Ryan's Reviews > The Life and Times of Prince Albert

Very well presented biography of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. (This was also a free book from Audible, so even better). Albert is well covered by historians, but I personally wasn't as familiar with 1800s UK history of the monarchy, so I learned a fair bit. Particularly interesting was that there were still issues of monarch vs. parliament even at that date, due to Victoria's preference for certain politicians and parties ("Bedchamber Crisis" of 1839), and how Albert potentially prevented war between the US/Union and Britain during the US Civil War over a naval interdiction (basically, by softening the letter sent to Lincoln after the incident, leaving open the possibility that the US captain had misinterpreted or exceeded Lincoln's orders in violating British sovereignty, rather than directly accusing Lincoln and the US of doing so). Overall, seems like a genuinely great leader, and the Great Courses program presents it well.