An Uncommon Woman - The Empress Frederick: Daughter of Queen Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser Wilhelm [Paperback]

Hannah Pakula (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 13, 1997

An epic story of wars and revolutions, of the rise and fall of royal families, and of the birth of modern Germany is brilliantly told through the lives of the couple in the eye of the storm--Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, and her handsome, idealistic husband, Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia. of photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Queen Victoria of England has been the subject of several fine biographies; however, her equally interesting eldest child and favorite daughter, "Vicky," whose tragic fate it was to be the mother of Kaiser Wilhelm, who led the Germans against England in World War I, has not received the level of attention accorded her mother. Pakula's (The Last Romantic, LJ 2/1/85) readable biography, based in large part on Vicky's correspondence with her mother as well as other primary sources, provides an intimate view of a quintessentially "Victorian" mother-daughter relationship and a fascinating perspective on a period and personages more often viewed through the impersonal lens of diplomatic and political history. Pakula has succeeded well in capturing an immensely interesting period and place in history through the story of a woman's life. History buffs will enjoy the period detail; academics will appreciate its different perspective on real personages and events.?Barbara Walden, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Pakula, author of the brilliant biography of Queen Marie of Romania, The Last Romantic (1985), proffers a definitive biography of a historical figure well deserving of such a monumental treatment. Her new subject possessed impeccable credentials in the scheme of nineteenth-century European royalty: Princess Royal of Britain, then crown princess of Prussia, and finally German empress. Vicky, as she was called in the family, was the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and was also easily the cleverest of their vast brood. Her idealistic father arranged her marriage to the heir of the Prussian throne to spread liberal ideas to that reactionary country. The marriage went off as planned, and Vicky loved her handsome prince, Fritz, and he vice versa; they quickly grew to be partners in liberalism. But Vicky was never able to truly shake the foundations of the conservative Prussian monarchy, mainly because of Reich chancellor Prince Bismarck, her nemesis, but also because her husband was too ill and reigned too briefly (88 days) to make real changes. Adding injury to insult, her son, the Kaiser Bill we fought in World War I, reversed the little good Vicky had done in bringing notions of constitutionalism to an autocratic regime by trying to pretend his mother had never existed! Pakula plunges the reader deeply into European politics, but the water is not only fine, it is exhilarating. Brad Hooper --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; rep. wraps edition (November 13, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684842165
• ISBN-13: 978-0684842165
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #261,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > British > Queen Victoria

More About the Author

Hannah Pakula attended Wellesley College, the Sorbonne and Southern Methodist University. She is a book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Truly an Uncommon Historical Figure, February 18, 2001

By 

Xoe Li Lu "xoelilu" (Sea Girt, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: An Uncommon Woman - The Empress Frederick: Daughter of Queen Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser Wilhelm (Paperback)

Hannah Pakula's fascinating portrayal of the life of Vicky, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, wife of Kaiser Frederick and mother of Kaiser Wilhelm, provides insight on a woman largely ignored in history. Surrounded by historical luminaries, Vicky's often unhappy and frustrating life was glanced over by biographers and history books until Ms. Pakula took up her cause - and we are lucky she did. Pakula's exhaustive and meticulous research and excellent biographical abilities have created an intriguing portrait of a women maltreated by just about everyone - from her domineering mother and jealous mother-in-law, to her ungrateful children, to the domineering Otto von Bismarck. Vicky somehow found the strength to overcome all of the strong personalities in her life and forge a path for herself that centered on charity work and supporting her kind but long-suffering husband, Crown Prince (and later, for a brief time, Kaiser) Friedrich.

Vicky's intelligence is legendary, and she often saw political situations more clearly than those in power did. Her constant correspondence with her mother, which is heavily excerpted by Pakula, provides fascinating insight to the Princess' attributes and weaknesses. It also makes me thankful that I was not a daughter of Queen Victoria - the criticism and guilt the monarch heaped on her eldest daughter is criminal. But I suppose that dealing with her abusive mother helped steel Vicky for the horrific behavior of her children, particularly that of her two eldest - Charlotte and the future Kaiser Wilhelm.

Ms. Pakula infuses "An Uncommon Woman" with large doses of well-researched historical and political information, which helps to orient the reader and affords insight on the true scope of the situations Vicky dealt with in her daily life. The reader will come away from "An Uncommon Woman" with a decent understanding of British and German politics of the era. The book is very well organized. Pakula's writing style is clean and concise, which is helpful due to the large amount of historical information she provides. I felt that I received an extremely well-rounded and unbiased view of Vicky, who is a fascinating figure and certainly deserves the dedication that Pakula has obviously invested in her research and writing of this book.

