Reviews (1)

Interesting read
Queen Victoria's Children by Daphne Bennett sheds new light on the royal family as a whole. It contradicts the old view of Prince Albert as an uncaring and unconcerned parent. This book also provides a chapter per child to enlighten the reader on how the children grew up within the royal household and how each individually dealt with the death of their beloved father. The only problem with this book is that it is too short and doesn't provide much information about the children after they had left the brood and were married. A factual book based on the royal family's letters makes a good read for anyone interested in the royal family and the Victorian Era. ... Read more

Book Description

Michael Barthorp's entertaining and authoritative study includes key commanders such as (India 1837-56) Charles Napier, Hugh Gough, Harry Smith; (Crimean War) Lord Raglan, James Scarlett, George Cathcart, John Pennefather; (Indian Mutiny) John Nicholson, Henry Havelock, Hope Grant, Colin Campbell; (India 1860-98) Frederick Roberts; (Africa) Robert Napier, Garnet Wolseley, Herbert Stewart, Evelyn Wood, Redvers Buller, Hector Macdonald and Herbert Kitchener – among others. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Wets The Appetite
This book details some of the conflicts of the British Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria 1837-1902. The book starts each period by providing brief campaign outlines, India 1837-56, The Mutiny 1857-1860, The Post Mutiny Period 1861-1898, and Africa 1837-1898. It then discusses the major commanders or military personal of note in each period.

The biographies included are those of Charles Napier, Hugh Gough, Harry Smith, Lacy Yea, James Scarlett, George Cathcart, Fitzroy Somerset (Lord Raglan), John Pennefather, Frederick Haines, John Nicholson, Henry Havelock, Hope Grant, Colin Campbell, John Ewart, Roger Roberts, Walter Hamilton, Haldane Rattray, Frederick Roberts, Francis Brownlow, Robert Napier, Garnet Wolseley, Herbert Stewart, Evelyn Wood, Redvers Buller, Hector Macdonald, and Herbert Kitchener.

I found the book interesting and one to wet the appetite but I also felt that it could have been made better by the inclusion of simple material to aid the novice. I felt the book would have benefited greatly by the inclusion of general maps, so as to give the novice an outline of the geography, cities, battles, lines of march and the areas over which the conflicts where fought.

The book also assumes some knowledge of the conflicts and period. For example, in the Crimea section, the Battle of Balaclava with Lord's Lucan and Cardigan is glossed over with the words, "enough has been written elsewhere". I would have liked to have seen at least a couple of paragraphs on them and the battle itself.

Further I was expecting to find something on the conflicts in China. There are the Opium wars of 1839-1843 & 1856-1860, the Taiping Rebellion 1851-1864, and the Boxer Rebellion 1896-1901. I was also expecting to find a history of General Charles Gordon (nicknamed "Chinese" Gordon) 1833-1885. I was disappointed, there is only passing mention made of Gordon and the China conflicts. Gordon is regarded by some historians as one of Britain's greatest military leaders, and by others as charismatic, yet quixotic and impulsive. This book does give the history of Garnet Wolseley and Herbert Stewart who were part of the Gordon Relief Expedition in 1884-1885.

General Gordon had served with distinction in the Crimea 1853-1856. He saw action in the Second Opium War 1856-1860 which included the seizure of Beijing. Gordon commanded a force known as the Ever-Victorious Army during the Taiping Rebellion 1851-1864. With them, he recaptured the rebel capital, Nanking (now Nanjing) in 1864 and completely suppressed the rebellion. Gordon served in various diplomatic and military posts through 1864-1874, before serving as Governor of a Sudanese province from 1874. A revolt occurred in Sudan in 1883 and Gordon was tasked with evacuating Khartoum. The evacuation was partially successful, 2500 women and children escaped. A ten month siege of Khartoum followed with Khartoum falling on 26 January 1885. Gordon along with his entire garrison were massacred. Two days later the expeditionary force, dispatched by Gladstone, finally arrived.

Overall I found the book interesting and wet the appetite, but it could have been made much better by the inclusion of maps and a number of other biographies. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Queen Victoria: A Portrait is a great biography.
This is one of the best biographies of Queen Victoria that I have ever read! The author, Giles St. Aubyn, likes his subject and therefore makes the book sympathetic toward Victoria and greatly interesting to the reader. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Fabulous Book!!!!
This is a wonderful book which is compiled of letters and journal entries written by Queen Victoria. I have read other books about Queen Victoria and find her life to be very interesting. I thought that this book might be difficult to follow because of the format. Christopher Hibbert does a wonderful job with this book making it very easy to follow because of the bits of information he puts into it as the book goes on. The introduction is also very informative. I have trouble putting the book down and highly recommend it!!!!!

