cover image Victoria and Albert

Victoria and Albert

Richard Hough. St. Martin's Press, $23.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-312-14822-5

A challenge for readers of Hough's brief life of the royal couple will be to fathom the meaning of the subtitle. ""Love"" is obvious enough: their arranged marriage to ensure an orderly succession quickly became a passionate one. The tragedies they shared, however, boil down to one--Albert's death at 42, which left Victoria, with half her life still to live, a widow. Having accomplished biographies of eminent partners before (Edward and Alexandra; Winston and Clementine), Hough is practiced at the form and slides easily into his abbreviated narrative, largely told from Victoria's perspective. Nevertheless, his tale is the oft-told one, with few pages unfamiliar to those acquainted with earlier biographies. Nine children are born; two royal dwellings outside London are built (Osburne and Balmoral); a world's fair is arranged successfully at the striking new ""Crystal Palace"" in Hyde Park; a title--Prince Consort--is granted to Albert by his wife; they survive marital spats, often over the education of the dullard heir to the throne; in 1861, Albert dies. It's all competently told, but there's little new here. Illustrations. (Nov.)