I liked the topic (subject) more than I liked the book. It didn't flow. Each page had one or two footnotes -- not a bad thing. But every chapter had a multitude of endnotes. They ranged from 40 -- the fewest -- in Chapter 1, to the winner, Chapter 27 with 158. Most hovered at around 100. With 27 chapters, that means approximately 2700 endnotes. That is a lot of flipping back and forth. Which I never did. Why so many notes? Was this book intended for academics?

What Ridley has done is use quotes to convey the simplest of things. If someone thought a person was "badly dressed" it would be in quotes and you could entertain yourself by flipping to the back of the book to find out which letter located in what archive this quote could be found in. Well documented this book is. But who cares about such minutiae? It seemed to me possible that much of what was included, that was not especially enlightening, was there simply to show how many archives and letters Ridley had read through. You got the sense of a (very long) term paper written by a student who aimed to please the teacher by including the most notes of any student in the class.

Of course you could skip those notes, as I did, but then you also had to deal with a dry narrative and paragraphs that sometimes would start out talking about one thing and end up talking about another.

All in all, it read a bit like a to-do list written in the past tense. That said, I think Bertie is a fascinating character and those were very interesting times and the subject matter made it a worthwhile read. ( )

A very interesting biography of Edward VII, one that I think tries to achieve a sense of balance between the somewhat dissolute prince of the pre-1892 period, and the one who seems to have snapped to and gotten sensible after the death of his own heir (Albert Victor). One advantage the author appears to have is some recently discovered (or re-discovered) material lurking in the Royal Archives, some of which she found herself. In spite of the mass destruction of large chunks of the archive of Queen Victoria and of Edward VII (something the author goes into in an epilogue), there's a lot of fresh light that can be shown, and I think the result is readable and balanced. (It also helps that I read this right after reading a biography of Albert Victor -- some of the ground covered is the same). I would recommend this. ( )

This is an engaging biography, easy to read but properly researched and referenced. It is highly sympathetic to its subject, but does not hide Edward's failings. Some bias is detectable, especially against Queen Victoria, Prince Leopold, Lillie Langtry, Lord Salisbury and particularly Princess Alicky of Hesse (later the last Czarina).

A biography of Edward is in some ways quite difficult for the years between 1861 and 1901 given his lack of purposeful activity, but this is overcome with lot of detail about the social side of the prince's life. Some of the new revelations in the book are not very significant, even if they are interesting. In the section dealing with Edward's years as king (quite short compared with the rest, given its relative importance), Ridley makes a convincing case for the effectiveness of Edward's 'soft' diplomacy in European affairs, while noting the differing views on this issue.

There is a useful appendix dealing with the history of the King's papers and early biographical efforts. Professor Ridley teaches a course in biography and is an expert in this general area. ( )

Very enjoyable biography of Bertie. I am pretty sketchy on the English monarchy so it was like fitting a puzzle piece that makes a picture come clearer. Queen Victoria emerges as a cranky old lady who was an awful mother and a neglectful queen, favoring a life of mourning for Albert over duties of state. Bertie was inauspicious to begin but eventually, for all his flaws and philandering ways, emerges with a degree of dignity--and ultimately beloved of his people. Not to say, that the whole royal family wasn't a pampered, indolent lot. It's almost comical--their yachts, their taking the cure, their house parties, their vast appetites.

Bertie died just a few years before WWI. But the clouds were gathering and the book provides glimpses Nicky the hapless Czar and William, Bertie's nephew, who becomes Kaiser Wilhelm--a villain if ever there was one.

Like most books that I really like, this story was vivid and easy to inhabit for the duration--a tribute to Jane Ridley's writing and organization of the material. ( )

Very detailed and long but interesting look at the life of Edward VII. He deeply valued his privacy and had his correspondence burned so it is a challenge to piece together his thoughts and feelings. The biographer does a good job with this but still it drags. Much of the book is gossipy and is spent deciphering diary codes and if mistresses were platonic or not. Yawn. All in all if you are interested in this period a good read. ( )