Queen Victoria

Paula Bartleys Queen Victoria examines Victorian Britain from the perspective of the Queen. Victorias personal and political actions are discussed in relation to contemporary shifts in Britains society, politics and culture, examining to what extent they did - or did not - influence events throughout her reign.

Drawing from contemporary sources, including Queen Victorias own diaries, as well as the most recent scholarship, the book contextualises Victoria historically by placing her in the centre of an unparalleled period of innovation and reform, in which the social and political landscape of Britain, and its growing empire, was transformed. Balancing Victorias private and public roles, it will examine the cultural paradox of the Queens rule in relation to the changing role of women: she was a devoted wife, prolific mother and obsessive widow, who was also Queen of a large Empire and Empress of India.

Marrying cultural history, gender history and other histories from below with high politics, war and diplomacy, this is a concise and accessible introduction to Queen Victorias life for students of Victorian Britain and the British Empire.