Rating: 
Summary: Great informative book about Elizabeth I
Review: All of my life, I have always been fascinated by Elizabeth I ~~ the queen of all time. Reading this book has helped me delve more deeply into the woman who many has made into a legend. I was surprised too at the movie "Elizabeth I" ~~ which I really enjoyed ~~ but a lot of stuff in there were not historically accurate. If you want accurate historical notes, check out this book by Alison Weir. She has a talent for combining dry historical facts and make them interesting. The characters on the great historical stage appears alive, interesting and human ~~ unlike mythical tales that make men and women appear larger than they really are. There are lots of books about Elizabeth I out there ~~ but so far, this one does the job of informing me of how the queen lives, breathes and dies in her own age. Truly, Elizabeth is a queen of all time. And this book comes highly recommended. If you're interested in history, pick this book up. It's a great complement to everyone's libraries.
Rating:
Summary: A significant contribution to the understanding of Elizabeth
Review: Like many of your other reviewers I was amazed at the negative nature of some of the reviews. Statements such as the book is filled with filth, is based on gossip, is a tabloid history, focuses on Elizabeth's flirting with Dudley and others are simply preposterous. These statements prove again that a little imformation in the hands of some can be a dangerous thing - read a book or two and one becomes an instant expert. How would one write a history of the Tudor period and not rely on gossip? The whole corpus of the primary documents of the period are largely gossip. Gossip also influences history and the players on its stage. Elizabeth simply could not marry Dudley, perhaps the only man she truly loved, due to the gossip surrounding the death of his first wife Amy Robsart Dudley. Gossip is relevant if people believe it (and it is the nature of humans to believe it). Elizabeth's courtships, flirting, etc. is also of the greatest historical significance. Constant courtship was the device she employed to convince her male courtiers that she planned to marry and produce an heir (hopefully male of course). In fact, she had no intention of marrying, knowing that the moment she did power would immediately pass to her husband whoever that might be. As to the charges that the book is filled with filth and Monica type tabloid journalism again shows a total ignorance of the period. The Tudor court was a vey racy place even by modern standards. Readers offended by such information should stick with their Jerry Falwell tapes! I have taught Tudor history for 34 years and I have seen more interest in the Elizabethan Age over that last 6 months than at any other time in my career. The reason is two recent movies: "Elizabeth" and "Shakespeare in Love." "Elizabeth" is not very good history and "Shakespeare In Love" is pure fiction. Nonetheless, I applaude both movies for they have engendered a new interest in the period and its personalities. Students are now asking me what books they should read to learn more. I recommend Weir's Elizabeth (and other of her works) because they are written in an interesting and engaging fashion. Later on I will suggest that they move on to Hibbert, Johnson, Ridley, etc. This book reveals the human face of one of the most dynamic personalities of the Western World and does it in a highly engaging and readable form. Unfortunately, the only people who read what most of us historians write is other historians. No one else is willing to tolerate the pedantry and deadly dryness of the academic style. I commend this book and recommend it enthusiastically to all those interested in Elizabeth and her age.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book...Must Read
Review: No, I am not an expert on British history, but Weir's narration is well written, easy to read, yet challenges the intellect enough to keep you interested. I enjoyed the scope of the book and feel that my understanding of this incredible woman has been greatly enlarged. It is simply an enjoyable book and the intrigues between Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots really kept the book moving along. I can't wait to read Weir's next book about the murder of Lord Darnley. "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" is the perfect predecessor to this book. Well done, Alison!
Rating: 
Summary: The most comprehensive modern biography of Elizabeth I
Review: Alison Weir, who had covered English history from the Wars of the Roses through the reign of Mary I in four previous books, tackles the enigmatic Elizabeth I in a comprehensive biography that takes a prismatic view(Elizabeth I as a person, as a monarch, within the politics and sociology of her times)of Elizabeth I. Because Weir covered her childhood in "The Children of Henry VIII," she kicks off the book with Elizabeth's succession to the throne in November, 1558 and continues to Elizabeth's death in 1603. Weir's view is sympathetic but balanced--she does emphasize that Elizabeth was truly a ruler and a woman in a man's world--even her court was male-dominated. Especially interesting are Weir's insights and theories into the mysterious death of Amy Robsart,the wife of Elizabeth's favorite and most persistant suitor, Robert Dudley and her relating Elizabeth's several progesses(basically touring the more accessible parts of her kingdom)where much to her advisors' and fellow noble household members, she demonstrated a real, practical, hands-on, approach to her ordinary subjects, centuries before Princess Diana. Weir keeps to a roughly chronological order, but as separate chapters focus on different elements of Elizabeth I(one chapter covers the earlier matrimonial prospects of the queen, another court life and Elizabeth I's "progresses", for example)the deviation from a strict chronological relation of events might be confusing to readers without a basic knowledge of Elizabeth history. All in all, if one appreciated Weir's previous books, this is probably her best work thus far.
