Customer Reviews

Victoria: The Young Queen

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have to disagree completely with the other review of this book currently on Amazon.com. True, it is not written in the tabloid styling of other more superficial and frankly useless biographies of Victoria. Rather, Charlot is a genuine scholar; she takes her footnotes and sources seriously, and she approaches historical issues as a historian rather than as a writer for People Magazine. Charlot has done an excellent job of explicating Victoria's personal life set against the background of the events of her early reign. A key figure, of course, is Albert, about whom Charlot is less than enthusiastic and to whom she attributes many of Victoria's insecurities because of his paternalism and belief in male supremacy. While at times she tends to overstate Albert's proclivities in these directions, her work is generally convincing and satisfying for those who like to read real history, and are bored with the kind of photo-rich, superficial works about royalty that actually appear to be aimed at those with fantasies of becoming a Disney Princess. This is good history, and a good book. In fact, I perused the entry at Amazon, because I was seeking additional works by this fine author. Highly Recommended!!

I tried to love this book. The reviews on the back cover were chosen well by the publicist. I don't imagine that the reviews not chosen were as kind. The book seems to be written in the period of time that it covers, making it incredibly difficult to follow. The other problem is that the author attempts to give such detailed back-stories on the people surrounding Victoria that the book ends up being more about them than it is about her. I got about 100 pages into the book before I gave up, and I will be finding another book about her to read. I've been an avid reader for most of my life and this is only the third book that, as an adult, I've ever given up on.