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Victoria

A Life

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Victoria

By: A. N. Wilson
Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
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To many Queen Victoria was a ruler shrouded in myth and mystique, portrayed as an aging, stiff widow. But in truth Britain’s longest-reigning monarch was passionate, expressive, humorous, and unconventional.

A. N. Wilson’s exhaustively researched and definitive biography includes a wealth of new material from previously unseen sources, showing us Queen Victoria as she’s never been seen before. Wilson explores the circumstances that led to Victoria’s coronation, her isolated childhood, her passionate marriage to Prince Albert, and her widowhood, all set against the backdrop of this momentous epoch in world history.

©2015 A.N. Wilson (P)2015 Oakhill Publishing Europe Great Britain Politicians Politics & Activism Royalty Women Imperialism Witty Middle Ages Winston Churchill Socialism War Latin American
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Critic reviews

"[A] splendid biography--this book is a gem: thoughtful, witty, insightful, striking a balance between political commentary and personal gossip.... As this terrific biography shows, there really was a human being behind the gloomy portraits." (Dominic Sandbrook, Evening Standard)
"Subtle, thoughtful...a shimmering and rather wonderful biography." (Kathryn Hughes, Guardian)
"Wilson is affectionately alert to the rich contradictions of his subject's personality, and his deliciously readable biography becomes increasingly fascinating as Victoria's reign unfolds." (Jane Shilling, Daily Mail Book of the Week)
"Wilson is an excellent history teacher. He orders and narrates the hugely complex socio-political events and party infighting of the 19th century with a rare clarity.... His own achievement, sustained by a lifetime's scholarly fascination with the Victorian era, is also in its way, awesome." (John Sutherland, Financial Times)
"A. N. Wilson has written a sympathetic but by no means hagiographic biography of her that will probably overturn many people's prejudiced conception of her.... Wilson's picture of her is a rounded one, with her vices and virtues." (Theodore Dalrymple, The Times)
All stars
Most relevant
So much mythologising and fictionalising of Victoria’s life groans on the bookshelves and airwaves already, one has got to ask: do we really need another, can it say anything new? Well, incredibly, yes, because what the author has done here is take the reader (or listener) right into the heart of the woman, building up an extremely plausible psychology. When A N Wilson finally lays bare the his analysis of her, you say, “Ah, yes, so that’s why she did this ... “ (or failed to do that)!

I don’t think the author set out to do a ‘character analysis’ - at least not in any clinical way. But clearly after years with his subject he’s had to come to some inevitable conclusions. And he admits, “You don’t necessarily have to like a person to love them.” Many of her close entourage must have grappled with that dichotomy all their lives; the patterned carpets are strewn with carcasses.

Mercifully this book doesn’t spend too much time eulogising Albert. Credit where it’s due, but it is also pointed out that the man was turning into a grumpy old killjoy! Much more interesting are the relationships with Victoria’s prime ministers and aides, and the tactics some of them were forced to deploy to curb her temper and prejudices.

We see a foot-stamping, hot-headed little girl mature very little. It took a great deal of persuading from some of the greatest lights in the land to get her off her backside and doing a few simple things a monarch should do. She was idle and indolent, monumentally selfish and self-indulgent. The vast quantities of food that found their way into that 5 foot frame are also testament to that. Oh, and claret mixed with whisky, so much so that messages (usually furious ones) to Ministers were quite unintelligible.

Being emotionally incontinent Victoria spewed her every thought onto paper. MILLIONS of words, decade after decade, in journals and letters. Many haven’t survived the purges of PR savvy daughters, but enough have remained to enable us to see glimpses of the daily commentary of an inveterate gossip on matters of virtually no importance whatsoever mingled with earth-shattering affairs of State. Mr Wilson has done a very good job at explaining things like the Crimean War or the Boer War or the significance of the name ‘Empress’, all of which flummoxed me when doing History ‘O’ level; without over simplification and certainly with no obfuscation he brings some understanding to these often unpalatable matters. Thus that century of profound change marches before our eyes, accompanied by the ‘bell voiced’ (as her intonation was said to be) soundtrack of Queen Victoria’s asides, bitchings, jokes, gripes, irrelevancies, stubbornness - or a tipsy squiggle.

I think A N Wilson has ended up espousing the cause of loving someone you can’t quite bring yourself to like. He makes heroic efforts to explain certain character traits with empathy (e.g. menopause, depression - even the insecurity of the immigrant) and takes readers along this prickly journey.

Gareth Armstrong is a perfect coupling. He gets Victoria’s pitch just right, without going all squeaky or faux contralto. His Scotsmen sound as forthright as they’re meant to be, and his Germans fuss around, as I expect they would have.

No more silly TV for me! I’ve got what I wanted and have already started right back at the beginning again.



Riveting and entertaining?

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As we have come to expect from A.N. Wilson, this book is the product of both deep and wide scholarship. It is also beautifully read.

Send her Victorious!

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Well written and well read fascinating account of the life and times of Queen Victoria.

Victoria and her times in history

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Slightly turgid at times. Too many tangents followed which detract from the main focus of the book. Narration is ok but really annoyed that Thomas did not take the time and care to seek the proper pronunciation of Hawarden (Gladstone's home). This is careless.

Worth a listen.

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This is a very worthy overview of an amazing life. It is told with humour but also with admiration yet it’s not sycophantic. Humanised it’s subject but doesn’t shy away from flaws. A great book very well narrated. A slight overuse of accents while voicing some characters but the narrator gets away with it.

Excellent and easily read overview

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