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Summary: A Witty, Fascinating Social History
Review: I have read many biographies about Elizabeth I, as well as several books by Alison B. Weir. This particular biography was a wonderful exploration of the personalities of both the Queen herself and her closest associates. Her courtships, quarrels, and behavior are thoroughly covered in a very droll manner - in fact, this is the wittiest history I have ever read in the 25 years I have been reading the subject. Weir actually had me laughing out loud with her knack for pointing out the humorous side of primary documentation. A long, satisfying read.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent overview
Review: This book was an excellent overview of the life of "the Virgin Queen," Elizabeth I. However, if you decide to purchase this book make sure you know that it is an OVERVIEW, not a thouroughly comprehensive book about everything from the life stories of each of Elizabeth's suitors to what she was wearing eleven days and sixteen minutes before she died. If you are a novice history buff or just curious about one of England's most beloved monarchs I urge you to consider this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun reading at first, but I became bored with it
Review: I liked this book for about the first 200 pages, but I became sick of the various "plots" for the marriage of Elizabeth. Weir, in my view, takes off on numerous tangents, giving a brief background on all of Elizabeth's numerous suitors.
Though it may be logistics (the type in the paperback edition is tiny and hard-to-read, especially at 2am, my "pleasure reading" time), I became tired of this book. I award 4 stars because my boredom with the book could have been just me...
I prefer Anne Somerset's "Elizabeth I" to Weir's work.
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Summary: A Seminal Biography of Elizabeth -- Excellent!
Review: I was first drawn to this book by the film based on it starring Cate Blanchett. Since reading 'Elizabeth I', I've gone on to read all of Weir's historical works. Weir is pitch-perfect at writing popular history. Her style is accessible without being insipid. She never writes down to her popular audience and never writes over their heads and into the rarified air reserved for academics. Though I'm no expert in this field, she seems well researched and accurate. She is careful to cite differing opinion and explain why she disagrees. Elizabeth is an ideal subject for Weir. This most important of Renaissance monarchs is due a fresh look in a post-feminist, post-Thatcher era. Weir brings new insight to Elizabeth's intelligence, her statecraft, her personal relationships, the circle of her ministers and her place on the European world stage. One slight fault, not enough is included about Elizabeth's theological thought and the (brilliant) Elizabethan Settlement. Without Elizabeth's leadership and penchant for tolerance, the Church of England might by now be but a historical oddity. After you read this work, I suggest proceeding with Weir's "The Children of Henry VIII" for a look into Elizabeth's early life. Then, Weir's two other works on Henry: "The King and His Court" and "6 Wives of.." Weir is hands-down my favorite non-fiction writer.
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Summary: Just her personal life
Review: I thought that this book dealt more with Elizabeth personal life and her relationships. It did not highlight her political shrewdness which made her such a fantastic ruler of her times.
It could be good read for people who would be interested in reading about her personal life and the events during her times. But would certainly be a dissappointment for people who are looking to explore her political genius.
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Summary: Facinating!
Review: I found this book immensely readable. While it is a factual and well researched history book, it reads like a novel, with a great amount of detail. Her descriptions of Elizabethan life and court life make you feel as though you are really there. The author states very clearly in her introduction that this is not meant to be a study of the politics of the time, or a social history but "a history of Elizabeth's personal life within the framework of her reign, drawing on her own extensive literary remains, as well as those of her contemporaries." Therefore, those reviewers who are unhappy about what was left out of the story apparently misunderstood the author's intent. If you want an excellent, interesting book on the life of Elizabeth I, this is it!
Rating:
Summary: well paced, compelling biography
Review: Alison Weir places Elizabeth in the context of her time. It's impossible to understand the queen and her choices without seeing the web of inter-relationships in which she existed. Weir clarifies Elizabeth's position as a 16th century female monarch, the child of Henry VIII, ruler of a small island nation, a Protestant, and inheritor of the debts Mary incurred during her brief rule. Even though I knew before picking up the book how the story turned out, I was unable to put it down. Elizabeth was an extraordinary woman who spent her entire life balancing on the head of a pin. P.S. If you ever wondered what REALLY happened between Elizabeth and Robert Dudley, this is your book.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Readable
Review: The story of Elizabeth I's life---from the early uncertainty of her young adulthood, to the early years of her reign, to her commanding dominance in Elizabeth's ambitious and rich years on the throne---is a nice read. Historical in perspective, "The Life of Elizabeth I" is also a more personal account of the Queen's loves, her brilliant mind, and, of the loyalty that was afforded to her by her public and her court (for the most part). In fact, it is this component of this book that makes it so real. When Ms. Weir, for instance, writes of one account of Elizabeth I riding through a village and how she interacted with her grateful subjects, one gets a more close-up view of a queen so regal and forbidding, yet gracious. One does not see Elizabeth I as a "person" in her portraits.....but one can in this book. Filled with stories, histories, and loves, this is a great book that is sweeping in reach. Well done.
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Summary: Reads like a novel
Review: I LOVED this book. In my opinion, Elizabeth I is one of the most fascinating characters in European history, and Weir's book does such a wonderful job of acquainting us with this emotional, stubborn, intelligent, and powerful sovereign. I did have a little trouble keeping all of the names straight (so many advisors and courtisans) but other than that, I came away feeling like I had met the Queen myself.
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Summary: Survived and Thrived
Review: This is a wonderful biography of Elizabeth I. Allison Weir writes in her preface that it was initially titled "The Private Life of Elizabeth I". While it is impossible to separate her personal from her public life, most of this biography is about the former. This Weir also acknowledges this in her preface. I think that she should have stayed with her original thought. It would have eliminated some of the criticisms made by other reviewers, since so much of the book is about relationships she had, or may have had... so much of the book is about her marriage negotiations. All of it, however, is fascinating. Attention to detail makes Allison Weir's work unlike any other biographer of Elizabeth I. With detail, Weir humanizes Elizabeth. Her chapter "Frenzied Wooing" deals with Elizabeth's courtship by the Duke of Anjou. He was not supposed to be in England, and yet he was there courting Elizabeth. At one point, Elizabeth "arranged for him to view a court ball from behind a tapestry, and then gave the game away by showing off outrageously for his benefit, joining in more dances than usual and waving and smiling in his direction. Her courtiers politely pretended not to notice." Elizabeth's survival, as a monarch is one of history's great miracles. She had the enemies one would expect any English monarch to have, and then she had more. Even her councilors derided the prospect of her ruling as a woman. Parliament even debated her need to marry and refused to fund her household if she did not proceed with marriage negotiations. She of course was furious, but realistic. She strung suitors, parliment and her councilors along for years. How different the western world would be if she had been usurped, if Mary Stuart had ascended the throne of England, if Elizabeth had married. How she survived and thrived is a splendid tale. I highly recommend this biography.
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