'A fascinating history’
Censoring Queen Victoria
How Two Gentlemen Edited a Queen and Created an Icon
Yvonne M. Ward‘Fascinating’ BBC History
‘Remarkable and clever’ New York Times
‘Original and important’ Sir David Cannadine
When Queen Victoria died, two gentlemen were commissioned with the monumental task of editing her vast correspondence. It would be the first time that a British monarch’s letters had been published, and it would change how Victoria was remembered forever.
The men chosen for the job were deeply complex and peculiar characters: Viscount Esher, the consummate royal confidant, blessed with charm and influence, but hiding a secret obsession with Eton boys and incestuous relationship with his son; Arthur Benson, a schoolmaster and author, plagued by depression, struggling to fit in with the blue-blooded clubs and codes of the court. Together with King Edward VII these men would decide Victoria’s legacy. In their hands 460 volumes of the Queen’s Correspondence became just three, and their decisions and – distortions – would influence perceptions of Victoria for generations to come.
Reviews
Sunday Herald
‘An unusual and fascinating book… Yvonne Ward has the perceptiveness to present in a new light what at first sight might seem a well-trodden subject, deploying her own knowledge and archival research to make a fascinating read by re-editing the editors’
Literary Review
'Four stars - Yvonne Ward tells a complicated story clearly and simply, which is the reverse of the normal academic procedure.'
Mail on Sunday
‘Yvonne Ward’s exposure of the motives and the men behind this skilful piece of powerfully persuasive and permanent Edwardian political spin is astonishing’
The Times
‘Fascinating’
BBC History Magazine
'Remarkable and clever'
New York Times
‘Ward argues convincingly that Esher and Benson's radical pruning of Queen Victoria's early correspondence has had a profound effect on her posthumous reputation… a timeless reminder of how important it is for biographers to find the time, space and will to battle back to the primary sources.’
Guardian
‘Original and engaging’
Spectator
'Rich in intrigue.'
Kirkus Reviews
'Enlightening... earnest, thorough.'
Publishers Weekly
'Original and important, this book represents a major contribution to our understanding of the modern British monarchy.'
Sir David Cannadine
'Hats off to Yvonne Ward... who has exposed the gentlemanly networks that tried to hide the truth about Queen Victoria'.'
Robert Lacey
