Queen Victoria

Knowing little about Queen Victoria, I was looking for a good biography. In "Queen Victoria" I hit the jackpot! This book strikes just the right balance between revealing the life of the private woman, wife, widow and mother and the Queen of her people, while giving the reader an insight into the public affairs of her time.Victoria's life can be divided into four segments. The first is her youth during which she grew up with her mother after the death of her father. During this segment of her life, she was protected by her mother to the intense irritation of her uncle, King William IV. During this period, Victoria and her mother enjoyed a close relationship which was to terminate after Victoria's accession to the throne..The second era of her life can be described as the Albert era. Although I greatly enjoyed the TV movie, "Victoria and Albert", I understood it much more after this movie. Albert, Victoria's first cousin and consort, is the one who really emerges as the star of the book. Although reluctant to marry Victoria, she clearly fell head over heels for him. After their wedding, Albert became Victoria's trusted confident and advisor, to the point of becoming the defacto monarch. Always "The Foreigner", Albert won the trust and admiration of British politicians, industrialists, commercial and social leaders. In domestic relations, Albert helped bring about a reconcillation between Victoria and her mother. As a businessman who reorganized Victoria's estates to multiply their return or a statesman molding Britain's foreign policy, Albert was superb. An example of the importance of his influence is found in his last diplomatic intervention during the Trent Affair. The Trent Affair was an incident in which the Trent, a British flag vessel, was stopped and searched by a ship of the United States Navy, which removed two Confederate agents. An incendiary protest was toned down by Albert to one which would lead to a peaceful solution, rather than to war. If Albert had died a month earlier, the United States may have either lost the South or won Canada.The third segment of Victoria's life is her tragic widowhood. Totally dependent on Albert during his life, Victoria was devastated by his death. For years thereafter she almost totally withdrew from her royal duties, despite the efforts of her ministers to lure her back into public life. During the fourth segment of her life, Victoria returned to public life as the mother of her country and grandmother of Europe. Emerging to the adulation of her people, Victoria resumed her rides through London, her tours of the Kingdom and the entertainment of her royal relations. During this period a major portion of her diplomacy was involved with her irritating grandson, Kaiser Wilhelm II.This book certainly portrays Victoria as a Queen unlike those with which we are familiar. Not mere figureheads, Victoria and Albert were actively involved in public affairs. Among their surprising topics were dynastic relations a