Children Of The Empire

This is a nice little omnibus about the children and grandchildren of Queen Victoria. There’s a unique angle in that each individual subject is “composing” a letter at the end of their life. The letter is created using source documents so very well done.

I think this is a good entry as a general history lesson, a good foundational update for those of us the love reading royal histories. Some of the entries get repetitive, when you’re on the 5th grandchild by child X and the opening is the same except for birth order and the name/birthplace but outside of that jar a nice little read.

I received an advance copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting book about this storied family.
I enjoyed the format of focusing on one person, written in the first person perspective.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

Very informative overview of nine children and 38 grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and how would they describe their own lives in their own words as though they are writing short autobiography at the end of their lives.

Based on hystorical facts and sources, mainly letters,

As I already said, the facts are interesting, but the language is pretty dull, almost encyclopedic.

Really enjoyed this. Would recommend to lovers of historical nonfiction like The Romanov Sisters and The Traitor and the Spy. Very interesting and lots of educational tid bits I ended up researching further in application to other areas they extended to. Really enjoyed and personally debating picking up a copy of my own.

This is in no way a history book, but more like a compendium of the lives of Queen Victoria, her children and their children. They're mostly two or three page blurbs of the salient parts of their lives and the grandchildren's bios do feature their children.

Though this is not on the level of an encyclopedia, it's more than you would find in a dictionary. If you want to know who married who and became Queen of this or that, it's great for that.

Michael Farah
has given the reader a very unique perspective into the legacy of Queen Victoria in capturing the lives of her children and grandchildren. Reflecting on their lives, each heir highlights the road they have travelled in a first person narrative. As if composing a letter, they unfold their personal biographies filled with love, loss, scandal, intrigue, successes and failures. Without getting deep into the history of the monarch, this is a wonderful introduction filled with interesting facts. Photographs and family trees further identify and connect each individual in this very amazing family.
This is a fun read and recommended for anyone interested in the Royal family.
My thanks to NetGalley and Matador Publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved the way it was put together, Starting with the eldest child to the last... so informative... great photographs. A must for a history fiend.... I loved it and was so disappointed when it ended...

Very well written and interesting book, it shows how far Victoria influences and genetics spread through her children and told their stories in an interesting fashion!

Children of the Empire - Michael Farah

I’ve always been quite fascinated with the reign of Queen Victoria, she came to the throne as a very young woman (18), had a large family and then married them off across Europe with the intention of gaining more influence across the continent. As a result she gained the epithet “Grandmother of Europe”.

The premise of this book intrigued me, the idea of first person accounts from forty seven different people... how on earth did the author manage that?

This is a history lesson, with a personal voice and without the dry ‘dates and places’ feel that may put you off reading a history book. Each member of the family has their own chapter describing the key milestones of their lives, from birth to death and how their lives intersect with the other members of the family and the Royal houses that they marry into.

It does get a little convoluted as you weave in and around the next generation, and found myself flicking back and forwards a little to remind myself how each person fit in.
There was also some repetition as you hear the retelling of an event from different points of view, but that was a minor annoyance easily overlooked. The first person retelling was very engaging and reads like a novel.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and have gained a better understanding of the history of this era and Queen Victoria’s reign. It has piqued my interest to seek out more books to further my reading on the subject.

Thank you to NetGalley and Troubadour Publishing for the chance to read and review this book.

I a quite interested in Queen Victoria, and her reign. She is considered "the grandmother of Europe", and this book gives an interesting overview about why. This is the story of forty-seven children and grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, told from their own point of view.
The chapters are short and accesible for both history fans and newbies, but they don't give a very thorough, deep biographical profile, so don't expect a lot of information about each subject, but enough to give you general knowledge on each character. Sometimes several characters repeat the same information, that can be annoying for some readers but not for me.
The author is writing a similar book about Austria’s House of Habsburg, and I'm really lookig forward to reading it.
It's an interesting book, perfect for history/royalty fans.
My thanks to NetGalley and Matador Publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fascinating read a book that history buffs will devour full of information about each of the children.Reflecting on how we are still influenced by these times.#netgalley #troubadorbooks

This is a very readable book in my opinion and provides a very good brief of the offspring of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. It shows how close the European royal families were with the family ties. It is a great introduction for anyone to modern British history and I can see a real use for it in primary/secondary schools for teaching history. Very user friendly book and pitched at an appropriate level to keep it flowing and maintain readers interest.

I was sent a free arc on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this a lot! It offers a different perspective of Queen Victoria's children and grandchildren. I recommend it if you want to read from them, not about them.

The reason why I cannot give it 5 stars is because I think it could go deeper into what happened. It seemed simplified to me.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this book. This is a really good read for any fans of the British Royal family.

This novel discusses Queen Victoria’s children and grandchildren. While the subject matter is interesting, there was not anything that I hadn’t already known about Victoria’s descendants that I have gathered from other novels. Thus, this book is more for the general reader rather than an avid British royal enthusiast!

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Great book! Full of History! I am just fascinated with this type of history. Highly recommend!

I want to begin by saying I got this book for free through Netgalley, but all thoughts are my own. This book is about the children & grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Farah did something unique with this book, as he wrote each chapter from the perspective of the person. This although different wasn't something I was keen on. To me, although a lot of research would have been done about attitudes towards certain aspects of life at that time, along with letters and accounts, a lot of the emotional side of each chapter would have included a fair few assumptions. This means that although educational with the information given about each person, the personality created could have been inaccurate, and I thought the tones of each chapter/letter seemed informal, not likely how a royal would have written. I thought that the idea of each chapter being written from the perspective of the person towards the end of their life, including a post-script section about the death and aftermath of the death of each person was an intriguing concept, but overall just not my cup of tea. However, I do feel more educated about each member of that royal family, as each child and grandchild really did lead interesting and in some cases quite difficult lives. I've heard a few times with this book that it provides no new information, however as I didn't know too much about her children and grandchildren I benefitted from that, but I can imagine this would be fairly dull for those who are more educated on the subject. Overall it's an interesting concept to write in that way, but I don't think it was executed quite as well, although as I did find it somewhat educational, it has been given a 3 star rating.

Children of the Empire is the history of Queen Victoria's children and grandchildren. It is probably the most in depth book about her heirs that I have come across.
The formatting is unusual as it takes each person and essentially has them tell their own life story. Each segment is short, like it could be a presentation being given.
What I appreciated most was that Farah included the emotional side of each person. He made sure to talk about how they (probably) felt and not just what they did.

This book is an interesting and detailed look into the lives of Queen Victoria's grandchildren. The first person account is an unique take on a historical retelling.

A chatty and accessible read, Children of the Empire tells the stories of Queen Victoria’s children and grandchildren. Each chapter is a mini biography, written as if in the first person.
Farah has researched his subjects thoroughly, reciting facts about their births, deaths and everything in between in a straightforward and enjoyable style. Where the book falls down is in a complete lack of any analysis, with the written portraits being presented without conclusions or comment. This means that the text quickly becomes rather repetitive - I was born, I reigned (or not), I died. With no discussion of wider context the whole book doesn’t really enlighten the reader beyond the bare facts of who is who in the European royal tree.
Still, this title will have its fans - the layperson who prefers their history as a straightforward reproduction of facts - and it may serve as a decent starting point for further reading. Worth a try for general collections.