Rating: 
Summary: I suppose it depends on what you're looking for, but...
Review: ...if this were my only source of knowledge about QE1, I would have thought the first few decades of the good queen's rule were spent almost entirely on 3 activities: duping prospective spouses, giggling girlishly with Leicester, and engaging in petty jealousies and childish reprimands. It wasn't until the death of Leicester that the content of Weir's book began to get interesting--call me a glutton for punishment, but I was determined to finish what I'd started. A French visitor to court was quoted late in the book as saying QE1 was 'truly worthy of that high reputation she had acquired.' Sadly the 400+ pages prior to this gave me precious little reason to nod in agreement. I have no doubts the scholarship on the selected point-of-view is unimpeachable as others suggest. The problem I had is, perhaps, my *choice* of book. This, my introductory biography, was of 'the woman' rather than 'the monarch'. If you're looking for the personals section, get this book. If you want to see how QE1 shaped Britain and the world of her time, look elsewhere--as a recent UK transplant, I still am...
Rating:
Summary: Impressive and exhaustive biography
Review: Alison Weir writes an exhaustive and impressive biography. Here a more real and human queen Elizabeth I is depicted in a comprehensive manner. The rise of a new world power is narrated as well as the rise of a new faith and a new sovereign. Every person interested in British history should read this text.
Rating:
Summary: Too narrow
Review: This book should have been entitled _The Marital Intrigues of Elizabeth I_. By page count, I estimate that it is: 50% about Elizabeth's potential marriages;
20% about marital and sexual politics at her court;
20% about Mary, Queen of Scots;
10% about everything else. No doubt these are important topics, but are they *that* important? I learned virtually nothing about Elizabethan domestic politics, art, society, technology, science, warfare, religion, or home life. Reading this book, one could easily be left with the impression that the only thing Elizabeth actually did during her entire reign was dynamically and proactively not get married. If your understanding of Elizabeth would be incomplete without a detailed description of rejected suitor Charles of Anjou's pockmarks, then this is the book for you. Otherwise, skip it.
Rating:
Summary: Too narrow
Review: This book should be titled _The Matrimonial Intrigues of Elizabeth I_. I'd estimate that, by page count, it is: 50% about Elizabeth's various prospective marriages;
20% about Mary, Queen of Scots;
20% about sexual and marital politics at the court;
10% about everything else. All these subjects are important, but are they *that* important? I learned virtually nothing about Elizabethan politics, society, technology, religion, warfare, ideas, art, or culture. Reading this book, one could be forgiven the impression that almost the only thing Elizabeth did during her reign was dynamically and proactively not get married. If you have a compelling interest in, say, Charles of Anjou's pockmarks (they're described in detail), this is the book for you. Otherwise, I'd skip it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best among many....
Review: If a friend asked me for one biographical book on Queen Elizabeth I, this would be the book I would strongly recommended. The book is highly readable, superbly researched and the author captured the charcter of Elizabeth I very nicely. But the author does more then that. She also captured Elizabeth's people that surrounds her, the enemies who envied her and her society that was defined by her. It really hard to go wrong in reading this book. There are tons of Elizabeth I's biographies out there, I read quite few of them myself but I believed this book by Weir would stand the test of time as the best general biography of this great English Queen.
Rating:
Summary: Fond portrait...
Review: Though this reads at times like a college textbook, it is thorough and intelligent, brings light to personality and the choices made throughout her reign. Not only does Weir introduce the internal workings of the throne, but also the society without, its culture and changes. When you are done reading this, not only will you know everything about the Golden Age of England and its Queen, but you will love them both.
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