Book excerpt: "These extraordinary letters- human, warm, wise and intimate-...bring new light on major world events and on the domestic life of Queen Victoria and her vast family... Above all, however, they are the record of a touching and delightful correspondence between the old Queen and her favorite grand-daughter, full of warmth, sagacity, good advice, love and concern, shot through with the Queen's own concerns and grief, and revealing in a very special way the full extent of Victoria's wit, intelligence and intense emotions"--from jacket flaps.