Product Description
This book attempts to portray Queen Victoria as she was, not as icons and caricatures have depicted her. The copy-book sovereign of pious propaganda bears little resemblance to the flawed but endearing mortal who governed half the world. "If they only knew what I am really like", she remarked ruefully on being shown an absurdly extravagant tribute. Many of her contemporaries carried idolatry too far, and after the First World War a reaction set in. Her detractors, however, got little nearer the truth in their anxiety to disparage her. To maintain that she was an hypocritical kill-joy demanded a perversity bordering on total ignorance. The Queen was born in the last year of George III's reign, and died a couple of months before Hitler's 12th birthday. She corresponded with Tennyson, was taught drawing by Edward Lear, and had singing lessons from Mendelssohn. Not only was she a dominant force in British politics for most of the 19th century, but wielded an influence over the rulers of Europe unprecedented in history. It has often been argued that Queen Victoria was a "representative" figure, but in many respects she was also a nonconformist.Her views on class and race were far in advance of her time, and her churchmanship was positively heretical. Greville described her as possessing "the most interesting mind and character in the world", and the more one learns of her richly ambivalent nature, the more one falls under her spell. ... Read more

Customer 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

Product Description
First published in the year of her 90th birthday, these reminiscences of the widow of Prince Henry, younger brother of Edward VIII and George VI, offer insights into a bygone age. Herself the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry, the author describes a childhood spent divided between such homes as Montagu House, Eildon Hall, Drumlanrig Castle, Dalkeith Palace, Bowhill House, Boughton and Langholm. She evokes a vanished world in which armies of servants and tons of luggage travelled from house to house as the family progressed around the country. She then moves on to her time as a debutante, to London society, to extended stays in Kenya with her uncle, Lord Francis Scott, and finally to her marriage into the Royal Family and how it affected her. The previously unpublished illustrations are from Princess Alice's private albums and scrapbooks. ... Read more

Product Description
This seventh edition includes both important tours by members of the royal family as well as some more informal moments at home and on holiday. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

She's not really an "insider"
Lady Colin Campbell isn't a true Royal insider. While she may be 'in society', her title is one she gained via marriage and she personally had very humble beginnings on the island of Jamaica. Of course, there's notalot of info about that in her book.

Vicious Gossip Sanctioned by the Royals
If you like sitting down to dishy, vicious gossip, this book's for you.Lady Colin Campbell may be an insider but she's not an impartial one. Thatshe's still in the Royals's camp tells me she's carrying a message forthem. Although she makes a gratuitous stab at saying derogatory thingsabout the Queen Mother, her real target is Diana, Princess of Wales, ofwhom she has a positively sulfurous view.

Unfortunately, her credibilitysuffers when she paints Diana as completely without redeeming qualities,and the public as fools for not seeing through Diana's act. Like theRoyals, whose minion she is, Lady Campbell is unable to accept that Dianacould not sustain an "act" for so long if she were truly a phony.

LadyCampbell further injures her case with her claim that Prince Charles is theinnocent party. Even for a man who's lived his life in a royal cocoon, hecan't be as naive as Lady Campbell paints him without making him seemstupid, and no divorce is so completely one-sided when there's blame to beassigned.

Originally British society put these Hanoverian misfits on thethrone to preserve the Church of England and Protestantism. Now thatreligious warfare is no longer a reason for keeping the Mountbatten-Windsordynasty, maybe it's time the British allowed them to get a life--to rise orfall according to their individual merits just like us common folks. Butthen, we wouldn't be treated to such an entertaining soap opera, would we?

Campbell examines select English royal marriages.

Campbell's book examines select English royal marriages with a decidedly unjournalistic bias and omission of historical facts.

Starting with the marriage of King George V through the (unsuccessful) unions of Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew, Campbell weaves a wobbly tale that leaves the reader wondering what her editor was thinking.

Jumping back and forth between flashes forward and flashes backwards, liberally sprinkling text with official royal names, legal names and pet names (and never explaining that she's actually referring to the same person), she has a gossipy, insider style that can be considered engaging, but unfortunately, only to the expert royal watcher (who will be the only person(s) who will understand what and who she's talking about).

The same story/tidbit/personality traits are repeated with the same goofy enthusiasm ("Andrew and Sarah were intensely sexual."

