Elizabeth I

Rating:
Summary: Best Book on Elizabeth I
Review: Anne Somerset's biography on Queen Elizabeth I, was the first historical biography I had ever read. I became interested in finding out more about the famous red-haired monarch from the Hollywood version of her life, in the film "Elizabeth". I knew the film version had taken some license with the historical record, but I felt that the more accurate and less glamorous story about Elizabeth, the monarch, had to be interesting as well.

The story of Queen Elizabeth, both as a historical figure and a woman of 16th century England, is a interesting one and Anne Somerset makes it an easy and thoroughly enjoyable read. She goes into great detail and has many annotations to support her statments about Elizabeth, yet at the same time, the reader doesn't feel as if she is reading a scholarly work. It was such a pleasure to read and I found it difficult to put down.

For those of you out there who are either intimidated by biographies and other books about historical figures, or think them dull, this is a great place to start your journey into these kinds of books.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating woman and savvy politician
Review: Anne Somerset's biography on Queen Elizabeth I, was the first historical biography I had ever read. I became interested in finding out more about the famous red-haired monarch from the Hollywood version of her life, in the film "Elizabeth". I knew the film version had taken some license with the historical record, but I felt that the more accurate and less glamorous story about Elizabeth, the monarch, had to be interesting as well.

The story of Queen Elizabeth, both as a historical figure and a woman of 16th century England, is a interesting one and Anne Somerset makes it an easy and thoroughly enjoyable read. She goes into great detail and has many annotations to support her statments about Elizabeth, yet at the same time, the reader doesn't feel as if she is reading a scholarly work. It was such a pleasure to read and I found it difficult to put down.

For those of you out there who are either intimidated by biographies and other books about historical figures, or think them dull, this is a great place to start your journey into these kinds of books.

Rating:
Summary: The REAL Elizabeth I
Review: Anne Somerset's version of Elizabeth I is thoroughly researched and presented in exacting detail, but despite the minutiae, it is still an interesting read. Somerset expends some space on the details of everyday Tudor life, but this book is primarily an historical work, describing court intrigues, treasonous conspiracies and international incidents in presenting a complete overview of the most important political events of the era. Readers wanting a simple understanding of Elizabethan politics could probably find an easier volume to read, but Somerset's style is quite interesting, and serious students of history will enjoy this work immensely.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book on Elizabeth I
Review: I've read almost a dozen books on the Tudors and this is the best on Elizabeth I. Although I usually get my doses of the Tudors from Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser, Anne Somerset has truly written and organized a beautiful book. An impressive work -- better than any other I've read on the world's greatest monarch.

Rating:
Summary: Wanted More
Review: The book is good, but not great. The author presents a good overview of Elizabeth while sometimes going into excruciating detail. There in lies the problem. Much of what I wanted to know more about: court intrigue and the supporting characters were often given short shrift. At the sametime, the author works very hard to maintain the "virgin queen" myth, often off handedly dismissing evidence for Elizabeth's affairs. The book also ends abruptly, telling us little about Queen Bess' last years.

On the plus side, the author does an excellent job explaining the queens religous views. Still, there are better biographies of this facinating subject to be read.

Rating:
Summary: Wanted More
Review: The book is good, but not great. The author presents a good overview of Elizabeth while sometimes going into excruciating detail. There in lies the problem. Much of what I wanted to know more about: court intrigue and the supporting characters were often given short shrift. At the sametime, the author works very hard to maintain the "virgin queen" myth, often off handedly dismissing evidence for Elizabeth's affairs. The book also ends abruptly, telling us little about Queen Bess' last years.

On the plus side, the author does an excellent job explaining the queens religous views. Still, there are better biographies of this facinating subject to be read.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This book is not light-weight reading. It's quite thick at 575 pages of fine text. It does, however, cover extremely well Elizabeth's reign and puts many of her decisions in their social context.

The author has relied heavily on primary sources for this work and they give a "flavour" to the time Elizabeth lived in. You end up with a good feel for Elizabeth's mercurial personality. Her chronic indecisiveness and hatred of being forced into a decision. The mine-field of international politics, when phones and TV didn't exist. Second-guessing the opposition, or trying to prevent an opposition from forming.

For an in-depth view of Elizabeth's life, reign and era this book is up there at the top of the list, if you can take the time to read it.