Queen Victoria and the Discovery of the Riviera

(Paperback, Annotated edition)

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Description

Queen Victoria fell in love with the Riviera when she discovered it on her first visit to Menton in 1882 and her enchantment with this 'paradise of nature' endured for almost twenty years. Victoria's visits helped to transform the French Riviera by paving the way for other European royalty, the aristocracy and the very rich, who were to turn it into their pleasure garden. Michael Nelson paints a fascinating portrait of Victoria and her dealings with local people of all classes, statesmen and the constant stream of visiting crown heads. In the process, we see an unexpected side to Victoria: not the imperious, petulant, mourning widow but rather an exuberant girlish old lady thrilled by her surroundings. "Queen Victoria and the Discovery of the Riviera" is an absorbing and revealing account that makes an important contribution to both our understanding of Victoria's character and personality and our view of the late Victorian period.

Reviews

"Michael Nelson fully appreciates the subtle relationships between the private and the public, even in the life of imperial sovereigns, and his highly readable book will interest different kinds of readers. For me it is rich in texture as, I believe, it will be for them." Asa Briggs "A distinctly original contribution to the studies of Queen Victoria. Those sections covering the extraordinary people the Queen met on the Riviera are most moving and human." Elizabeth Longford "This is a book full of fascinating and well-documented information." Roy Jenkins "A delightful study ... this short and very well researched book investigates the fully reciprocated love affair between the Queen and the French Riviera: she loved the South of France because of the climate, gardens and relative privacy; it loved her because of the prestige, publicity and tourism that her nine visits engendered." Andrew Roberts, The Sunday Telegraph "One of the most fascinating books of the year ... Queen Victoria helped invent international tourism - Britain's gift to the world." Peter Preston, The Guardian "Vastly researched and highly entertaining." Brian Case, Time Out "...an enjoyable portrait of one of the modern era's most important monarchs." Publishers Weekly "...there is no lack of diverting sidelights. On her first visit, the Queen's train lacked a restaurant car, and she brought some of the food from Windsor, rather like a tripper taking sandwiches to Paris." E.S.Turner, Times Literary Supplement "Nelson chose just the right entries from Victoria's journals and sprinkled the text with letters from other aristocrats, making this a lively read. Nelson's own style allows the reader to vividly imagine being in the hotel drawing rooms right alongside Victoria's entourage. In the introduction, a gem of succinctness and anecdotal charm, Nelson outlines the development of tourism in southern France ... a rare treat." Gail Benjafield, Library Journal "'We are not amused' became her most celebrated remark because it seemed to sum up her attitude to life... But was that the real Victoria New revelations about Queen Victoria's holidays on the French Riviera have emerged, and they show her in a quite different light. They also explain how a strip of Mediterranean France became, with her patronage, one of the most fashionable and glamorous resorts in the world." Christopher Hudson, Daily Mail "We see an unexpected side to Victoria: not the imperious, petulant, mourning widow but rather an exuberant, girlish old lady thrilled by her surroundings. There are many fascinating illustrations, some in colour..."Living France "As a detailed monograph on one specific aspect of Victoria's life, it is difficult to see how it could have been better done. The detail is often beguiling." Paul Minet, Royalty Digest "... a well-researched and highly readable account of the sovereign's love affair with the South of France." Patrick Middleton, The Riviera Reporter

Author Bio

Michael Nelson is an historian of the French Riviera. He was General Manager of Reuters. Lord Asa Briggs is former Provost of Worcester College, Oxford, and is President of the Victorian Society.