Elizabeth I: The Shrewdness of Virtue

Rating:
Summary: The Virtue of Shrewdness..!
Review: Having just finished Anne Somersets more definitive bio on Elizabeth I have to agree with previous reviewers that the author seems to have it in for his subject. Does he even like her?. He portrays her more as vindictive, vascillating, procrastinating,vain and downright bloodthirsty. Most notably in her relations with the english puritans, the protestant rebels in the Netherlands and especially her close relatives. The latter being her treatment of Katherine Grey, sister of the beheaded Jane for whom there was no love lost. He does not give her any credit for being a woman in a mans world and having the guts and wisdom to choose some very bright men as ministers and councillors and not yes-men at that. Walshingham and William Cecil openly disagreed with her on many issues but at no time did she contemplate dismissing them. He also appears to be saying that Elizabeth's foreign policy was based on the divine right of princes to rule their own kingdoms, and that rebels against their rightful lords be they protestant or catholic deserve to be severely punished hence her sympathetic correspondence with Philip of Spain. Ridley also has a penchant for drawing out in unnecessary detail execution and torture scenes. When the assassin of William of Orange is submitted to all kinds of horrific torture before his eventual execution, smiling the whole time the reader finds himself squirming uncomfortably. Despite the authors elegant prose I prefer the Sommerset or even Antonia Fraser biographies. They may not deify the woman but at least they dont vilify her.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding research tool, extensive detail
Review: Jasper Ridley's biography of Elizabeth is well-written and coherent, broken into chapters that examine pivotal events during the reign in foreign and domestic policy. Ridley's work differs from most Elizabethan biographies in its focus on political and military aspects rather than personal studies of the queen. While at times the text drags, for the most part it is crisp and solid reading, and paints a fascinating picture. What makes the book stand out, however, is the quality of its documentation and use of primary sources, and its tremendous value as a research tool. Mr. Ridley has made assiduous use of archived state papers and contemporary commentaries that depict events as they were actually experienced and grasped by the people in the 16th and early 17th centuries. A student partaking in research on this period or studying the European Renaissance in general would benefit tremendously from a consultation of the bibliography, since the author essentially gives an index of the calendars of state publications that detail various decisions and military planning of the late 1500s. Furthermore, Mr. Ridley is careful to delve deeply into foreign sources as well; he makes extensive use of the archives in Simancas, Spain, as well as archival resources in Italy, to furnish shades of detail often overlooked. The overall result is that Mr. Ridley's biography has an unparalleled "real-time" feel to it. And, the author covers territory that too often is neglected in Elizabethan biographies, especially in regard to military affairs that are difficult to research elsewhere. He examines the English defeat and expulsion from Le Havre in France that resulted in the permanent loss of Calais in 1563; the long Anglo-Spanish war of the 1590s that crippled the finances of both countries, and (with Spanish victories at sea) frustrated English attempts at colonization in the Western Hemisphere while preserving Spain's foothold; and also at the bitter Anglo-Irish guerrilla war of the century's last decade, which devastated the Irish countryside and drained England's resources to the limit. For a detailed biography, Jasper Ridley's biography (along with that of Anne Somerset) is top-notch, and as a research tool it is of inestimable help.

Rating:
Summary: The Best !
Review: What a refreshingly well-written, concise and historically well-researched book! Ridley is a master of the historic biography, and every book I have read so far (having started off with his account of Henry VIII) is a riveting read and impossible to put away.

May Royal Tunbridge Wells continue to serve as an inspiration to this gifted writer and connaisseur of the depth of the English language.