Anita C. reviewed The Heir Apparent: A Life of Edward VII, the Playboy Prince on + 32 more book reviews
Excellent, well researched biography of Edward VII of England, son of Victoria and Albert. Entertaining reading with many photos of the royal families of Europe.
Back cover reads:
"Born Prince Albert Edward, and known to familiars as "Bertie," the future King Edward VII had a well-earned reputation for debauchery. A notorious gambler, glutton and womanizer, he preferred the company of wastrels and courtesans to the dreary life of the Victorian court. His own mother, Queen Victoria, considered him a lazy halfwit, temperamentally unfit to succeed her. When he ascended to the throne in 1901, at age fifty-nine, expectations were low. Yet by the time he died, nine years later, he had proven himself a deft diplomat, a hardworking head of state, and the architect of Britain's modern constitutional monarchy.
This richly entertaining biography chronicles the eventful life of the quintessential black sheep of Buckingham Palace, who matured into as wise and effective a monarch as Britain has ever seen. Granted unprecedented access to the royal archives, noted scholar Jane Ridley draws on numerous primary sources to pain a vivid portrait of the man and the age to which he gave his name."
Back cover reads:
"Born Prince Albert Edward, and known to familiars as "Bertie," the future King Edward VII had a well-earned reputation for debauchery. A notorious gambler, glutton and womanizer, he preferred the company of wastrels and courtesans to the dreary life of the Victorian court. His own mother, Queen Victoria, considered him a lazy halfwit, temperamentally unfit to succeed her. When he ascended to the throne in 1901, at age fifty-nine, expectations were low. Yet by the time he died, nine years later, he had proven himself a deft diplomat, a hardworking head of state, and the architect of Britain's modern constitutional monarchy.
This richly entertaining biography chronicles the eventful life of the quintessential black sheep of Buckingham Palace, who matured into as wise and effective a monarch as Britain has ever seen. Granted unprecedented access to the royal archives, noted scholar Jane Ridley draws on numerous primary sources to pain a vivid portrait of the man and the age to which he gave his name."
Maura (maura853) -
An excellent biography of a much-underestimated monarch. I came to it expecting to mock the "playboy prince," and came away from it with an appreciation of how Bertie overcame a seriously dysfunctional childhood and young adulthood and matured into a man who understood his role in keeping the delicate balance of power in early 20th-century Europe, and probably saved the constitutional monarchy in the UK after Victoria's "poor little me" retreat into professional widowhood. (Fans of the British drama on the young Victoria, featuring the lovely Jenna Coleman, be prepared for a shock. She was a ghastly woman, a terrible parent, and not even that great shakes as a wife.)
One things I found most interesting was setting the record straight on his reputation as a parent. Famously, George V supposedly said "My father was frightened of his mother. I was frightened of my father and I am damned well going to see to it that my children are frightened of me." He almost certain never said that, and if he did, it was terribly unfair -- Bertie seems to have adored his children, and had very warm, healthy relationships with them right into adulthood.
I only regret that someone decided to retitle the book, My copy (an early eiditon from the library) is entitled "Bertie: A Life of Edward VII" and somehow, that seems right for this most sociable of kings!
One things I found most interesting was setting the record straight on his reputation as a parent. Famously, George V supposedly said "My father was frightened of his mother. I was frightened of my father and I am damned well going to see to it that my children are frightened of me." He almost certain never said that, and if he did, it was terribly unfair -- Bertie seems to have adored his children, and had very warm, healthy relationships with them right into adulthood.
I only regret that someone decided to retitle the book, My copy (an early eiditon from the library) is entitled "Bertie: A Life of Edward VII" and somehow, that seems right for this most sociable of kings!
