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Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury: Servant of Two Sovereigns
The first full-length study of the man who contrived the succession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne, following the death of Elizabeth I.
244 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 28, 2025
Alan Haynes biography of Robert Cecil is the second to have been written on this important Elizabethan diplomat and eventual secretary of state to James Vi. The first to have been written was done by a member of the cecil family itself and was in the early 1900s and was largely a hagiography.
In Haynes work, he pieces together all that is known of the earl of Salisbury and does a commendable job in doing so, examine his relationship with his father and brother, aswell as Elizabeth herself and eventually James VI. He offers a fairly balanced portrait of the man, but definitely approaches his biography as a pro-cecilian, rarely criticizing Cecil for any of his shortcomings and instead preferring to lavish the word genius, or brilliant on him on several occasions (which could have been warranted).
my only gripe with the book is that while it is a cradle to grave narrative as opposed to a categorical or thematic approach, the writing is definitely dated and the reading could be a bit turgid, and Haynes definitely writes as though you are to know most if not all of the names that Cecil collaborates or works around, which can get to be confusing if you aren't well versed or familiar with them already.
In Haynes work, he pieces together all that is known of the earl of Salisbury and does a commendable job in doing so, examine his relationship with his father and brother, aswell as Elizabeth herself and eventually James VI. He offers a fairly balanced portrait of the man, but definitely approaches his biography as a pro-cecilian, rarely criticizing Cecil for any of his shortcomings and instead preferring to lavish the word genius, or brilliant on him on several occasions (which could have been warranted).
my only gripe with the book is that while it is a cradle to grave narrative as opposed to a categorical or thematic approach, the writing is definitely dated and the reading could be a bit turgid, and Haynes definitely writes as though you are to know most if not all of the names that Cecil collaborates or works around, which can get to be confusing if you aren't well versed or familiar with them already.
January 23, 2026
I have a degree in history so I've read a few history books in my time but this one was hard going. It didn't flow smoothly or clearly. Many different names might be introduced without previous introduction, a digression into a related event or person, longwinded. It got confusing. Ultimately, I didn't think it worth my time persevering.
January 23, 2026
Convoluted, confusing, going off on tangents, made this book hard to follow. I started skim reading and then just gave up altogether
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews