Product Description

Handsome volume celebrating the reign of Elizabeth 1. Ties in with a major exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, and marks Elizabeth's 400th anniversary (she died in 1603). Contains 250 colour illustrations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7963 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, Good Queen Bess; Elizabeth I holds a unique place in the English imagination as one of the nation's most powerful, charismatic and successful monarchs. Elizabeth is usually imagined as the icy, untouchable figure memorably recreated on screen by Bette Davis and Judi Dench, but that vision of Elizabeth ignores the turbulent years of her early life, from her birth as the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn in 1533, until her accession to the throne in 1558 following the death of her sister Mary. It is these early years which are the subject of David Starkey's fascinating Elizabeth I, written to accompany his television series about the life of Elizabeth.

Starkey argues that in her first 25 years Elizabeth "had experienced every vicissitude of fortune and ever extreme of condition. She had been Princess and inheritrix of England, and bastard and disinherited; the nominated successor to the throne and an accused traitor on the verge of execution; showered with lands and houses and a prisoner in the Tower". He draws on his skills as a respected Tudor historian to produce a deft account of the religious, political and dynastic maelstrom of mid-16th century England that reads "like a historical thriller". The book carefully picks its way through the finer points of contemporary religious conflict and the peculiarities of Tudor court ceremony, whilst also exploring the formation of Elizabeth's character in relation to a murdered mother, a charismatic father, a tortured sister, and a predatory guardian. Highly readable and written with verve and pace, this is a fascinating account of the young Elizabeth. --Jerry Brotton

Synopsis
Published to accompany a Channel 4 series, Starkey turns the paradox into a person. This new approach to the enigma of Elizabeth's character presents a retelling of her reign, her love for Robert Dudley, the tragi-comedy of her suitors, her epic struggles with Mary and Philip II and the final debacle of her relationship with Robert Devereux.

From the Publisher
The revised edition of the Number 1 Bestseller
'Fresh and lively...vivdly told...He sets before us not only the woman behind the throne but the girl behind the woman' Sunday Times

`The best account in English of the early years of Elizabeth…one of the most zestful pieces of narrative history written…a racy read and first-rate history' Evening Standard `What a page turner! A white knuckle ride through history…inspired research, from the clues embedded in the portraits to court ceremonial to the often circumlocutory letters' Time Out

A woman in a man's world, confident of her destiny to reign, intensely intelligent, passionately sexual yet (she said) a virgin, Elizabeth was to become England's most successful ruler. Finding her way through the labrynthine plots that surrounded the court, she had live by her wits, surrounded by betrayal and suspicion, not knowing who to trust with her desire to be queen, and to be a lover, too…

`I found myself compelled by David Starkey's vivid recreation of the hazardous uncertainty of Elizabeth's early life, her successive exclusions from the centre of power, the studiedly ambiguous answers she offered her interrogators, her inevitable implications in conspiracies and narrow escapes from execution' TLS

`Combines a relaxed and unfussy style with a thorough knowledge of the period and a sharp eye for detail. Elizabeth's life makes for a compelling story and Starkey tells it well' Spectator `Subtle analysis, up-to-date research and balance between speculation and fact. An Elizabeth for our times' Independent

Customer Reviews

Strange
This is not the kind of history that I was expecting - highly populist, focussed more heavily on Elizabeth as a person than on the politics and her decisions as a Queen. Beware.

Good introduction
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A brilliant introduction to a fascinating life
This book is both extremely thorough and very readable. Not only does it illuminate an area of Elizabeth's life that so many other works on the ruler skate over,it does so in an accessible and informative manner. Elizabeth actually emerges as a real flesh and blood teenager, rather than the formidable figure, with her glownig white face and imposing dress of later years.

Very useful for those developing an interest in the Tudor monarchs.