Another great book about a fascinating woman ( )

I find Tudor history to be fascinating. I have always been a big fan of the Tudors. Elizabeth I is a particularly fascinating historical figure. This historical biography mainly concerns Elizabeth as a young woman. In fact it is around page 238 before Elizabeth becomes queen. Therefore we find out a huge amount about Elizabeth in the years of Edward VI’s, and Mary’s reigns. The political and religious upheaval of the time, was complex, and David Starkey shows just how attune to it all Elizabeth was, and how close she really came to suffering the same fate as Lady Jane Grey and others. Elizabeth emerges as very bright – even as a child she was really very gifted. Surrounded by loyal supporters Elizabeth wasn’t always assured of the crown – and some of her supporters made her perilous position worse during the Bloody Marian years. Of course as we all know Elizabeth succeeded to the English throne, and became one of the most successful monarchs in British History.

I am glad that I have read this book quite slowly, as I have enjoyed coming home every day to the English court of the 1550’s and indulging my love of Tudor history. A brilliant book, utterly fascinating. ( )

Great historical novel (well, it doesn't read like a formal biography), the style is fluid, the storyline concise and to the point, the references (primary and secondary) are well researched and it doesn't dwell on sordid details, which is a plus. The author is well known in his field, and I would say that this book is a library essential, either for academics/students of English or for Gloriana buffs. Highly recommended. ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1125160.ht...

This was a fortuitously good paired reading of biographies: Starkey concentrates on Elizabeth's life from her conception and birth in 1533 to her accession to the throne in 1558; he is telling a less familiar story and also challenges received wisdom (for instance he unhesitatingly puts the dying Edward VI at the heart of the Lady Jane Grey affair, where traditionally it has been seen as Northumberland's doing).

Starkey's approach is somewhat psychological. He has three main sets of conclusions: that Elizabeth learned important lessons of statecraft from the bitter failures of her sister Mary's reign, that her attitude to religion was a sincere adherence to what evolved into High Church Anglicanism, and that her attitudes to both marriage and religion were perhaps crucially formed during her residence with her father's last wife and her second husband, Thomas Seymour. Indeed, Seymour's appallingly intimate behaviour with his teenage stepdaughter would surely be characterised today as sexual abuse (my assessment, not Starkey's), and that must have left its traces in Elizabeth's attitude to men (and indeed women).
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A good concise summary of the dramatic story of Elizabeth's journey to the throne, especially her survival through her turbulent childhood and adolescence. ( )