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We Two

[Victoria and Albert : Rulers, Partners, Rivals]
Dec 04, 2012hmcgivney rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I think that perhaps I should have read a biography of Victoria by herself before getting into a dual biography of Victoria and Albert. I am much more interested in Victoria; Albert's narcissism and contempt for the female sex was very frustrating, and made more so because Victoria worshiped Albert and joyfully subjugated herself to him. It was hard to reconcile Albert's bad qualities with his love of family, work ethic, and progressive ideals. However, it seems that as long as he was completely in charge and given recognition as a perfect specimen of morals and manhood, he could be fair to his underlings (including Victoria). And, because it was a dual biography, it ended when Albert died. There was an epilogue about how his death affected each member of his family and inner circle, but I wanted to know more about Victoria's 42 years of widowhood (half of her life). The epilogue included an interesting bit of conjecture about how, if Albert had lived another year, WWI might have been avoided because he could have intervened in the affairs of the Prussian royal family by advising his daughter and son-in-law (who was the crown prince).