The Elizabethan World

by Lacey Baldwin Smith

The Elizabethan World was a world remade. At the dawn of the sixteenth century, Europe was emerging from an age of ignorance and uncertainty. New lands were being discovered and old ones revitalized. People abandoned the ideals of medieval times to make startling advances in technology, science, and art. Here, award-winning historian Lacey Baldwin Smith vividly brings to life the story of Queen Elizabeth - perhaps the most influential sovereign in England's history - and the age she created. During her reign, Queen Elizabeth, last of the Tudor monarchs, presided over developments that still shape and inform our lives and culture today, including her patronage of William Shakespeare, the formation of the Church of England, victory over the Spanish Armada, even the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. Smith's keen eye for detail and sense of how those details have echoed through the centuries make this book essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how history works.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Renaissance, Tudor Period, Elizabethan Period, British Literature

464 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Lacey Baldwin Smith was an historian and author specializing in 16th century England. He was the author of Henry VIII: The Mask of Royalty and Catherine Howard: A Tudor Tragedy, among other books.

Born in Princeton, New Jersey, Smith taught at Princeton University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Northwestern University. He received two Fulbright awards, two National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and other awards.He was considered one of the “big name” historians, yet his writing was considered to be as entertaining as it was erudite. He lived in Vermont during his retirement, dying at Greensboro at the age of 90.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1972.

Reviews

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must admit that this is my favourite age in British history. So I devoured this book and went back several times to re-read sections that were of particular interest to me. Baldwin Smith has organized this book in such a clear logical way, it was such a pleasure to read. The divisions in the church with Loyola and the Jesuits on one side, and Luther, Calvin and Knox on the other was so clear. The three kingdoms in rivalry, Spain, France and England and the characters in England (Raleigh, Drake, Hawkins) were all fascinating. This is truly a case of fact being stranger than fiction.
Loved this book!

[Jim Swike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lacey Baldwin Smith gives a detailed and interesting history of this period. A very good reference book as well. Enjoy!

[Redsteve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done general history of the Elizabethan period, but arranged a bit differently than many similar books. Many of the chapters deal only peripherally with England, but rather with its neighbors - Spain, Scotland, France, the Low Countries, et al. The author then works his way back to the effects of these events on late 16th Century England. Chapters focus on the waning Middle Ages and the rise and tribulations of the House of Tudor (OK, that part is pretty typical), biographies of John Calvin and Ignatius Loyola (and the increasingly polarized attitude towards religion on Europe), France's Wars of Religion, Catherine de Medici, and the Houses of Valois and Bourbon, Phillip II of Spain and the uprisings in the Low Countries, Mary Queen of Scots and diplomacy and espionage, the Armada and the changing face of naval warfare, the idiosyncrasies of the heroes of the age, and changes in perception - in medicine, geography, and astronomy. I enjoyed the author's style which is very cynical and doesn't shy away from poking holes in "what every British schoolboy knows." 4 stars.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lacey Baldwin Smith was everything I wanted to be when I went into history as an undergraduate, and this book is a fair example of why. He writes with an elegance that resembles Garrett Mattingly's, and his insights into the Tudors are penetrating and illuminating. This appreciation of Elizabethan England is episodic rather than linear, and rather more military/political than economic. It also covers more than Elizabeth's realm, with cogent analyses of France and Spain. If the period interests you at all, this book will be an excellent read.

[Summer Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. However, it took me almost a year off and on to finish it. It is a very heavy "History" book and is written in a very academic and scholarly manner. If you are a huge history buff or a massive fan of the Tudor Era/ Elizabethan Era you will enjoy it. There is little story telling and a lot of fact telling. The flow got very slow at times, hence my reasoning for taking so long to read it off and on for a year. In the end it was shown that the author did an immense amount of research, and the book was very informative.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much religion and politics to keep my interest.....

With that title, I was expecting/hoping this book would about the ordinary people’s lives of the Elizabethan era. But it turned out to be all politics and religion, of which I have already had enough. I am a fan of history, particularly the Tudor era, but this left me looking to see how many pages were left, and I could not finish it. This book was well written but dry as dust.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written tome. Good academic overview of the events of Good Queen Bess' time on the throne.

Title is a bit misleading. The book wasn't about the world during Elizabeth's reign, but instead focused more on specific issues and events of Elizabeth's reign.

[Leslie Buck · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is just a history of Elizabeth I reign. The title suggests that you would encounter what it was like to be in England at the time of her reign--the Elizabethan world. Unfortunately, this is just a retelling of an old type of history.

[Charles Rackley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good study of Elizabeth and her time.

This is a good study of Elizabeth and her time. It is a book that is very much worth reading.

[Fríða · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written, but I was very disappointed with the lack of references!

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very interesting portions. Also some very dry, difficult for me to get through portions. I found the information concerning the Armada fascinating. My favorite portion.

[Elisabeth S. Gilliland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very decent summation

Not the deepest book about the Elizabethan world, but a very fair summary of the high points, with some rather unique insights, especially economic.

[Lily P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book for those wanting to understand the dynamics of European politics and religious conflicts during the later portion of the 1500's, a period concurrent with the reign of Elizabeth I and an age named for the English Queen. The text does not focus solely on England.

I read this after Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen and it was a great follow up.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will be honest. I did not make it far into this book. It read like a stream of consciousness that could never, within chapters or paragraphs, settle on the point. If I had been required to read this book for a history class, it would have put me off history. I simply could not read it. You may love it, but I did not.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific, insightful overview of the 16th century related in an approachable, entertaining style. I especially love LBS' voice. He makes history come alive in a lovely amalgamation of broad analysis and whimsical trivia.