Pakula has done an excellent job of providing an extremely thorough account of Empress Frederick, who was truly a most uncommon woman.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Destiny Denied, April 18, 2001

By 

John D. Cofield - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Uncommon Woman - The Empress Frederick: Daughter of Queen Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser Wilhelm (Paperback)

Vicky, Princess Royal of Great Britain and Empress Frederick of Germany, was raised by her parents Queen Victoria and Prince Albert with a specific purpose. She was to be the instrument by which the divided Germany of her youth was to be unified and remade in the image of Britain, a constitutional monarchy with leanings towards liberal democracy. Vicky did her best to accomplish this, and to a point she succeeded. She was a great and positive influence on her husband Frederick (Fritz) and helped wean him away from the Prussian militarism in which he had been raised. Unfortunately, Vicky was unable to overcome the influence of Otto von Bismarck on her father in law Kaiser William I. Bismarck united Germany, but as an absolute monarchy with only a travesty of representative government. More tragic was Vicky's failure to influence her son and Fritz's heir, the future Kaiser William II. When "Willy" came to the throne after Fritz's tragic death in 1888, he inexorably led Germany down the road to World War I.

Since Vicky failed, why read her story? Because she was a brilliant, brave, charming, stubborn woman dedicated to her principles. She loved her family and both her countries with all her heart. Today she should be remembered as a woman who could have changed so much history for the better had she only had the chance.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Empress Frederick: Remarkable!, September 15, 2005

By 

MandysRoyalty "M.L. Littlefield" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Uncommon Woman - The Empress Frederick: Daughter of Queen Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser Wilhelm (Paperback)

You will feel great sympathy towards Vicky, the Empress Frederick, who was an unfortunate hostage to the intrigues of the German court. Sympathy will soon give way to awe at her courage and determination to do her best while having to perform the impossible: being all things to all people.

Vicky was seen as the catalyst for change in Germany. Her parents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert did not like the autocratic, militaristic way in which Emperor Wilhelm I was running Prussia. Instead, they visualized a united German nation with a government much like that of England. Their plan was to sow seeds of liberalism and constitutional monarchy through their daughter and her marriage to Wilhelm's son, Prince Frederick (Fritz). In preparation for the eventual match, Vicky was schooled in politics and German life by Prince Albert. Eventually, she and Fritz would be Emperor and Empress of Prussia, and could bring about German unity.

Little did Vicky know that upon arriving in Berlin, she was at a disadvantage from the start.

As the daughter of Queen Victoria, she was encouraged to retain her Englishness yet was expected to be a Prussian wife and princess. Her efforts to raise her eldest son Willy as Prince Albert had raised her backfired. Her tendency to over-criticize (a trait passed on from Victoria) turned the young Wilhelm away, and he grew up under his thoroughly Prussian grandfather Wilhelm. Otto von Bismarck had seen his own chance to manipulate the future emperor, and along with the groveling royal court, Willy was turned into a bombastic power fanatic.

Her relationship with Fritz was not seen as loving, but as an English princess scheming to Anglicize the House of Hohenzollern. Vicky was painted as "die Englanderin", unfaithful to Germany and a demon on the shoulder of her husband, whom she 'manipulated'.

Hopes that Fritz's mother, Empress Augusta, would watch over Vicky were dashed. Augusta was known to be very liberal and free-thinking, unusual for royal women of the time. In her they thought they had an ally, but both the Queen and Vicky would be sorely disappointed. The once-progressive Augusta had seen her marriage to Emperor Wilhelm unravel over the years, and as a result she became a bitter, self-absorbed woman. She gave Vicky little support in her new role.

When they finally became Emperor and Empress, Vicky and Fritz had precious little time to implement any real changes. Fritz died from cancer of the larynx three months into his reign. Upon his passing, Vicky was left alone and devoid of support or influence. Your heart cries at the unfairness of brilliant minds wasted, while Willy becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II - egotistical, manipulative, and dangerous.

Thankfully, Vicky did not live to see the destruction of the Hohenzollern dynasty when Wilhelm II pulled Germany and England into a devastating world war. After fighting his own relations across Europe, he headed into exile, never to see the throne again. Albert's catalyst did indeed create a change, but not in the way he had expected. Germany would be unified, but the reigning royal house would fall from power, never to recover. -MandysRoyalty.org