QUEEN VICTORIA AND HER PRIME MINISTERS

The prize-winning historical biographer writes 'scholarly yet splendid stuff'. Here she masterfully traces Victoria's political evolution, from headstrong teenager to seasoned octogenarian in a biography which demonstrates her passionate involvement in state affairs, and casts fresh light on her relationships with her ten prime ministers. She showed girlish adoration for her first Prime Minister the worldly-wise Lord Melbourne, whose delightful conversation and kindly guidance enchanted her. Later in her reign Benjamin Disraeli, who flattered her shamelessly, tirelessly praising her sagacity and judgement and filling her life with 'poetry, romance and chivalry', became her favourite. While Victoria developed a powerful bond with several of her Prime Ministers, in other cases the relationship fell little short of mutual detestation. Her keenest antipathy was reserved for Disraeli's great rival, the Liberal William Gladstone. When he became Prime Minister for the fourth time at the age of 82, Victoria declared it 'a bad joke' that this 'deranged old fanatic' should be 'thrust down her throat'. This extraordinary history charts the bitter clashes and affectionate interactions in often hilarious detail, drawing extensively on unpublished sources such as material from the Royal Archives and never-before-seen prime ministerial papers. The ten are as follows: Lord Melbourne 1837-1841, Sir Robert Peel 1841-1846, Lord John Russell 1846-1852, Lord Derby, Lord Aberdeen 1852-1855, Lord Palmerston, Lord Derby, Lord Palmerston 1855-1861; Lord Palmerston 1861-1865, Lord Russell, Lord Derby, Mr Disraeli 1865-1868; Mr Gladstone 1868-1874; Mr Disraeli (Earl of Beaconsfield) 1874-1880; Mr Gladstone 1880-1885; Lord Salisbury, Mr Gladstone 1885-1886; Lord Salisbury 1886-1892; Mr Gladstone, Lord Rosebery 1892-1895; and Lord Salisbury 1895-1901. A riveting portrait of a passionate and opinionated leader through ten Prime Ministers during her 63-year reign. 630pp, 16 pages of colour and black and white plates.