Queen Victoria

Paula Bartley's Queen Victoria examines Victorian Britain from the perspective of the Queen. Victoria's personal and political actions are discussed in relation to contemporary shifts in Britain's society, politics and culture, examining to what extent they did - or did not - influence events throughout her reign. Drawing from contemporary sources, including Queen Victoria's 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 Victoria's private and public roles, it will examine the cultural paradox of the Queen's 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 Victoria's life for students of Victorian Britain and the British Empire.

Paula Bartley has published extensively on women's history. Her previous publications include Emmeline Pankhurst (Routledge Historical Biographies, 2002), Votes for Women (2007), and Ellen Wilkinson: from Red Suffragist to Government Minister (2014).

Chronology Introduction Chapter 1: Becoming Victoria: 1819-1837 Chapter 2: The Young Queen 1837-1840 Chapter 3: Leisure, love and family: 1837-1844 Chapter 4: Revolutionary times: 1840-1851 Chapter 5: Victoria and Motherhood: 1842-1861 Chapter 6: Queen Victoria, Palmerston and political interference, 1850-1860 Chapter 7: Life after Albert, 1861-1868 Chapter 8: Victoria, Gladstone and Disraeli 1868-1880 Chapter 9: Trading places: Victoria, Gladstone and Salisbury 1880-1892 Chapter 10: The last years: 1892-1901 Conclusion Bibliography Index