Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert [Hardcover]

Stanley Weintraub (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 1997

The author of the definitive biography of Queen Victoria now presents a masterful revisionist account of the life of her husband, Prince Albert. Elegantly written and extensively researched, "Uncrowned King" offers an authoritative portrait of Albert--widely thought of as a relatively insignificant force in British royal history--as a complex man with extraordinary bureaucratic talents. of photos.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When the young, insignificant scion of an unremarkable German principality first came to England to serve as consort to the youthful Queen Victoria, no one could have guessed that he would grow to become one of Britain's great--if uncrowned--kings. Albert's life could not have been an easy one; a man of great intelligence, pride, and ambition, he was forced to move behind the scenes, playing major roles in running the Crimean War and working to keep Britain out of the Civil War being waged in the United States. He was interested in industry and technology, and worked to stage the Crystal Palace exhibition--the first World's Fair. Yet, while his wife adored him, his adopted people scorned him for his German accent, his foreign ways, and his covert activities as a surrogate ruler.

Biographer Stanley Weintraub has penned acclaimed biographies on such renowned figures as Benjamin Disraeli and Queen Victoria, and in Uncrowned King he turns his attention to Prince Albert. Tapping previously unexplored sources, Weintraub chronicles every aspect of Albert's life--from the political to the sexual--in lively, accessible prose, sure to please even the most avid follower of the royal family.

From Library Journal

Weintraub (Shaw's People, LJ 5/15/96) is eminently qualified to write this book by virtue of his previous biographies of Victoria (LJ 1/87), Disraeli (LJ 9/1/93), and other important figures of Prince Albert's era. The depth and breadth of his knowledge inform this work throughout. There are no shocking revelations about Victoria's consort here but a well-researched and detailed portrait, which draws on accounts from Americans who met the prince and contemporary magazines and newspapers, including scandal sheets and satirical publications (Punch and others). The wealth of detail makes this more appropriate for the knowledgeable reader, but it is also accessible to the interested neophyte. A worthy addition to any library that does not have a recent biography of Prince Albert and for libraries that collect heavily in this area.?Jean E.S. Storrs, Enoch Pratt Free Lib., Baltimore
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1ST edition (June 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684834863
• ISBN-13: 978-0684834863
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,089,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > British > Queen Victoria

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just absolutely stunning!, April 7, 2002

By 

christianwriter "christianwriter" (So*Cal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert (Paperback)

After seeing the A&E production of "Victoria and Albert," I was curious to know more about the lives of the said characters (I'm also a history major so that helps, too). I was browsing through my university's library to find this book on Prince Albert and I read it. I just finished reading it today and wow, this is a stellar book. It's so comprehensive that my mind almost exploded while reading it. There were some minor details that could've been left out, hence the four star rating. I plan to read more about Victoria and Albert in the future. So take my advice. Treat yourself to this wonderful book and put it in your personal library. I'll be sure to buy this book when I have the chance.

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good covering of a neglected life., August 23, 2000

By 

Elsie Wilson (Aberystwyth, Cymru) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert (Hardcover)

I questioned myself before i picked up this book in the library; brought up as a good Englishman, i already knew all i wanted or needed about the Prince Consort, and was unimpressed with it, nor did i care to learn any more. Now i see i was quite correct in my questioning, and i'm afraid i may have to change my long-held, and therefore cherished, beliefs about him. Darn intellectual honesty, anyway! Weintraub's Albert was a responsible, educated, thinking man, thrust into a situation both wonderful and intolerable (his marriage and lack of acceptance in England, respectively). Weintraub shows him as having enjoyed the one side and, through hard work and dedication, partially overcome the other. One is left to wonder, as Weintraub indeed does, what would the monarchy be today had Albert lived as long as Victoria. Surely there would be some differences. On the basis of this book, it is not fair to say (as a previous reviewer did) that Albert laid the foundation for the pax Britannica; he did, however, through his fecundity, insight into both politics and industry, and though a great deal of hard work, aid the shaping of Europe through the First World War. As i look back now, it is hard for me exactly to define just why i have disliked His Royal Highness; i suspect it has to do with his rather poor treatment of his eldest son, the Prince of Wales, which Weintraub does not gloss over, but implies was deserved; also the wreck Victoria made of her life after he died, which really can't be laid at his door; also, though i am probably of the last generation to instinctively feel nothng good can come from Germany, the man was a German (though not a Prussion, at least). Two hundred plus years of racial dislike are hard to overcome. I would not say that i have yet overcome them; Weintraub has helped me see with a clearer vision, though.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars well-written biography of Prince Albert., July 13, 1998

By 

J. W. Johnson (Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert (Hardcover)

This book is a balanced account of Prince Albert's life - both in his public role as prince consort and as a husband and father. Albert often had to be content to work "behind the scenes" in order to accomplish his goals, and the author provides the details of both his success and his failures.

It is a very enjoyable book. If you liked the author's earlier biography of Queen Victoria, you will like this book too.