When Campbell favors a royal, it is no secret.

She takes the unpopular (at least here in the US) position of admiring the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (who in her opinion, were merely misunderstood) -- and never mentioning their sympathetic friendship with Hitler (documented in 1938 with photographic evidence).

Campbell is very harsh on the late Princess Diana, makes excuses for Charles' cold treatment -- and affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. Of the famous "tampax" recorded discussion between the long-time lovers Campbell writes, "They exchange the usual intimacies of people who are in love and at ease with one another."

She lambasts the much less embarrasing "Squigygate" tapes and continually refers to Diana as vain and mentally unbalanced. Campbell uses the term "Birdbrained Spendthirft" often to describe Diana, while in the next chapter actually saintifying (if there's such a word) Sarah Ferguson, whose well-publicized dalliances are dismissed because Prince Andrew remained devoted, obsessed and forgiving. (And, to this reader, as "thick" as his former lovers dub him.)

True, this was written before Diana's death, but the late Princess of Wales charitable works and popularity was/is undeniable -- and for her misfortune and real victimization to be turned against her in a vicious manner makes the chapters on the Charles and Diana marriage almost unreadable.

For those less familiar with the older royals, the book refreshes gossip about Prince Phillips dalliances and some more-information-than-you-need-to-know sexual information about the now 98-year-old Queen Mother.

In all, not a very satisfying read, given the many books that tackle the subject well. With a combination of bad, seemingly unedited writing (that's very difficult to follow) and such an ugly bias, royal watchers might be better served reading more accurate and engaging biographies on the English monarchy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An Incredible and Exhaustive Study of Mary Tudor's Life!
One of the best biographies on Mary Tudor, "Bloody Mary" ever written! The authoress outdoes herself and makes a fantastic dive into the good and the horrible events that outlined Bloody Mary's reign. This books is long and a bit overly detailed in places, but it is necessary to give the voluminous background on the life of this queen who was hated bitterly by many of her subjects. You won't be disappointed in this biography, especially if you want facts, details, and emotional input. A FANTASTIC ALL-AROUND BIOGRAPHY!!

dark side of English history
What, out of print? What a shame. Carolly Erickson has outdone herselfwith this hefty volume, devoted to chronicling the dark side of Englishhistory. She fills us in on heartbreaking details of the Tudor family saga,keeps a lively sense of international conflicts; and very nearly createssympathy for the self-described "unhappiest lady in Christendom"-- whose death was celebrated as a national holiday. ... Read more

Product Description
The late Lytton Strachey's biography of England's Queen Victoria is considered a classic. In richly detailed, sympathetic descriptions of Victoria's childhood, her relations with other heads of state and a series of prime ministers, and her obsessive devotion to her husband Prince Albert, Strachey looks beyond the facts to reveal the psychological influences and motivations behind the Queen's actions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

bravo, mr strachey!
lytton strachey is my favorite non-fiction writer. he writes non-fiction that is flawless and beautiful. some of the writing in this book is as good as any writing i've seen anywhere. but who cares? who cares? what a shameful culture has been fashioned that has no room for this.

Pioneering biography
This life of Queen Victoria set a new standard for biographies when it was written and it still reads very well today. To the modern ear some of Strachey's language may at times be a bit dry. That aside this is an excellent study of the development of Victoria from infancy to old age. The entanglement's of family and the influence of key ministers is well covered and documented . Especially interesting is the treatment of Prince Albert and the Queen's relationship.
I found this to be quite an informative book and would highly recommend it to anyone with a curiosity regarding this period of British history.

queen victoria by Lytton Strachey
I purchased this book at a library sale and it has no copywrit date other then the 1921 date published by Harcourt, Grace &World,Inc and renewed by Jame Strachey, with no renewal date. The copy I have has 434 pages which include an index of subject matter.The only other used books mentioned for sale have acopywrit of 1981 and have 100 less pages.This book is in very good condition and has the original cover jacket.It begins its historic tale in 1817 and includes footnotes at the bottom of the page.

