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Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne (P.S.) - David Starkey
Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne (P.S.)
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1.50 5
An abused child, yet confident of her destiny to reign, a woman in a man's world, passionately sexual-though, as she maintained, a virgin-Elizabeth I was to be famed as England's most successful ruler. This brilliant new biography, by concentrating on the formative early years-from her birth in... show more
An abused child, yet confident of her destiny to reign, a woman in a man's world, passionately sexual-though, as she maintained, a virgin-Elizabeth I was to be famed as England's most successful ruler. This brilliant new biography, by concentrating on the formative early years-from her birth in IT33 to her accession in 1558-shows how her experiences of danger and adventure formed her remarkable character and shaped her opinions and beliefs. A uniquely absorbing tale of one young woman's turbulent, courageous and seemingly impossible journey towards the throne, it is the story of the making of a queen.In growing up, Elizabeth experienced every vicissitude of fortune and every extreme of condition. She was three years old at the time of her mother's execution; when she was a young woman, her stepfather cut her dress off of her with a knife. She had been Princess and inheritrix of England-then bastardized and disinherited. At sixteen she was the head of a great princely household. Yet she was also an accused traitor on the verge of execution. Amid all this, she had mastered the most advanced classical curriculum of the day. But it was her lessons in the school of life that mattered more-and that taught her her humanity.David Starkey re-creates a host of extravagant characters, madcap schemes and tragic plots, while using original documents to point up the importance ofthe rituals of power and life at court. He writes with exceptional clarity about religion and constitutional history. Elizabeth, whose own Protestant faith was personal and sophisticated, was extremely judicious in her handling of Reform, as in her choice of advisors and councilors. Here, too, is afresh view of the famous rivalry between the daughters of Henry VIII: the pious Catholic Mary and her clever sister. While Elizabeth remained utterly devoted to her father, she was also determined not to lose her opportunity for power-and not to make the same mistakes as Mary. The
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Format: paperback
ISBN: 9780061367434 (0061367435)
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Pages no: 400
Edition language: English
Bookstores:
Community Reviews
Bettie's Books
Bettie's Books rated it
4.0 Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne
bookshelves: spring-2013, tudor, nonfiction, history, published-2000, biography, politics Read from March 02 to 05, 2013 David Starkey is a crassly stupid man in reality, an arrogant water-muddier who relishes poking sticks into hornets' nests:http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/201...http://www.d...
Bettie's Books
Bettie's Books rated it
4.0 Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne
David Starkey is a crassly stupid man in reality, an arrogant water-muddier who relishes poking sticks into hornets' nests:http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/may/10/starkey-comment-gang-sexually-exploiting-girlshttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2109273/David-Starkey-courts-controversy-clai...
Tanzanite
Tanzanite rated it
http://shelfandstuff.blogspot.com/2010/11/elizabeth-struggle-for-throne-by-david.html
Minor Characters
Minor Characters rated it
A very thorough examination of Elizabeth's formative years before gaining the throne that manages, for the most part, to avoid getting tangled up in all the titles and and descendants of various nobles. (No small task or easy feat. This has tripped up some other very good writers.) An intriguing ...
Telynor's Library, and then some
Telynor's Library, and then some rated it
5.0
One of the better,and more accessible biographies about Elizabeth I, focusing more on her life as a child and adolescent, during the reigns of her father, Henry VIII, her younger brother Edward VI, and elder sister, Mary I. Quite a bit is devoted to the scandal about Thomas Seymour, and later, Thoma...
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