Victoria and Albert by Richard Book Report

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Other than his proclivity for run-on sentences, I found Hugh's writing style and language level to reader-friendly for just about all types of audiences.

While overall this book makes a valuable contribution to the historical and biographical literature, there are a few areas of weakness which must also be addressed. For instance, while the subject matter is extremely comprehensive, there are areas of relevance which could have been included which were either ignored or quickly glossed over. One of the most notable of these is the circumstances that surrounded the arrangement of the marriage between Victoria and Albert. Also only referred to obscurely is the familial relationship between the couple, who are rumored to be cousins. Yet overall, the author does an extraordinary job of providing a comprehensive and logical argument that royalty are people too.

On the other hand, Hough is often quick to provide historical background information to flank the personal tale with helpful facts. For example, when discussing Prince Albert's death from typhoid, he throws in the interesting statistic that typhoid "was responsible for 30% of male deaths at the time" (202). He also lets the reader in on the fact that while typhoid is an infectious disease, it works much in the same way as chicken pox in that once someone has already had it, they cannot contract it again. Hough explains that Victoria had suffered a bout with typhoid fever in her childhood, which left her immune and therefore able to care for and comfort her husband until he died.

Hough walks a fine line between writing a love story fitting for daytime television or the tabloids, and writing an historical biographical document that addresses the relationship and the experiences of Victoria and Albert from a factual standpoint.

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His provision of historical references that exist outside the marriage, such the one discussed above regarding typhoid, help to keep the author from crossing the line between biography and narrative. Adding even more historical credibility to the work, and to the author, is the fact that he provides a detailed chronological timeline, as well as a genealogical map, at the beginning of the book for reference purposes.

There is, of course, no reason that historical or biographical accounts need to be dry and consist of nothing but a staid retelling of the facts. Hough seems to understand that this book needed to not only be factual but also entertaining to the reader. Otherwise it would probably sit on the shelf collecting dust, like all of the other historical books whose authors did not grasp this concept.

At the same time, and equally important, is that Hough seems to have an actual purpose in writing this biography, other than simply to recount the facts. His message that even the most glamorous of royalty experience bickering, and even volatile arguments while still remaining deeply in love rings loud and clear. The book is full of examples that could describe the lives of just about any married couple with children, all of which serve to bring home the point that in the end, we are all just "regular people."

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