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23 reviews for:
A Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed the British Monarchy
Helen Rappaport
3.65 AVERAGE
23 reviews for:
A Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed the British Monarchy
Helen Rappaport
3.65 AVERAGE
lilyfathersjoy's review against another edition
4.0
Having read and enjoyed Helen Rapport's book on the demise of Tsar Nicholas and his family [b:The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg|4769909|The Last Days of the Romanovs Tragedy at Ekaterinburg|Helen Rappaport|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317065904s/4769909.jpg|4834724], I was anxious to get my hands on this. I was a little worried to find blurbs on the back from People Magazine, Charles Spencer (Diana, Princess of Wales' unpredictable brother), and Alison Weir, but I needn't have worried. This book is well-written and carefully researched.
The relationship between Queen Victoria and her beloved consort Prince Albert is hardly a new topic, but Rappaport dedicates the first half of her book on the weeks leading up to Albert's untimely death in 1861, while the second half covers the following decade, during which Victoria retreated almost entirely from public life, much to the concern and exasperation of her family, government, and subjects. This is an interesting and well-researched look into the consequences of Albert's death and its impact on the Royal Family, Great Britain as a whole, and the mourning industry in particular.
Rappaport treats the Queen's unremitting sorrow with just enough sympathy that we may not quite feel like strangling Victoria by the end, but we will have even more sympathy for Victoria's children (especially her daughters), her beleaguered courtiers and Albert himself. She includes an appendix on modern medicine's attempt to identify the illness that killed the Consort off.
The relationship between Queen Victoria and her beloved consort Prince Albert is hardly a new topic, but Rappaport dedicates the first half of her book on the weeks leading up to Albert's untimely death in 1861, while the second half covers the following decade, during which Victoria retreated almost entirely from public life, much to the concern and exasperation of her family, government, and subjects. This is an interesting and well-researched look into the consequences of Albert's death and its impact on the Royal Family, Great Britain as a whole, and the mourning industry in particular.
Rappaport treats the Queen's unremitting sorrow with just enough sympathy that we may not quite feel like strangling Victoria by the end, but we will have even more sympathy for Victoria's children (especially her daughters), her beleaguered courtiers and Albert himself. She includes an appendix on modern medicine's attempt to identify the illness that killed the Consort off.
worldsstrongestlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
A really interesting look at the relationship between Queen Victoria and her husband Albert, Prince Consort and how his unexpected death impacted the whole royal court. I did not know much about Victoria's reign and the time period so this book was intensely interesting. Written in a narrative fashion, it makes for an easy enjoyable read if you like history.
neeuqdrazil's review against another edition
3.0
Not really much new here, but an interesting enough read.
alannaj's review against another edition
3.0
The book felt very well researched, with the author providing very personal and intimate details of the lives of the Royal family at the time of Albert's death. This helped to set a tone and provide context to what could have otherwise been a book full of speculation.
I struggled with the author's tone at points in the book - I understand that the purpose was to dispel some of the myths around Victoria and Albert having a fairytale romance, but I felt at times that there was a cross into a more opinionated, personal feeling on the subject, rather than just presenting what happened and allowing that to speak for itself. I came away from the book feeling that the author wasn't filled with much respect for Queen Victoria, at least at this time in her life, giving an impression of her as self-indulgent, selfish and childish in her grief.
I also feel that the title of the book was misleading; I expected a focus on how Albert's death impacted her approach to running the country and how that left a mark on her legacy, which in some ways was given, but the emphasis was very much on how it impacted Victoria as a person rather than how it impacted her monarchy. There was much more focus given to the build up to Albert's death than I expected (100 of the 260 pages), and a further focus on the immediate ramifications that it had on those around him (another 60 or so pages), which left little room to actually deliver against the title and explain what that meant for the wider monarchy. Disappointingly, just as the content starts to delve into how Victoria picked herself back up again and became what history now recognises her as, the author cuts off and ends the book.
The delivery of the content was generally well-handled, it would have been easy to make the book feel stuffy and overly serious, but the author strikes a good balance between dignified and colloquial writing. Despite this, and an interesting subject matter, I battled to feel totally engaged with the book as a whole.
I struggled with the author's tone at points in the book - I understand that the purpose was to dispel some of the myths around Victoria and Albert having a fairytale romance, but I felt at times that there was a cross into a more opinionated, personal feeling on the subject, rather than just presenting what happened and allowing that to speak for itself. I came away from the book feeling that the author wasn't filled with much respect for Queen Victoria, at least at this time in her life, giving an impression of her as self-indulgent, selfish and childish in her grief.
I also feel that the title of the book was misleading; I expected a focus on how Albert's death impacted her approach to running the country and how that left a mark on her legacy, which in some ways was given, but the emphasis was very much on how it impacted Victoria as a person rather than how it impacted her monarchy. There was much more focus given to the build up to Albert's death than I expected (100 of the 260 pages), and a further focus on the immediate ramifications that it had on those around him (another 60 or so pages), which left little room to actually deliver against the title and explain what that meant for the wider monarchy. Disappointingly, just as the content starts to delve into how Victoria picked herself back up again and became what history now recognises her as, the author cuts off and ends the book.
The delivery of the content was generally well-handled, it would have been easy to make the book feel stuffy and overly serious, but the author strikes a good balance between dignified and colloquial writing. Despite this, and an interesting subject matter, I battled to feel totally engaged with the book as a whole.
marginaliant's review against another edition
3.0
Why read 50 Shades of Grey when you can read this unfortunate account of how creepy and awful Victoria's marriage to Albert was? Seriously, ick. If you had any inclination that Victoria was a good monarch, read this book. The whole marriage comes across as weirdly abusive and controlling, but there's probably a generational divide that I'm missing here. I hope I never love someone that much.
Subject matter aside, it's a pretty good book, but it drags on forever. Albert dying alone takes up pages upon pages upon pages, and if it were half as long I don't think we would have lost much. Oh, and there was a whole chapter at the end about what actually killed Albert which I never finished.
By the way, it's not actually 336 pages long, it's 260 with 76 pages of source information for the 100's of primary sources Rappaport references. It's well researched, that's for sure.
Subject matter aside, it's a pretty good book, but it drags on forever. Albert dying alone takes up pages upon pages upon pages, and if it were half as long I don't think we would have lost much. Oh, and there was a whole chapter at the end about what actually killed Albert which I never finished.
By the way, it's not actually 336 pages long, it's 260 with 76 pages of source information for the 100's of primary sources Rappaport references. It's well researched, that's for sure.
bookwormmichelle's review against another edition
4.0
Hmm. This was really pretty well done, hard to classify. Perhaps a "biography of a marriage/widowhood." Interesting observations, especially for British history buffs, lots of details on Albert, Victoria, WHY it seemed everyone took Albert's illness lightly at first, and chronicling the self-absorption of Victoria before, during, and after Albert's death and how that impacted the monarchy--which came close at one time to really losing popular support when Victoria withdrew from public life. I had no idea just how self-involved Victoria was. Interesting to compare it to the very well done Victoria's Daughters which I read a few years ago. And an entertaining "What did Albert really die of?" exploration in an appendix at the end.
whovian223's review against another edition
3.0
The writing is rather bland, but it's an interesting examination of Victoria's withdrawal from public life due to her excessive grief over Albert's death. It does get a bit tedious after a while, though.