Overview

After the untimely death of Prince Albert, the Queen and her nation were plunged into a state of grief so profound that this one event would dramatically alter the shape of the British monarchy. For Britain had not just lost a prince: during his twenty year marriage to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert had increasingly performed the function of King in all but name. The outpouring of grief after Albert's death was so extreme, that its like would not be seen again until the death of Princess Diana one hundred and thirty-six years later.Drawing on many letters, diaries and memoirs from the Royal Archives and other neglected sources, as well as the newspapers of the day, Helen Rappaport offers a new perspective on this compelling historical psychodrama--the crucial final months of the prince's life and the first long, dark ten years of the Queen's retreat from public view. She draws a portrait of a queen obsessed with her husband and--after his death--with his enduring place in history. Magnificent Obsession also sheds new light on the true nature of the prince's chronic physical condition, overturning for good the one hundred and fifty-year-old myth that he died of typhoid fever.

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9798200081530

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Reviews

"Absorbing account of the making of a queen through her awful, protracted grief.-- ""Kirkus"""

Author Information

Born in Bromley, England, Helen Rappaport was an actress who appeared on British TV and in films until the early 1990s, then focused on writing. She has published a number of historical works, including Joseph Stalin, No Place for Ladies, and The Last Days of the Romanovs. She is also the author of the Victorian true-crime story Beautiful for Ever and coauthor, with William Horwood, of Dark Hearts of Chicago. A fluent Russian speaker and a specialist in Russian history and nineteenth-century women's history, Helen has become well known as a Russian translator in the theater and has translated all seven of Anton Chekhov's plays. Wanda McCaddon began recording books for the fledgling audiobook industry in the early 1980s and has since narrated well over six hundred titles for major audio publishers, as well as abridging, narrating, and coproducing classic titles for her own company, Big Ben. Audiobook listeners may be familiar with her voice under one of her two ""nom de mikes,"" Donada Peters and Nadia May. The recipient of an Audie Award and more than twenty-five Earphones Awards, AudioFile magazine has named her one of recording's Golden Voices. Wanda also appears regularly on the professional stage in the San Francisco Bay Area. Wanda McCaddon began recording books for the fledgling audiobook industry in the early 1980s and has since narrated well over six hundred titles for major audio publishers, as well as abridging, narrating, and coproducing classic titles for her own company, Big Ben. Audiobook listeners may be familiar with her voice under one of her two ""nom de mikes,"" Donada Peters and Nadia May. The recipient of an Audie Award and more than twenty-five Earphones Awards, AudioFile magazine has named her one of recording's Golden Voices. Wanda also appears regularly on the professional stage in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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