Very detailed well written, emotional and exhaustive at times, so many players in the game of rulership, personalities clashing, manipulating, alienating, truly the life of some royals has been a nightmare, yet it is that pain with pleasure thing...after reading this expose biography I became more grateful for my plain o life as a common person. Cheerio! ( )

Good. Carefully written, with attention to detail. A must for anglophiles. ( )

With books like this one, the edition is everything - the book's a classic on Victoria, so I already know I want to own it. It becomes a matter of waiting until I see an edition I like - in this case, there were two deciding factors: 1) this copy, while in perfectly good shape, has been lovingly READ many times, which I like, and 2)the cover illustration is by Landseer, a personal favorite of mine. Not deep or scholarly reasons for buying a book, I know, but mine nonetheless. ( )