still one of the best things around
strachey became famous for his 'eminent victorians' which has the reputation for being a hatchet job-but he was looking at the previous generation from the disillusioned, post-WWI perspective, and he treats florence nightingale et al more like prodigies than monsters. when he undertook to write about the eponymous queen herself, people expected it would be another exercise in target practice-even his mother tried to discourage him, saying that 'if she was stupid, it was not her fault.' But in the event what he produced is one of the most sympathetic, if slightly condescending, biographies ever written-and absolutely one of the most accomplished. it is a chronicle of victoria's 60+-year-long political career and emotional life, a series of portraits of all the personalities in her life-including albert, his curious replacement john brown, disraeli-him, it is true, strachey clearly did not like-a completely non-pedantic reflection on the growth and eventual shrinkage of the british empire during her reign-and the whole thing is done so subtly, so gracefully-and, at the same time, so forcefully-that you may find yourself talking about nothing else but this book and queen victoria for days afterward. one of the most successful marriages of rigorous scholarship and beautiful style in english literature.

Interesting portrait of a queen
A readable and fairly brief account of Victoria.Frequent passages fromVictoria's girlhood diary and letters make Victoria's early lifeparticularly vivid reading.Also fascinating is Victoria's relationshipwith her government, and her tendency to cling to the current primeminister and despise the Opposition, whoever they might be.

The enigmaticPrince Albert, and his evolving relationship with Victoria, is presentedwell.Strachey makes some startling suggestions about what Britain mighthave turned into, had Albert lived longer (answer: Prussia).

This bookis elegantly written, and free of the psychobabble one might expect from amore modern book.

The book is not boring.Although Victoria is alwaysproper, there is plenty of adultery and dysfunctional family behavior amongher many adult children. ... Read more

Product Description
After taking a brief look at the history of royal animals, this book focuses on the royal preoccupation with animals from the time of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), to the present day. Queen Alexandra, neglected by her husband Bertie (later Edward VII), turned to animals for solace. Like so many later royals, she achieved excellence - in 1905 she won no less than four first prizes at the Crystal Palace for her Basset Hounds - and we learn how she came to own 40 white cockatoos. Later there are touching stories of how Edward and Wallis displayed their fondness for each other through their mutaul love of dogs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An Insider Tells the Story
As with many Diana books, I wasn't expecting much.But the author is an English aristocrat herself who had spent two decades in royal circles, so she had a couple of advantages here--amazing access to the witnesses of the inside story, a surprising number of whom were willing to go "on the record" with their thoughts, and an ability to translate the nuances of upper crust sensibilities for the ruck.She was also not bashful about portraying the faults of Charles and Diana with great clarity, although she deserves credit for highlighting their strengths as well.Perhaps the most surprising thing to me was that she wrote this book five years before Diana died, even before the Waleses' divorce, yet she seemed to get all elements of the story right--while their relationship was still in progress and before a commonly accepted version of events had formed in the public awareness.As one reviewer said, "The picture Lady Colin Campbell draws makes so much sense, it must be true."I ended the book thinking that she had gotten her facts straight and that she mustn't be very popular at the Palace.

Diane in private
This is a very well written detailed description of Diane's weaknesses and strengths. Lady Colin Campbell was totally fair in her estimation of how Diane's personality could and did devastate the emotions of many of her close relations with staff , friends and family.Her primary goal was to be the centre of attention in whatever area of life she was connected to and she was blinded to how much hurt and chaos she caused to as many people as she showed kindness to.
It can't be blamed on her childhood as the point is proved in her determined efforts to become the princess of Wales. Once the emotional efforts she used to achieve her prince paid off she focused on using her power to try to control every avenue of her life to persuade others that she was worthy to have all things her way. Her persausive charms led millions to the hysteria shown on the aftermath of her accidental death.
Lady Colin Campbell wrote an honest description of Diane's personality. She was very generous in her many compliments of Diane too so this is a well balanced description. ... Read more

Product Description
A biography of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to mark his 70th birthday. Heald, who first interviewed the Duke in 1969, has talked to those who have known him most intimately over the years - to Prince Bernhardt of the Netherlands, the Duke's sole surviving sister, Sophie, Commander Mike Parker, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Lewin, Sir Hugh Casson, the man who taught him to fly, to his rivals at polo and in carriage driving, to the two Deans of Windsor and to Sir Peter Parker. The picture that emerges is of a man in a hurry, still piloting himself in helicopters and other aircraft, still sending out a stream of letters to all those involved in his many interests and duties. ... Read more