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Elizabeth: Fortune's Bastard?
Many biographies of Elizabeth merely perpetuate the flattery she enjoyed from her courtiers, as if her dramatic repertoire was limited to the role of 'Gloriana'. This biography also reflects more critical voices, such as those of the Irish, the Catholics and those who lived on the wrong side of the North-South divide.
231 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 24, 2022
I read the well-produced Tempus edition of the book. It has 145 pages with 65 beautiful illustrations. As the author is at pains to point out it is a short account of the long life of Elizabeth 1st and it starts off on a strange note with its preface dedicated to "the hundreds of northern men hanged under martial law in January 1570". This suggests the author is not a great fan of Gloriana...
As with other books on this queen, it is structured on themes within chronological order such as chapters on "alteration of Religion 1559, Scotland and the Succession 1559-1568, Mary Queen of Scots and the Catholic Problem 1568-1580, War with Spain. This breakdown does not work too well in my opinion as a minority of text in the chapters relating to Scotland and Ireland relates to those countries. I enjoyed more John Warren's Elizabeth 1: Religion and Foreign Affairs (see my review of that book).
I do not think this book adds much to the huge number of books on Elizabeth 1 (and the author acknowledges this saying it may be the shortest volume published in 2003). But the illustrations are worth a look.
As with other books on this queen, it is structured on themes within chronological order such as chapters on "alteration of Religion 1559, Scotland and the Succession 1559-1568, Mary Queen of Scots and the Catholic Problem 1568-1580, War with Spain. This breakdown does not work too well in my opinion as a minority of text in the chapters relating to Scotland and Ireland relates to those countries. I enjoyed more John Warren's Elizabeth 1: Religion and Foreign Affairs (see my review of that book).
I do not think this book adds much to the huge number of books on Elizabeth 1 (and the author acknowledges this saying it may be the shortest volume published in 2003). But the illustrations are worth a look.
March 29, 2023
I love history and especially Royal history so I did enjoy this book but at times it wasn't very engaging and I kept having to put it down and pick up later. It's a nice hardback presented book but just could have been more interesting as Queen Elizabeth I did have an interesting life.
May 16, 2023
Quick fire book about Elizabeth but still enjoyable.
September 28, 2024
A quick overview, enjoyed reading it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews