One of the standout biographies of the season is Victoria: The Queen (Random House, $35) by Julia Baird, an engaging portrait of one of the most famous and influential monarchs in European history. Victoria was the longest-reigning English monarch until her great-great-granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, broke her record in 2015. At a time when women were supposed to be submissive and subservient to men, Victoria reigned over the vast British Empire at the pinnacle of its power and influence. Baird’s book covers the whole of Victoria’s life, from her childhood in Kensington Palace through her marriage to her first cousin Albert and her sixty-four-year monarchy until her death at the age of eighty-one. Her reign saw a massive expansion of the British Empire as well as significant political, industrial, and cultural changes and progress. This survey of her life focuses not just on her personal and professional triumphs but also on her missteps and flaws, presenting a well-paced, compelling portrait of a powerful woman who was, at the end of it all, still profoundly human. Baird’s book is biography at its best.
