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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Some of the back and forth between years was a bit annoying at times but it was very good all the same.
informative
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Ridiculously well researched and eminently readable as well. Weir succumbs to the biographer's sin of overlooking her subject's faults, but that can be forgiven in light of the wealth of information presented.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
Extremely informative book.
Alison Weir makes a rare stumble here, obsessively focusing on the sex life of Elizabeth. Her narrative is all over the place and the result is quite lackluster. Disappointing, but not awful, because it's quite apparent that she researched this extensively.
Elizabeth I was perhaps the most influential monarch in English history. There are episodes in her life that became legendary. From her tumultuous childhood to her reign where everyone either wanted her to marry or put someone else on the throne, Elizabeth’s life was hardly easy. Even though much is known about her public life as queen, we really do not know a lot about her private life. In Alison Weir’s book, “The Life of Elizabeth I”, the gap between the public Elizabeth and the private Elizabeth is bridged in order to give a more complete biography of this fascinating English queen.
Alison Weir explains what Elizabeth had gone through in her early life and how it shaped her as a queen:
When she came to the throne her subjects knew relatively little about her. Nurtured in a hard school, having suffered adversity and uncertainty from her infancy, and having gone in danger of her life on at least two occasions, she had learned to keep her own counsel, hide her feelings and live by her wits. Already, she was a mistress of the arts of deception, dissimulation, prevarication and circumvention, all admired attributes of a true Renaissance ruler. At twenty-five years old, she was at last in control of her destiny, and having lived in one kind of constraint or another for the whole of her existence so far, she was determined to preserve her independence and autonomy. She had learned from her sister’s mistakes and resolved never to repeat them. She would identify herself with her people and worked for their common interests. She would bring peace and stability to her troubled kingdom. She would nurture it, as a loving mother nurtures a child. For this, she believed, God had preserved her life. (Weir, 9-10)
Weir begins her book with the coronation of Elizabeth, touching briefly on Elizabeth’s childhood and how she got to the throne. She explains the England that Elizabeth knew and how right after she was crowned, her people desired for the queen to have a husband and to know what religion she would adopt for her own and for her country. Although Elizabeth liked to have quite a few favorites, including Robert Dudley and Francis Duke of Anjou, she never gave her heart solely to one man. Instead she chose to be the mother of her country and to be married to the job of protecting her people. Elizabeth not only had to keep her people happy but she had to deal with threats from other countries, including King Philip II of Spain and his Armada, the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of the Huguenots in France, and the religious feuds in the Netherlands. One of her biggest external threats was her cousin Mary Queen of Scots, who claimed that she should be Queen of England. Elizabeth eventually had to make the decision to execute another queen, very similar to the decision her father had to make when he had Elizabeth’s mother executed a few decades before.
Elizabeth also had to deal with internal threats such as favorites, especially Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex, becoming jealous of others in court and throwing fits. There were those who would dare to marry without the Queen’s permission and had their own children. In these instances, Elizabeth’s anger would come out in full force. She didn’t trust many people and tended to keep her feelings to herself. To the outside world, she was “Gloriana” or “The Virgin Queen”, but to those who truly knew her, she was just Elizabeth, a woman who became queen and who was just trying to survive for herself and her country.
Elizabeth I has always been my favorite Tudor monarch. Her story was the one that really got me interested in the Tudors and this book made me fascinated with her all over again. Alison Weir was able to yet again combine her engaging writing style with amazing details to tell the full story of the reign of Elizabeth I, from her coronation at age of 25 to her death at the age of 69, and how she changed England for the better. I loved reading this book. There was so much information about Elizabeth that I didn’t know about in this book, it was like discovering a whole new side to a person I thought I knew very well. If you want to learn more about Elizabeth I, the woman behind the legend, and her impact on England and the 16th century world, I highly recommend you read this book, “The Life of Elizabeth I” by Alison Weir. An absolutely fascinating read on one of England’s most remarkable rulers.
