About this item
The story of the queen who defied convention and defined an era Perhaps one of the best known of the English monarchs, Queen Victoria forever shaped a chapter of English history, bequeathing her name to the Victorian age. In Queen Victoria, Lucy Worsley introduces this iconic woman in a new light. Going beyond an exploration of the Queen merely as a monarch, Worsley considers Victoria as a woman leading a truly extraordinary life in a unique time period. The book is structured around the various roles that Victoria inhabited -- a daughter raised to wield power, a loving but tempestuous wife, a controlling mother, and a cunning widow -- all while wearing the royal crown. Far from a proto-feminist, Queen Victoria was socially conservative and never supported women's rights. And yet, Victoria thwarted the strict rules of womanhood that defined the era to which she gave her name. She was passionate, selfish, and moody, boldly defying the will of politicians who sought to control her and emotionally controlling her family for decades. How did the woman who defined Victorian womanhood also manage to defy its conventions? Drawing from the vast collection of Victoria's correspondence and the rich documentation of her life, Worsley recreates twenty-four of the most important days in Victoria's life including her parents' wedding day, the day she met Albert, her own wedding day, the birth of her first child, a Windsor Christmas, the death of Prince Albert, and many more. Each day gives a glimpse into the identity of this powerful, difficult queen as a wife and widow, mother and matriarch, and above all, a woman of her time.
About the Author
I was born in Reading (not great, but it could have been Slough) , studied Ancient and Modern History at New College, Oxford, and I've got a PhD in art history from the University of Sussex. My first job after leaving college was at a crazy but wonderful historic house called Milton Manor in Oxfordshire. Here I would give guided tours, occasionally feed the llamas, and look for important pieces of paper that my boss Anthony had lost. Soon after that I moved to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, in the lovely job for administrator of the Wind and Watermills Section. Here I helped to organise that celebrated media extravaganza, National Mills Day. I departed for English Heritage in 1997, first as an Assistant Inspector and then as an Inspector of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings; Bolsover Castle, Hardwick Old Hall, and Kirby Hall were my favourite properties there. In 2002 I made a brief excursion to Glasgow Museums before coming down to London as Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces in 2003. Yes, this is a brilliant job, but no, you can't have it. (Bribes have been offered, and refused. ) You might also catch me presenting history films on the old goggle box, giving the talks on the cruise ship Queen Mary 2, or slurping cocktails. Lucy Worsley, OBE (born 18 December 1973) is an English historian, author, curator, and television presenter. Worsley is Joint Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces but is best known as a presenter of BBC Television series on historical topics, including Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency (2011) , Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls (2012) , The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain (2014) , A Very British Romance (2015) , Lucy Worsley: Mozart's London Odyssey (2016) , and Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (2016) . -From Wikipedia
