Victoria ruled at the head of a government with which she was meant to converse, debate, and ultimately guide, and it was a job she sometimes struggled to perform. Victoria described herself as an emotional creature and blamed her gender for what she believed were her shortcomings as a monarch. The queen suffered emotionally during her childhood and also in the early part of her rule, but despite a few dramatic scandals at court, victoria came to be loved and respected by the majority of her subjects across the vast british empire. An unprecedented number of important social and economic changes occurred during victoria's 63-year reign, and that span of time has come to signify britain's coming of age into modern history. A few areas of major discussion are: oThe queen's domestic and foreign policies oHer relationships with her husband and children oAssassination attempts on her life oMajor conflicts during her reign oThe queen's time with john brown oThe queen's golden and diamond jubilees oAnd much more! In the age of exploration, the british began building an enormous and highly profitable foreign empire. While the british empire initially lagged behind other european powers such as spain and portugal, it still managed to colonize the new world and discover highly-lucrative trade routes. British colonies could be found on virtually any continent. For decades, colonialism was painted as the duty of the more advanced european civilizations. However, a darker truth lurked under the surface. Find out how britain invaded, colonized, and ruled almost a quarter of the world's land mass.