Her Life, the Imperial Ideal, and the Politics and Turmoil That Shaped Her Extraordinary Reign
October 1, 2024
Queen Victoria's remarkable reign of more than six decades meant that she saw many a prime minister come and go. The strong-willed, intelligent monarch navigated these constant, inevitable political upheavals. Somerset, previous biographer of Elizabeth I and William IV, admirably details just how Victoria manipulated and was manipulated by these politicians. Her first prime minister, Lord Melbourne, steered the young queen through her tentative first years. It was difficult for any other prime minister to have such close bonds with her again. Victoria was nevertheless willing to learn as her initial governments alternated between Whig and Tory. She might at first have intensely disliked Sir Robert Peel and Lord Palmerston, but she could see beyond bad first impressions and learned to cherish them. Victoria's later reign was dominated by the titanic figures of Disraeli and Gladstone. She generally sympathized with progressive politicians but could be stubborn if she felt ignored or disrespected. Those who know Victoria more from the perspectives of her marriage to Albert and relations with family will find here an astute and sophisticated queen.
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November 8, 2024
Historian Somerset, author of the award-winning Queen Anne, draws on material from the Royal Archives and never-before-seen prime ministerial papers to depict the life of Queen Victoria, focusing on her involvement in state affairs, especially her interactions with the 10 British prime ministers who served during her 63-year reign. Prepub Alert.
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Starred review from December 15, 2024
A well-trod period, with its usual cast of characters, gets trod again, but few readers will object. Historian Somerset, author ofThe Life and Times of King William IV, writes that Victoria (1819-1901), after an unhappy if comfortable childhood, became queen at age 18 in 1837 and was not shy about taking up her role. Despite offering few surprises for the educated reader, Somerset delivers an entirely entertaining combination of biography and political history of Victorian Britain. Nineteenth-century British monarchs were not figureheads. Their word was no longer law, but tradition demanded that they be kept informed and consulted. Victoria was not shy about expressing opinions, although she did not always get her way. For readers who find the queen's private life less interesting than the 63 years of her reign, Somerset obliges by emphasizing her role as the symbol of empire who exerted genuine, often unconstitutional power. As one official complained, Victoria "had absurdly high notions of her prerogative, and the amount of control which she ought to exercise over public business." Although prime ministers are powerful (unlike American presidents, they lead the government's legislative and executive branches), readers may be startled to learn how much they valued the queen's good opinion and suffered in its absence. Her first prime minister, Lord Melbourne, had perhaps the easiest time in accepting Victoria's intense postadolescent worship as her reign began. She disliked many (Peel, Palmerston, Disraeli) as they entered parliament and rose to prominence but changed her mind when as prime ministers they were forced to deal with her and so turned on the charm. This did not apply to William Ewart Gladstone, for whom Victoria's dislike in the 1860s turned to a legendary loathing not noticeably diminished after his 1894 retirement. Delicious British political history with an unsettlingly assertive Victoria.
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