Alison Weir explains what Elizabeth had gone through in her early life and how it shaped her as a queen:
When she came to the throne her subjects knew relatively little about her. Nurtured in a hard school, having suffered adversity and uncertainty from her infancy, and having gone in danger of her life on at least two occasions, she had learned to keep her own counsel, hide her feelings and live by her wits. Already, she was a mistress of the arts of deception, dissimulation, prevarication and circumvention, all admired attributes of a true Renaissance ruler. At twenty-five years old, she was at last in control of her destiny, and having lived in one kind of constraint or another for the whole of her existence so far, she was determined to preserve her independence and autonomy. She had learned from her sister’s mistakes and resolved never to repeat them. She would identify herself with her people and worked for their common interests. She would bring peace and stability to her troubled kingdom. She would nurture it, as a loving mother nurtures a child. For this, she believed, God had preserved her life. (Weir, 9-10)
Weir begins her book with the coronation of Elizabeth, touching briefly on Elizabeth’s childhood and how she got to the throne. She explains the England that Elizabeth knew and how right after she was crowned, her people desired for the queen to have a husband and to know what religion she would adopt for her own and for her country. Although Elizabeth liked to have quite a few favorites, including Robert Dudley and Francis Duke of Anjou, she never gave her heart solely to one man. Instead she chose to be the mother of her country and to be married to the job of protecting her people. Elizabeth not only had to keep her people happy but she had to deal with threats from other countries, including King Philip II of Spain and his Armada, the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of the Huguenots in France, and the religious feuds in the Netherlands. One of her biggest external threats was her cousin Mary Queen of Scots, who claimed that she should be Queen of England. Elizabeth eventually had to make the decision to execute another queen, very similar to the decision her father had to make when he had Elizabeth’s mother executed a few decades before.
Elizabeth also had to deal with internal threats such as favorites, especially Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex, becoming jealous of others in court and throwing fits. There were those who would dare to marry without the Queen’s permission and had their own children. In these instances, Elizabeth’s anger would come out in full force. She didn’t trust many people and tended to keep her feelings to herself. To the outside world, she was “Gloriana” or “The Virgin Queen”, but to those who truly knew her, she was just Elizabeth, a woman who became queen and who was just trying to survive for herself and her country.
Elizabeth I has always been my favorite Tudor monarch. Her story was the one that really got me interested in the Tudors and this book made me fascinated with her all over again. Alison Weir was able to yet again combine her engaging writing style with amazing details to tell the full story of the reign of Elizabeth I, from her coronation at age of 25 to her death at the age of 69, and how she changed England for the better. I loved reading this book. There was so much information about Elizabeth that I didn’t know about in this book, it was like discovering a whole new side to a person I thought I knew very well. If you want to learn more about Elizabeth I, the woman behind the legend, and her impact on England and the 16th century world, I highly recommend you read this book, “The Life of Elizabeth I” by Alison Weir. An absolutely fascinating read on one of England’s most remarkable rulers.
Elizabeth I was cunning, wise, witty and vain. She was a political force of stability that brought England out of the dark ages and prepared her for her renaissance. Weir tells the story of the Queen's life by examining the details of her life and I loved her narrative style of writing. But before you pick up this 500+ page tomb, be sure you really, really want to know about Elizabeth I.
Listened to this on audio, the narrator was great. I didn't want to stop listening.
This went through Elizabeth's life from shortly before she became queen to a little bit after her death. While her life before becoming queen is mentioned here and there, I do wish this book started at the earliest time of Elizabeth's life. I understood why Alison Weir didn't though (or at least what I assume is the reason), Elizabeth's early pre-queen life was covered fairly extensively in her other books specifically [b:The Children of Henry VIII|10106|The Children of Henry VIII|Alison Weir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1399075167l/10106._SX50_.jpg|808219] (non-fiction) and [b:The Lady Elizabeth|1933181|The Lady Elizabeth|Alison Weir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431623866l/1933181._SY75_.jpg|1935630] (historical fiction) and she probably didn't want to be repetitive. However, I also felt like some people might not have read those books before jumping into this one, which could make it feel like something is missing from the reading experience.
One of my major issues with other Alison Weir books as been the over use of the phrase "which be the equivalent of such-and-such pounds/dollars today" however here, that phrase wasn't used. If it was used once, I didn't notice it.
This was a great book and I've been really enjoying going through Alison Weir's books.
This went through Elizabeth's life from shortly before she became queen to a little bit after her death. While her life before becoming queen is mentioned here and there, I do wish this book started at the earliest time of Elizabeth's life. I understood why Alison Weir didn't though (or at least what I assume is the reason), Elizabeth's early pre-queen life was covered fairly extensively in her other books specifically [b:The Children of Henry VIII|10106|The Children of Henry VIII|Alison Weir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1399075167l/10106._SX50_.jpg|808219] (non-fiction) and [b:The Lady Elizabeth|1933181|The Lady Elizabeth|Alison Weir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431623866l/1933181._SY75_.jpg|1935630] (historical fiction) and she probably didn't want to be repetitive. However, I also felt like some people might not have read those books before jumping into this one, which could make it feel like something is missing from the reading experience.
One of my major issues with other Alison Weir books as been the over use of the phrase "which be the equivalent of such-and-such pounds/dollars today" however here, that phrase wasn't used. If it was used once, I didn't notice it.
This was a great book and I've been really enjoying going through Alison Weir's books.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced