Jane Ridley is professor of history at Buckingham University in England, where she teaches a course on biography. Her previous biographies include The Young Disraeli and Edwin Lutyens, which won the prestigious Duff Cooper Prize. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Ridley writes book reviews for The Spectator and other newspapers, and has also appeared in several television and radio documentaries.
“If [The Heir Apparent] isn’t the definitive life story of this
fascinating figure of British history, then nothing ever will
be.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“The Heir Apparent is smart, it’s fascinating, it’s sometimes
funny, it’s well-documented and it reads like a novel, with Bertie
so vivid he nearly leaps from the page, cigars and
all.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“I closed The Heir Apparent with admiration and a kind of wry
exhilaration.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Ridley is a serious scholar and historian, who keeps Bertie’s
flaws and virtues in a fine balance.”—The Boston Globe
“Brilliantly entertaining . . . a landmark royal biography.”—The
Sunday Telegraph
“Superb.”—The New York Times Book Review
“A top-notch royal biography . . . The title of Ridley’s biography
of King Edward is appropriate to the popular sense of the monarch,
that his life was defined by his many years as the indulged and
indulgent Prince of Wales. But significant research stands behind
the author’s more judicious understanding of the man, that the
‘dissipated prince evolved into a model king.’”—Booklist (starred
review)
“[A] marvelously rich biography of Edward VII . . . Readers both
general and specialized will delight in Ridley’s work; it raises
the bar for royal biographies to come.”—Publishers Weekly (starred
review)
“A highly readable, definitive biography of Queen Victoria’s son,
the ‘black sheep of Buckingham Palace,’ who matured into an
effective monarch . . . [A] top-notch life of the king . . . There
is no shortage of biographies of Edward VII, but this thick, lucid
and lively history deserves pride of place on the shelf.”—Kirkus
Reviews (starred review)
“[A] splendid new biography.”—The Guardian
“Profoundly learned and a cracking good read.”—The Spectator
“Ridley has written a marvellous biography. Her book is racy and
pacy, filled with delicious descriptions of grand Edwardian
shooting parties, cutting-edge fashion and, of course, a string of
beautiful society women. But she is never trivial, and nor is her
Bertie.”—The Mail on Sunday
“Ridley’s definitive biography is a remarkable achievement.
Entertaining, readable and illuminating, this much-anticipated
reappraisal of a fascinating life is a brilliant tour de
force.”—Bridlington Free Press
“Bertie, as he was universally known, couldn’t do anything without
it being commented on and often distorted. Though the gossip
columnists had plenty of material to work with, they only told part
of the story. [Ridley] does an excellent job of redressing the
balance.”—Financial Times
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