The Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria [Hardcover]

Tony Rennell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0312276729 | ISBN-13: 978-0312276720 | Edition: 1st

Queen Victoria's death in January 1901 shook Britain to its core, and reverberated not just throughout the Commonwealth, but around the world. She was a woman in her eighties, and yet it seems no one could contemplate the end of a reign that had lasted so long. Most could not remember a time when she was not Queen, and the very stability of everyday life seemed to depend on her regency. The anxiety of the government and the royal family about the prospect of the Queen's death was such that the news of her illness was deliberately concealed from the public for more than a week. When it came, people from England to Jamaica wept in the streets, and this grief was surpassed only by fear for the future. "God help us" was the standard reaction from all strata of society.

Last Days of Glory is the definitive account of those last 23 days in January 1901, when Victoria traveled to Osborne House to die. The momentous reaction to the Queen's passing attached to it more significance and a greater sense of change than the turn of the century had carried just a year earlier. Through the prism of those last days Tony Rennell presents us with a series of resonant and absorbing snapshots of a fading Empire at the end of the Victorian Age, and captures a nation coping with change, balancing comfortable nostalgia with the arrival of a new order.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

By the time of her death in 1901, Britain's Queen Victoria had lived longer, ruled longer and reigned over a larger part of the world than any other English monarch. Since few of her subjects could remember a time when she wasn't their queen, and since the era over which she presided was regarded by the British as one of unprecedented social, economic and intellectual development, her death was, as Rennell puts it, "an immense shock, unsettling Britain and the Empire to a degree that now seems inconceivable." Rennell explores the events of the weeks leading up to and following Victoria's demise, focusing on the reactions of the royal family and the public. While the last days of a monarch's life may seem a slight subject for a book, this is ultimately a lively and detailed slice of social history, which captures the mood and mindset of turn-of-the-century England via extensive quotes from letters and newspaper articles. Rennell also reveals some of the less immediately obvious consequences of the royal death: for example, with the whole nation plunged into mourning, textile manufacturers who were in the midst of producing bright-hued spring attire faced financial disaster. Proposing that England's national identity was so intertwined with its monarch's that her death engendered a kind of collective existential crisis, Rennell, formerly an associate editor with London's Mail on Sunday and Sunday Times, is also very attuned to the more personal and intimate consequences of her passing, including the feelings of her six remaining children, the tensions between various members of her household, and her own detailed instructions for her funeral. Victoria's death marked the transition from one era to another; this is a fascinating glimpse of a nation poised on the brink of a major paradigm shift. B&w photos not seen by PW.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The final 23 days of Queen Victoria's life provide a snapshot of the end of an era. These were turbulent times: the "horseless carriage" was catching on, the newly invented telegraph allowed news to spread instantaneously, and the Boer War's ferocity caught many off guard. Victoria's reign had been seen as "something fixed and steady," and her death in 1901 was deeply felt throughout the empire, which virtually draped itself in black and "shut up shop." First-time author Rennell's detailed and compelling account reveals Victoria's final private thoughts and her secret last wishes. He records the painstaking details surrounding the preparations for her funeral and burial and provides glimpses into the relations among her extended royal family as they gathered to mourn her passing. We also see her death through the eyes of the British population, thousands of whom lined the streets of London for her funeral procession. This is an educational and entertaining piece of work. Recommended for all public libraries. Isabel Coates, Boston Consulting Group, Toronto
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (September 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312276729
• ISBN-13: 978-0312276720
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,216,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #96 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > British > Queen Victoria

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great epilogue to a great life., January 10, 2002

By 

Maureen Ogorman "leneker" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria (Hardcover)

It never seems to fail. Whenever I go on a trip and look up my route in a map, it always seems to be in the fold. Where I want to go is always obscured in the staples and bend of the book. So too this is an interesting moment in history that seems to have fallen into the divide between the Victorian and Edwardian periods. I feel that I owe a debt of gratitude to Tony Rennell for taking us through this fascinating moment in history.

Victoria by no means had a trouble-free reign. She was at times highly unpopular and frequently criticized in society and the press. However, after sixty-three years on the throne her stamina and longevity had brought about almost universal admiration and respect from the people of her growing empire and the world in general. A time before her reign was beyond the living memory of most people in the world. The prospect of her death was to many even more unthinkable to many than the shadowy past of what had been before.

This absorbing and readable book takes the reader into the royal residence at Osborne for a world-shaking event. The death of Victoria and the ascent of her dissolute heir Edward was a thing feared in many circles. She ruled and empire on which the sun never set and the advent of technology allowed the world to share this occasion in real-time for the first time.

Eerily similar in many respects to the way the world reacted at the death of Diana and the events of September 11, the world seemed to stop spinning for those brief but unforgettable days in 1901. Stores were bereft of customers; places of business shut down while places of worship recorded record breaking attendance.

But this is not a book concerned only with high deeds in high places. It is the story of a family about to lose their matriarch. It is about the usual squabbles over who is to see the dying woman and who is to make decisions on her behalf. This is a tale that almost any family member can relate to and it resonates with us all.

I cannot think of a book about Victoria and her family that I have enjoyed more in many years. It is a must read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative Account of a Watershed Event, November 30, 2001

By 

Michael Lima (Fresno, California USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria (Hardcover)

History books can be classified into two types. The first type is a book where the author uses the historical facts to substantiate an argument. The second type is where the author presents the facts in order to provide an understanding of the impact an event had on the people who lived through it. The Last Days of Glory clearly belongs in the later category. It is just as clear that the book succeeds in meeting the standards of its type.

Rennell gives the reader a vivid portrayal of the effect that Queen Victoria's death had on her family, other royalty in Europe, and her subjects in the Empire. He does this by relating anecdotes from multiple sources, including Victoria's doctor, her assistant private secretary, and even the residents of North Ronaldsay in the Orkneys. He is so effective in his efforts that the reader can easily picture being in the bedroom with the Royal Family as Victoria expires, or in St. George's Chapel for the funeral.

As Rennell points out, the book can also serve as an insight into reactions that might occur when the current, long-reigning queen dies. Given that perspective, this book is something that may be more relevant than the casual reader may assume. However, Rendell's scholarship and concise writing make this book worth reading regardless of its possible application to the future.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very informative book, June 28, 2002

By 

A reader (Litchfield Co., CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria (Hardcover)

I was going to say "enjoyable and informative", but then thought that saying reading about someone dying was enjoyable wasn't quite right. However, the author has given us so much background and detail on what was going on in England at this time that I will say those parts were enjoyable!

It seems unbelievable that the government apparently had not done much advance planning. It's as if no one thought the Queen was going to die. I was reminded of the smooth operation of the Queen Mother's funeral in April where everything went like clockwork. Queen Victoria had given a few orders for her funeral, but the details were left to others with the usual squabbling.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the British Royal family.