For over six decades, Queen Victoria ruled a great Empire. Beside her for more than twenty of those years was her beloved husband and the father of their nine children, Prince Albert. A composer, engineer, soldier, politician, linguist and bibliophile, Albert was one of the architects of Victorian Britain's transformation as a centre of political, technological, scientific and intellectual advancement. Albert lived only forty-two years, but fathered four royal dynasties and helped pioneer the modern constitutional monarchy. Drawn from the Royal archives, including Prince Albert's own correspondence, this biography offers never-before-known details about the man and his time, giving Albert the reverence and recognition that is long overdue.