Bertie: A Life of Edward VII

By: Jane Ridley

Narrated by: Carole Boyd

Entertaining and different, this is an enjoyable study of a flawed yet characterful Prince of Wales seen through the eyes of the women in his life. Edward Vll, who gave his name to the Edwardian Age and died in 1911, was King of England for the final 10 years of his life. He was 59 when at last he came to the throne. Known as Bertie, the eldest son of Victoria and Albert, he was bullied by both his parents. Although Bertie was heir to the throne, Victoria refused to give him any proper responsibilities, as a result of which he spent his time eating, betting, and womanising.

Bertie's numerous mistresses included the society hostess Daisy Brook ('Babbling Brook'), Lillie Langtry and Alice Keppel. When Bertie finally became king, he did a good job, especially in foreign policy. This colourful book gives Bertie due credit, while painting a vivid portrait of the age in all its excess and eccentricity, hypocrisy and heartbreak.

©2012 Jane Ridley (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

I cried when I finished

This is one of those books I couldn't bear to put down. The writing is brilliant, the performance perfection itself, and the story mesmerizing. Gossip, history, fun, and enlightenment are all here, and Carole Boyd is absolutely dazzling in her rendition, mastering flawless pronunciation in several languages and acting worthy of an award. I recommend this book to all who enjoy history, biography, and the theatre of the ear.

Mom does not love me

Loved thebiography from Victoria to Edward. Learned a great amount of informatio n regarding his birth and how he managed given his mother hated him. Blaming him for the death of his father no wonder he was awomanizer and faithless.

King Edward VII

A detailed entertaining story of this great king who loved women, cigars and England.

Well done by both the author and narrator.

I really learned to appreciate and like this monarch through the research of this author.

Great story!

Absolutely loved this book and learning about Edward VII. For such a short reign, he had an impressive influence on European politics. Reader was beautifully expressive!
Only complaint: the reader's voice tended to traverse the dynamic and pitch spectrum to extremes that were so low and soft that I had difficulty understanding her occasionally, even with volume at its fullest, due to my own hearing issues.

Great performance of a sad life

To begin ... there are several quotations in French or German which are left untranslated (and several that ARE translated). This inconsistency makes me feel that I have missed out on some subtilties of the narrative. Otherwise the performance was singular.

The subject however was quite sad. The King comes across as a shallow man of his times and a unintentional catalyst in the coming of WW1. As Prince of Wales he was a hedonistic glutton who spent most of his time in pursuit of diversion. As an American I find it quite difficult to grasp the relevance of the UK Monarchy in the Victorian Era (Victoria herself was a mad recluse through most of her reign - and the country seems better off for it.)

Perhaps it's the pageantry ... then and now ... that people need in their lives. If it is the case, then they have paid dearly for it over the centuries.

Most informative.

What made the experience of listening to Bertie: A Life of Edward VII the most enjoyable?

The twists of his life were so unpredictable that it was hard to decide if the guy was a weird dude or ...?

What did you like best about this story?

It must be the narrator. Her accents,even American were spot on.

Which scene was your favorite?

Any in which that odd Kaiser Wilhelm was exposed to be just as irritating that Queen Victoria found him.I've seen the bullet holes in his church in West Berlin back in "80.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

An amazing deep dive…

... into the life of a turn of the century sovereign who’s upbringing either made him or he overcame. And considering his mother, no small surprise either way. A really worthwhile biography that presents some closing chapter questions both thought provoking and unexpected. The reader Miss Boyd does a terrific job, made all the more remarkable by her seamless facility with the male voices. And accents. Pretty darn good history and an excellent biography

Impressive!

Great book! It really leaves no unanswered questions about his life; it was so EXTREMELY thorough and well researched! Very impressive work.

I would love to read a biography of George V written by the same author, it would feel like a natural continuation.

A perfect storm of subject, author, and narrator

The biography is meticulously documented, but far from dry ... the author brought together material from various sources, and cleverly juxtaposed them to create a wider point of view.

The narrator was perfection. The tones, inflections, nuances, she brought to the material ... in combination with the voices she tapped into to create the characters, was - in my mind - absolutely flawless.

The author and writer melded together into an experience that - in the 100+ books I have listened to - is unsurpassed.