I found myself compelled by David Starkey's vivid recreation of the hazardous uncertainty of Elizabeth's early life, her successive exclusions from the centre of power, the studiedly ambiguous answers she offered her interrogators, her inevitable implications in conspiracies and narrow escapes from execution * Times Literary Supplement *Ĭombines a relaxed and unfussy style with a thorough knowledge of the period and a sharp eye for detail.

What a page turner! A white knuckle ride through history.inspired research, from the clues embedded in the portraits to court ceremonial to the often circumlocutory letters * Time Out * One of the most zestful pieces of narrative history written.a racy read and first-rate history * Evening Standard * The best account in English of the early years of Elizabeth. Four hundred years after her death in 1603, this remarkable woman continues to cast a fascinating spell over writers and readers on both sides of the Atlantic. He sets before us not only the woman behind the throne but the girl behind the woman * Sunday Times * Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey Queen Elizabeth I of England is arguably the only woman ever to give her name to an entire historical era. Publisher: Vintage Publishing ISBN: 9780099286578 Number of pages: 400 Weight: 341 g Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 25 mm MEDIA REVIEWSįresh and lively.

Filled with lucid and clear scenes with fascinating insight throughout, Elizabeth is a truly masterful retelling of the life of a legendary monarch. Finding her way through the labyrinthine plots that surrounded the court, she had to live by her wits, surrounded by betrayal and suspicion, not knowing who to trust with her desire to be queen, or her desire to be a lover.ĭavid Starkey's portrait of the first female ruler of England is an enlightening account. 'The best account in English of the early years of Elizabeth' Evening StandardĪ woman in a man's world, Queen Elizabeth I was to become England's most successful ruler.Ĭonfident in her destiny, intensely intelligent, passionately sexual yet (she said) a virgin, Elizabeth's reign was characterised by a self-assurance unusual for the time.

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