*Starred Review* Long-lived Queen Victoria had an era named after her, as did her long-waiting heir when he eventually succeeded to the British throne. Edward VII was an absolute style icon and knew how to enjoy a good party and a robust liaison with a pretty—and willing—woman. The term “Edwardian” thus became associated with high fashion and high living. The title of Ridley’s biography of King Edward is appropriate to the popular sense of the monarch, that his life was defined by his many years as the indulged and indulgent Prince of Wales. But significant research stands behind the author’s more judicious understanding of the man, that the “dissipated prince evolved into a model king.” Barred by his mother from any participation in royal duties out of her obsessive conviction that her son was not of sufficiently solid material to follow her on the throne, Bertie turned, in compensation, to hot pursuit of pleasure, garnering a reputation for playing not only hard but even scandalously. Nevertheless, upon the old queen’s demise in 1901 and his own accession, Edward rose to the occasion to be Britain’s first constitutional monarch as we define that role today, modernizing the monarchy and making it stronger. A top-notch royal biography for all active British-history collections. --Brad Hooper
“Superb.”
—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) “So often, after finishing a great slab of a biography, one feels a weary disenchantment with the project and its subject. Not in this case. I closed
The Heir Apparent with admiration and a kind of wry exhilaration. If it was an overdose, it was an overdose of champagne.”
—The Wall Street Journal“If [
The Heir Apparent] isn’t
the definitive life story of this fascinating figure of British history, then nothing ever will be.”
—The Christian Science Monitor “Ridley is a serious scholar and historian who keeps Bertie’s flaws and virtues in fine balance.”
—The Boston Globe “
The Heir Apparent is smart, it’s fascinating, it’s sometimes funny, it’s well-documented and it reads like a novel, with Bertie so vivid he nearly leaps from the page, cigars and all. From the first page, Ridley drew me into the story of (let’s face it) someone I wasn’t particularly interested in. Know an Anglophile? Buy them this book.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune“A top-notch royal biography . . . The title of Ridley’s biography of King Edward is appropriate to the popular sense of the monarch, that his life was defined by his many years as the indulged and indulgent Prince of Wales. But significant research stands behind the author’s more judicious understanding of the man, that the ‘dissipated prince evolved into a model king.’”
—Booklist (starred review)“[A] marvelously rich biography of Edward VII . . . Readers both general and specialized will delight in Ridley’s work; it raises the bar for royal biographies to come.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A highly readable, definitive biography of Queen Victoria’s son, the ‘black sheep of Buckingham Palace,’ who matured into an effective monarch . . . [A] top-notch life of the king . . . There is no shortage of biographies of Edward VII, but this thick, lucid and lively history deserves pride of place on the shelf.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “[A] splendid new biography.”
—The Guardian “Brilliantly entertaining . . . With this richly detailed, impeccably researched book . . . Ridley has achieved a landmark royal biography.”
—The Sunday Telegraph “Profoundly learned and a cracking good read.”
—The Spectator “Ridley has written a marvellous biography. Her book is racy and pacy, filled with delicious descriptions of grand Edwardian shooting parties, cutting-edge fashion and, of course, a string of beautiful society women. But she is never trivial, and nor is her Bertie.”
—The Mail on Sunday “Ridley’s definitive biography is a remarkable achievement. Entertaining, readable and illuminating, this much-anticipated reappraisal of a fascinating life is a brilliant tour de force.”
—Bridlington Free Press “Bertie, as he was universally known, couldn’t do anything without it being commented on and often distorted. Though the gossip columnists had plenty of material to work with, they only told part of the story. [Ridley] does an excellent job of redressing the balance.”
—The Financial Times