Elizabeth the Great

by Elizabeth Jenkins

Paperback, 1960

Status

Available

Call number

942.05

Publication

Permabooks (1960), Paperback, 388 pages

Description

Elizabeth Jenkins illuminates in great detail the personal and private life of Elizabeth I. Was she bald? What precisely was her sex-life? What were her emotional attachments? No other biography provides such a personal study of the Queen and her court: their daily lives, concerns, topics of conversation, meals, living conditions, travels, successes and failures. An authoritative history of the period enlightened by a through understanding of Elizabethan society and an intimate portrait of the Queen.

User reviews

LibraryThing member bhowell

With the prolific outpouring of historical novels, some well researched and others pure fantasy, it is good to find a history book that is readable and well researched and will give the reader a good grounding in what is fact and what is speculation, and myths that persist with no factual basis.

This is a timely reprint of the original 1958 ed brought back by Pheonix Press in 2000.

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LibraryThing member antiquary

Well-written popular life, but obviously more positive in her assessment of the queen that some professional scholars are

LibraryThing member MichelleCH

Jenkins does a very nice job of detailing Elizabeth's life. Very readable and an excellent introduction to her legacy.All of those who surround her are also part of the narrative, creating a fuller picture. Mary the Queen of Scots plays a major role in Elizabeth's decision-making and it is

fascinating to see how she was able to tamp down constant threats and keep control of her kingdom. The Council and her advisors spend much effort trying to arrange a marriage for Elizabeth with no success. This interplay and Elizabeth's savvy at handling the situation is a model for political maneuvering; she certainly was skilled in diplomacy and strategy. Overall great book for those who love Tudor history.

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LibraryThing member stacy_chambers

While many important events are glossed over or barely mentioned in this book (it's not a book on the history of England, after all), Jenkins makes an excellent study of a fascinating and complex woman. Jenkins insightfully theorizes that Queen Elizabeth never intended to marry and used the

planning of marriage as a negotiating and diplomacy tool to attain the treaties and alliances she wanted, then abandoned each suitor once she got what she wanted. Manipulative, perhaps, but given her experiences before she became Queen it's understandable. She spent her whole life in peril of being beheaded, but she proved to be a master politician. I wonder how much of this was used as research for the HBO miniseries Elizabeth I?

This book is out of print, but a number of cheap used copies are available on Amazon.

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LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35

A good overview of the life and reign of Elizabeth I of England with an emphasis on her private life. The politics of the reign (a fascinating but complex topic) take a backseat in this biography, which is an excellent starting point of someone new to Elizabeth I. I have to stop myself from

comparing this short biography with others which delve into particular aspects of Elizabeth's reign with more complexity and depth, as those works also lack the conciseness of this one. This is a great book for someone who wanted to read a quick, factual, and readable biography of Elizabeth I.

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