The Life of Elizabeth I
The Life of Elizabeth I

Author: Alison Weir

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Published: 2013-04-24

Total Pages: 577

ISBN-13: 0307834603

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An intimate, captivating portrait of Queen Elizabeth I that brings the enigmatic ruler to vivid life, from acclaimed biographer Alison Weir “An extraordinary piece of historical scholarship.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer Perhaps the most influential sovereign England has ever known, Queen Elizabeth I remained an extremely private person throughout her reign, keeping her own counsel and sharing secrets with no one—not even her closest, most trusted advisers. Now, in this brilliantly researched, fascinating chronicle, Alison Weir shares provocative new interpretations and fresh insights on this enigmatic figure. Against a lavish backdrop of pageantry and passion, intrigue and war, Weir dispels the myths surrounding Elizabeth I and examines the contradictions of her character. Elizabeth I loved the Earl of Leicester, but did she conspire to murder his wife? She called herself the Virgin Queen, but how chaste was she through dozens of liaisons? She never married—was her choice to remain single tied to the chilling fate of her mother, Anne Boleyn? An enthralling epic, The Life of Elizabeth I is a mesmerizing, stunning chronicle of a trailblazing monarch.

The Uncrowned Kings of England
The Uncrowned Kings of England

Author: Derek Wilson

Publisher: Constable

Published: 2013-07-25

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 1472112490

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In the political ferment of the Tudor century one family above all others was always at the troubled centre of court and council. During those years the Dudleys were never far from controversy. Three of them were executed for treason. They were universally condemned as scheming, ruthless, over-ambitious charmers, and one was defamed as a wife murderer. Yet Edmund Dudley was instrumental in establishing the financial basis of the Tudor dynasty, and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, led victorious armies, laid the foundations of the Royal Navy, ruled as uncrowned king and almost succeeded in placing Lady Jane Grey on the throne. The most famous of them all, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, came the closest to marrying Elizabeth I, was her foremost favourite for 30 years and governed the Netherlands in her name, while his successor, Sir Robert Dudley, was one of the Queen's most audacious seadogs in the closing years of her reign, but fell foul of James I. Thus the fortunes of this astonishing family rose and fell with those of the royal line they served faithfully through a tumultuous century. see www.derekwilson.com