About this title: In this spirited United Kingdom bestseller, Starkey presents a brilliant examination of the formative years of the "Virgin Queen, " recreating a host of extravagant characters, mad-cap schemes, and tragic plots, while using original documents to depict the princess's tumultuous life before her accession to the throne in 1588. Two 8-page color ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780060959517ISBN:0060959517
Description: Good. 240-Y-Add Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Description: Good. Dust Cover Missing. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
"I loved this book. Elizabeth I was one of the strongest women ever! This had a lot of detail about others in her life who helped/hurt her, but I liked it overall and didn't get too bogged down in the history. It was great to read The Lady Elizabeth after and see that parts of that story were actually true!"
"This was a good book! I read it after I read the book about Henry VIII's wives, so I feel I got some of the same information here. Nevertheless, a good read."
"I love anything that has to do with the Tudor era so I was addicted to this book. It focuses much of it's time on Elizabeth's life growing up which many other historical bio's ignore or simply gloss over. If you are interested in the Tudors and that era in history you should read this book."
"David Starkey is an apt biographer. He has an eye for hidden history. In this book he captures both the fascinating and bizarre and has a very natural voice for biography. Here he decides to focus on Elizabeth's upbringing (essentially her queen-making) rather than the breast-plate-toting, white-stallion-riding queen of 1500s British imperialism. Here she is, in all her un-glory, the girl before Gloriana - involved in intrigues, assassination plots, the Protestant uprising, family politics, and even some brief and bizarre brushes with romance. The story, like any chapter of British history, is fascinating and complicated. Most of the time I wanted to pick this up and keep reading.
Yet there are moments when Starkey gets a bit caught up in complex party politics surrounding Elizabeth's ascension. He'll rattle off names and point them out as supporters, rebels, half-supporters, flip-floppers, etc. Besides trying to keep all the Northumberlands and Somersets apart, I'm not sure all this politicking gets us much closer to understanding Elizabeth's history as a queen. I think some of this could be spared - it's a bit of a slower read at times. Overall, it's a wonderfully thorough and scintillating portrayal of the young pre-queen and her rise to power (with no details spared). It really made both Tudor and Elizabethan England come alive."
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