If you want to know Queen Victoria, read this book!
"If you could have dinner with any figure in history, who would it be?" My answer to this question would definately be Queen Victoria. This is especially true after having read this book. Even though Princess Beatrice "edited" Her Majesty's journal, it is still worth the read. These letters and excerpts from the Queen's journal are full of interesting facts, tender moments, and, of course, fiery quotes. I didn't want to put this book down! Even though I now have finished it, I still like to pick up the book and read little sections. I highly recommend this book for those who really want to get to know the real Queen Victoria. My only wish is that the editor had left the Queen's numerous underlines in tact. He says it was too expensive for the printing (which I can understand), but it really adds a lot. If readers are interested in that, they can find it in quotes in other works. This book is a must have! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Queen Victoria
The age of Queen Victoria is frought with myths and legends about the woman and her court. Mrs. Woodham-Smith brings the era alive with a personalized look at the queen and the many goings on before, during and after her reign. There are many stories about her and her famous consort, Prince Albert. This book also brings to light the persons that shaped Queen Victoria. You will truely understand why this was the Victorian Era after reading this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert loved Scotland dearly, and from the time of their first visit in 1842, they began to assemble a notable collection of watercolours for their Souvenir Albums, recording the places they had seen. Professional artists such as Sir Edward Landseer, Carl Haag, James Giles, William Wyld and George Fripp were commissioned to record the appearance of the old and new castles at Balmoral and the royal holidays. After the Prince's death, a number of artists were summoned back to Balmoral to paint pictures that would preserve memories of happier days. The Queen's watercolours of the Highlands provided her with a constant source of pleasure and the creation of this fascinating collection is the central them of Delia Millar's book.
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Book Description

Queen Victoria's own descriptions of life at court and events of the day. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Interesting view of a long passed era
A very excellent book for those interested into the aspects of Queen Victoria's court life. A definite must read. This is a rare jewel of a find. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Highly readable
When I read Marlene Koenig's recommendation ("I recommend you read it") I bought the book and have enjoyed reading it. There is lots of new material and very little padding. This is not the usual volume stuffed with unnecessary detail. It is more of a story, based on fact, of a princess who was once described as dull and not very good looking but turns out to be handsome, talented, interesting and very popular with the Victorian public. There are also one or two unsolved mysteries. The price of this volume is not exorbitant either! I also "recommend you read it".

The first people's princess?
A brave attempt to present the life of the princess -- the first "people's princess". Based on new research not available elsewhere. Easy to read and inexpensive.

An incoherent mess - very disappointing
I am always interested in reading about some of the more obscure royal siblings and what became of their offspring so I was initially very happy to have found this book. However, the first shock was opening it - the print format looks like someone's high school term paper was cut and pasted directly into the book. Double line spacing and a large font were apparently used to plump up the author's sparse material to create the 152 small pages (5 3/4" x 8", not including the sparse index and source acknowledgement pages). The writing is amateurish and uneven, not that of an experienced biographer; the sequence of events is incoherent and information is duplicated and triplicated in various parts of the book (the poor Princess must have died at least 3 times before the final chapter, "The Final Years" which is given 6 1/4 double spaced pages, can you believe it?). Did this book have an editor? There is no evidence as such. This is more like someone's rough draft of a memoir and rough is the working word here. The accompanying photos are mundane and mostly of the "official" variety - few if any candid or informal pictures. Long tracts on Victorian nursing and architecture are included apparently to make up for the dearth of real information about Princess Helena. How and when did she become a drug addict? Who was her supplier? Why didn't her daughters ever marry? A reader can probably glean as much information from previously published magazine articles as there appears to have been very little original research done for this book. All in all, a very disappointing experience.

Some good info
Princess Helena was probably the most active of the daughters of Queen Victoria, but little is written about her. This book gives a little insight into her personality and her activities, that are not mentioned in other books. The illustrations are good, but the book is too thin to really give much info.

Helena; Princess Reclaimed
For the first book about Princess Helena, this was a wonderful find. Chomet's research seems complete, and the writing is rather easy to read. I found many interesting facts about Victoria's third daughter, some of which have been previously published (drug addiction) and others which are generally not known ( the flirtation with the librarian). The book is a must for anyone studying Victoria's family. In particular illegitacy in the royal family. Helena's only grandchild was illegitimate, and only one of her children married. Her family's life is a contrast to all of her siblings, with the exception of Princess Louise. ... Read more

Book Description

This is an edited and expanded text of Owen Chadwick's Prince Albert Lecture, given in Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, on 7 July 1997 to mark the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of Prince Albert as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. The lecture focuses on the way in which Albert's German education influenced attitudes to English higher education. ... Read more