For more than six decades, Queen Victoria ruled a great Empire at the height of its power. Beside her for more than 20 of those years was the love of her life, her trusted husband and father of their nine children, Prince Albert. But while Victoria is seen as the embodiment of her time, it was Prince Albert, A.N. Wilson argues, who quietly guided Britain's transformation into a vibrant center of political, technological, scientific, and intellectual advancement. The short-lived Albert was a composer, engineer, soldier, politician, and linguist who initiated a major reform in the nation's college system, and as Wilson contends, it is impossible to understand 19th century England without knowing the story of this gifted visionary leader.