Queen Elizabeth the First

The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire

When Elizabeth Tudor became queen in 1558, her religiously fractured kingdom was in financial chaos and under constant threat from superpower Spain. How the iron-willed, financially astute monarch utilized piracy and plunder as a vital tool in guaranteeing English independence from foreign domination and in transforming a backwater nation into a nascent empire is the tantalizing focus of Ronald’s (The Sancy Blood Diamond) latest effort. To wreak vengeance on the Spanish perpetrators of the Inquisition, Elizabeth granted swashbuckling John Hawkins permission for his first slaving voyage to Guinea in 1562. On a 1577 mission to raid Spanish shipping in the Pacific, Francis Drake became the first European commander to sail around the southernmost tip of South America from the Atlantic into the Pacific, and in 1588, he destroyed the invading Spanish Armada. Charismatic, massively ambitious Walter Raleigh founded Virginia, popularized smoking tobacco and spent the 1590s in a futile search for the fabled El Dorado. Authoritative, assiduously researched and with a knack for making the intricacies of sea skirmishes accessible and absorbing, this is a surprisingly fresh perspective on one of the most popular subjects of royal biography.

Review

Biographies of the great Tudor queen abound, but this solid, even exciting one pursues a particular tack and thus takes itself outside the usual run of standard treatments. Ronald is interested in pursuing the life and reign of Elizabeth I in terms of her specific effect on the founding of what was to become the vast British Empire, which reached its zenith in the nineteenth century. As seen here, it was paramount for the queen to make herself secure on the English throne in the face of Catholics at home and abroad, who preferred her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots; in addition, her personal security had to be founded on the security of her kingdom on the world stage —the two, as she saw it, went hand in hand. The queen was, as Ronald has it, an “astute businesswoman” who realized that for state-security purposes, she needed lots of money. Although Ronald insists Elizabeth Tudor was “no empire builder,” the fascinating picture drawn here is of her intense working relationship with the merchant and gentleman adventurers who, out on the high seas, would secure money for their beloved monarch, and, in the process, “inadvertently,” as Ronald posits it, move England into a solid financial status that would, in turn, foster empire. Hooper, Brad

Elizabeth: The Acclaimed Saga of England’s Virgin Queen (2000)

One of the most important rulers in history, Elizabeth I came to the throne at a time when England was under threat of annexation from abroad and collapse from within. When she died after a reign of 45 years, she left behind a nation protected by the greatest navy on earth and in the midst of a cultural explosion she made possible. This is a DVD.

Hosted by the world-renowned historian David Starkey (author of Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne) ELIZABETH explores the life and rule of the woman who gave her name to an era.

A compelling blend of dramatic re-creations and incisive commentary brings alive the courtly intrigues and epic conflicts that shaped her reign, opens a window into the Queen’s private struggles and convictions, and examines her monumental legacy.

The four volumes in this epic set are From the Prison to the Palace, The Virgin Queen, Heart of a King and Gloriana.

In this work–a History Book Club and BOMC selection in cloth–a skillful storyteller and historian refreshes long-familiar facts about the monarch who lent her name to England’s glittering Elizabethan era. Illustrated.

Queen of England from 1558 until her death in 1603, Elizabeth I is an endlessly fascinating figure. This engaging biography is essentially personal rather than political history. Hibbert is the author of many histories for the general reader, most recently The English: A Social History, 1066-1945 ( LJ 5/15/87). There are many biographies of Elizabeth, and more than a few good ones, but Hibbert’s is solid and sure to charm. Perhaps not essential, given the many treatments of Elizabeth that most libraries hold already, but nevertheless a reliable and highly readable choice for general collections.

The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I, Genius Of The Golden Age

As The Virgin Queen begins, a young Elizabeth is imprisoned in the Tower of London by Queen Mary, charged with conspiracy and treason. Both women are daughters of the ruthless and oft-married Henry VIII, who plunged England into turmoil by breaking with the Roman Catholic Church. Mary wants to reunite with Rome, while Elizabeth is determined to stand by her Protestant faith–a potentially fatal choice. But Elizabeth’s life takes an unexpected turn when Mary dies, leaving no heir to the throne. As the new queen, Elizabeth discovers the harsh realities of ruling a religiously divided nation and must learn to outwit her enemies and charm those who conspire to their own ends.

Soon under pressure to secure a politically advantageous marriage, the coquettish Elizabeth rejects a string of eligible royal bachelors from abroad, openly preferring the burning affections of her childhood playmate, the athletic, handsome–and married–Robert Dudley. But is she toying with him as she is with her other suitors?

Starring Anne-Marie Duff (The Aristocrats, The Magdalene Sisters) as the shrewd and captivating queen who defended her throne amidst an atmosphere of plotting and intrigue, torture and murder, The Virgin Queen is a riveting drama that explores the fascinating 44-year reign of Elizabeth I.