Queen Elizabeth I: A Life From Beginning to End (Biographies of British Royalty)

With its brief, yet clear introduction, the book is best if read after the same publisher's "Wars of the Roses" and "Henry VIII" as a series.This book tells the truth of the gap between the power of Spain and England in the late-16th century despite the English-Dutch victory over Spanish Armada in 1588. It is like the Communist Chinese forces annihilated the elite 1st U.S. Marines in Chosin Reservoir inflicting a humiliating retreat on the entire UN side, but it didn’t mean the power of People’s Republic of China surpassed that of the United States of America back in the mid-20th century.We’ve been taught at school that the English victory of 1588 was the turning point between Spain and England, but England still had long way to sail to grasp the global hegemony in the early-19th century with Bourbon-France the Champion of Europe in-between Habsburg-Spain and Parliamentary-Great Britain.(Kindle Location 419)The defeat of the Spanish Armada was an important victory for England, but it did not bring an end to the war with Spain. The Spanish retained control of the southern part of the Netherlands, and the threat of invasion would hang over England for the rest of Elizabeth's reign...(Kindle Location 470)In the final years of her reign, Elizabeth presided over a neglected and fatigued court and a famine-stricken England. Struggling to restock her treasury after costly campaigns in Netherland and Ireland, not to mention the cost of keeping a Navy ready to defend against the threat of yet another Spanish Armada, Elizabeth had effectively bankrupted England...(Kindle Locations 434-443)...Henry IV had inherited the French throne in 1589, he had been begging for military support from the English. Spanish forces were still active in France and helping the French Catholic forces to occupy parts of Brittany and Normandy. The first two English campaigns in France were costly disasters that were completely ineffective in pushing back Spanish troops. In 1591, Elizabeth allowed Essex to head an army with the mission of supporting Henry IV to defeat the Spanish at the besieged city of Rouen. Again the venture was a disaster, and Essex was called back to England...Feel the power of Spain? When Elizabeth was the Queen of England, Habsburg-Spain was the champion of Europe under Catholic doctrines and laws that plainly and clearly defined the ranks of the Human world, by Human world I mean European Christendom at the time. The King of Spain was above the Pope in real, and he just used the Roman Pontiff for the legitimacy of his decisions.(Kindle Location 63)...keen to forge an alliance with other Catholic powers in Europe, Mary agreed to marry the premier Catholic leader in Europe, Philip of Spain. This marriage was ill-judged, and Mary instantly lost the support of the English people, who saw Mary and Philip's joint rule as England's submission to the Kingdom of Spain...During her short reign, Mary had introduced laws of heresy that sanctioned the burning of over 300 Protestants at the stake, which earned her the sobriquet “Bloody Mary,” but she had failed to properly re-establish the Holy Roman Empire's dominance in England…being the widow of her half-sister, but Philip's position as premier leader of the Catholic Church was completely at odds with Parliament's hopes of re-establishing Protestantism in England. Elizabeth waited until a religious settlement and peace treaty with France was all but finalized before formally rejecting Philip's proposal and at the same time asserted her religious stance, stating that “she could not marry your Majesty because she is a heretic.”(Kindle Locations 283-292)In 1574, militant Catholic priests from continental seminaries began to arrive in England with the task of restoring the old faith on English soil. Many of these priests were educated under the patronage of King Philip or the Pope and were rigorously trained for this special undercover mission. Over the next few years, the number of “seminaries” in England rose to over one hundred. Their presence rejuvenated the Catholic faith so much so that the government was forced to act. Thanks to Cecil, now Lord Burghley’s, huge network of spies led by Elizabeth’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, a number of priests were arrested, tortured for their knowledge, and subjected to a macabre traitor’s death. These executions inspired a cult of martyrdom that attracted many less zealous Catholics to their cause.These people were like the Jesuits in Germany during the Thirty Years War! Actually this book clearly mentions about the Jesuits in England at the same time with the same covert mission in the country in later pages.I highly rate this brief, yet informative book.

Historically accurate, yet this book is not boring. I read it quickly and enjoyed it. Fact filled, yet still interesting.

Wanted accurate additional information about Queen Elizabeth I's reign. This is it. well done.

There is an incredible amount of information packed into this brief biography. Born in 1533, Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth's mother was executed when she was two and a half years old and raised my her half sister, Mary. After Henry's death, his son by his third marriage became king and then he died of tuberculosis at the age of fifteen, which meant that next in line for the thrown was Mary. She reigned for five difficult years and became known as Bloody Mary because she introduced laws of heresy that sanctioned the burning at the stake of 300 Protestants. Mary died and Elizabeth ascended to the throne at the age of twenty five. Immediately there was controversy and the king of France publicly declared that Elizabeth was a bastard and therefore unfit to rule and he claimed that the true queen of England was his own niece, Mary Queen of Scots. After many years and much controversy and Mary Queen of Scots attempts to overthrow Elizabeth, it finally came to pass that Elizabeth had Mary Queen of Scots executed, and the book describes it as quite gruesome. It took two blows to sever Mary's head and once the deed was done a small dog emerged from his hiding place in Mary's robes and lay shivering in a pool of Mary's blood. Elizabeth was conflicted over signing Mary's death warrant and was plunged into despair. This is dramatic story of her conflicts with Mary Queen of Scots is only one small part of what is detailed in this biography. Elizabeth ruled for 45 years and her reign is known as the Elizabethan period. Elizabeth died in 1603 of pneumonia. Just hours after her death, King James VI of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scot's only child, was named king. I was struck by the irony.

This a powerful story filled with dates, Kings and Queens of England, Scotland and numerous other countries. This is a biography of Queen Elizabeth Tudor, born on September 7, 1533 at the Palace of Placentia, daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, King Henry's second wife.King Henry died in 1547. Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister, Mary Tudor reigned as Queen for five years. Elizabeth as a young child, age two and eight months old, Elizabeth had 250 servants to care for her and to serve her. In Elizabeth's earlier years she was well educated, she learned five languages, religions, and politics.When Queen Mary died , Elizabeth became Queen at the age of 25. She became known as the 'Virgin Queen' she said 'I am already bound unto a husband, which is the King of England'. Although she had numerous men proposed to her during her life she was very shrew and would give it some thought before giving an answer of no. She had an expanded parliament for guidance, support, and to care for matters and problems that came up. The kingdom grew stronger and increased in wealth under Queen Elizabeth's watchful eye.I enjoyed reading this powerful book, it increased my knowledge of the Tudor's that ruled during that era in England and the trying times that the Queen endured during her reign. I learned more about the parliament, Kings, Queens, politics of that era and especially the people that were ruling during the 1500's. Queen Elizabeth reigned for 45 years before she died. This is a short review there is more details in the book. A great read, I love these books.

An excellent little read, full of so much information and dates, giving the reader a real life story of this amazing reign.Would recommend to anyone who loves history like myself, and needs to learn of this queen! 100% recommend

A very good introduction to anyone interested in the life of one of the most famous queens in history. I hope that the reader will want to learn more about the virgin queen and dig deeper into the vast array of literature on her.

I enjoyed this book. It was a condensed version of what these books normally are and so did not go off on lengthy tangents but kept my interest with the summarised version.

Short and thorough... Easy for those who want to have a succint information on the life of a Historical Celebrity.

A good little read