Victoria the Queen by Julia Baird

What a marathon effort! This enormous book, though, is extremely readable. Julia Baird is a journalist, not a literary fiction writer, so her analysis of Victoria’s life is fluent, exceptionally well researched and couched in very accessible language. Despite its five hundred odd pages, I had no trouble coming back to this book over and over again, always surprised at how engaging it was. It’s full of gossipy details, a little bit of speculation, and lots and lots of explanations about the politics and personalities of the time. It’s a fascinating, five star read.