danadalloway 's review for:

The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir

3.0

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While it is fascinating to learn that Elizabeth Regina had 3,000 dresses and new pairs of shoes made to order every week, I had thought that maybe it would be useful to know a bit about the political world she brought to abeyance during her forty-five year reign of relative peace. There is entirely too much back and forthing about how she kept suitors at bay and not nearly enough explanation of the geo-political context. Why weren't the English able to establish colonies in the Americas when Spain was? What were her relations with the Irish before the rebellion by Tyrone? How did she manage James, Mary's son? What were her feelings about the enclosure movement that forced London's population to double during her lifetime? And why is Shakespeare, and indeed all the other playwrights of what was the golden age not only of exploration by sea, but also by letters, mentioned only a few times?
This biography is exhaustive in quoting primary sources and describing the queen's dresses (including one that revealed her entire nude torso to an ambassador when she was well into her sixties). However, in its treatment of anything but her personal relations with court favorites like Dudley and Essex, it is superficial. I was ongoingly disappointed not to have been better informed at the end of 500 pages.
And why did Weir leave out key details about the defeat of the Spanish Armada?!