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Queen Anne: The Politics Of Passion (2013)

by Anne Somerset(Favorite Author)

3.43 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0307962881 (ISBN13: 9780307962881)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Knopf

review 1: It's certainly very detailed! As look at how politics worked as the UK was just starting to get the whole democracy thing going (kindasorta with a lot of wobbling on the way), it was excellent. I loved all the political detail and the back and forthing between parties, and various shenanigans they got up to trying to see how much power they really had (btw, it's still a monarchy: if you're consistently rude to the Queen, she's probably going to fire you).As far as a biography of Anne went, I feel like I'm still trying to get a sense of her. I enjoyed all of the detail and man where there a lot of primary quotes here, which is great, but at times it felt a bit like a forest for the trees situation. The author clearly liked her subject, but didn't shy away from showing her b... moread side or criticising the bad things that she did. She did provide context for popular criticisms of Anne, but it never felt like trying to explain away problems, as some defensive biographers do. So it was detailed, full of citations, and balanced, and should therefore have been my favourite, but in the end I'm left not knowing what to think of its subject. It's possible that Anne really was just that hard to get a hold on. (My read on Anne at the end of it is similar to my opinion on Louis XIII: a fairly ordinary person who probably would have been happier doing something else, but did strive to do their duty to their country, even when it exceeded their ability. I feel like Louis had better advisers though).On the topic of advisers, Somerset draws the supporting cast a little more clearly, and pretty much no one comes away covered in glory. Sarah Churchill especially comes under some pretty heavy fire from the author (usually by means of just posting excerpts of her letters), but very few of the ministers or lords come off as anything other than power hungry and selfish. Which is entertaining to read about, but in the end I'm glad I didn't know any of them.Interesting book, highly entertaining in places, and a good look at the period, but possibly not the clearest view of the subject.
review 2: 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed this biography and learned a lot that I hadn't known about Anne. While full of great primary source material, it did feel a little long and got bogged down in the same, recurring political & personal storylines. I also felt as though the author felt the need to first present the incorrect assumptions about Anne or a particular event and then refute them. Overall though, it was very interesting and the writing, with a great blending-in of quotes, was good. less

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