An intimate
biography of a larger-than-life persona-and a radical reassessment of a
monarch we thought we knew. In
this surprising new life of Victoria, Christopher Hibbert, master of
the telling anecdote and peerless biographer of England's great
leaders, paints a fresh and intimate portrait of the woman who shaped a
century. His Victoria is not only the formidable, demanding, capricious
queen of popular imagination-she is also often shy, diffident, and
vulnerable, prone to giggling fits and crying jags. Often censorious
when confronted with her mother's moral lapses, she herself could be
passionately sensual, emotional, and deeply sentimental. Ascending to
the throne at age eighteen, Victoria ruled for sixty-four years-an
astounding length for any world leader. During her reign, she dealt
with conflicts ranging from royal quarrels to war in Crimea and
rebellion in India. She saw monarchs fall, empires crumble, new
continents explored, and England grow into a dominant global and
industrial power. This personal history is a compelling look at the
complex woman whom, until now, we only thought we knew. (Amazon.com)