Queen Elizabeth I

by J.E. Neale

Book Overview

Long cosidered the definitive biography of the great Tudor Queen, this scholarly and immensely readable book won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Biography and hs been translated into nine languages.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0897333624
• ISBN13: 9780897333627
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers
• Length: 446 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

The best book on QEI

Although hardly a year goes by without someone new coming up with another biography on Queen Elizabeth I, this probably is the best of the lot. Many of the subsequent volumes that have appeared after Neale generally owe him a debt of gratitude at least for assembling the basic facts of the life of the Virgin Queen. Elizabeth's life has been told many times, her parents, Henry VIII and Anne Bolyn's ill-fated marriage, imprisionment during the reigns of both siblings, Thomas Seymour (whose sister replaced her mother in Henry's bed-would any soap opera try this plot twist?), Thomas Wyatt, William Cecil, Robert Dudley, Mary Queen of Scotts, the Spanish Armada, Shakespeare, and Gloriana. What Neale does quite well is to provide some real insight into the life of this the best of Britain's rulers and to place her actions in context. Some might think that Neale's treatment is too positive, I think the tone of the book is consistent with the greatness of this woman who, unlike her modern day namesake, ruled as well as reigned.

The Virgin Seductress

Every single one of Elizabeth's biographers (particularly the male ones) seem to have fallen in love with her, and this, the epic Bess bio, is the most unashamedly gushing. Part of the reason for Elizabeth's enduring appeal is that she combined good looks and dress sense with a flair for self-invention (and re-invention) - the very same qualities which still endear Onassis-Kennedy and Diana Spencer to their legions of mourners. As a politician Elizabeth's achievements approached genius, but any sympathetic biographer still has to paper over the cracks somewhat when we get to her reliigious policy, particularly the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Since this biography was written at a time where many Englishmen were still riding the Imperial wave, there is a tendency to forgive the Virgin Queen on matters such as this, but this work remains a milestone.

The best biography that bases all on documented evidence.

As someone with years of interest in Elizabeth I, a facinating and complex monarch at a time when monarchs were really responsible for their countries, I have read almost every biography published in the last thirty years. This book clearly labels speculation as speculation and states as facts only information obtained from written material. It probably provides the clearest account of what actually occurred that we can obtain from this distance in time.

Still A Classic, Still The Standard

Dozens and dozens of Elizabeth biographies have appeared since Neale's. They range from fawning and highly subjective to harsh and unflattering. Yet even those writers dismissive of Neale's adoration for this queen cannot dispute his authentic scholarship. The man was an enormously respected historian, and his erudition forms the solid basis of his admiration. He sees Elizabeth in her own time, then draws the parallels needed to make that time, and what she accomplished within it, real to us. Perhaps most importantly: he writes with the hand of a gifted narrator, and with well-substantiated joy in his subject.

A scholarly and compelling biography

In recent years, Neale has been overshadowed a bit in the world of Elizabethan biography. More dry and less flattering works of the lady in question have eroded his mostly complimentary analysis of her, and his perspective has come to be regarded as old-fashioned. Yet even the harshest critics of Elizabeth acknowledge the debt owed to Neale. Thankfully, his erudition is strong, and, while newer, more skeptical biographies may challenge his love for that Queen, his scholarship must stand intact. I rather think that contrary historians have inverted the Neale perspective: they maintain that his worship for Elizabeth blinded him to her flaws. But, read this book. His admiration stems from his delving into the reign. He sees where Elizabeth goes wrong, but is always aware of her greater achievement, and brings home to the reader just how singular this monarch truly was. Moreover, the book is enjoyable. One feels and is moved by the author's own joy in his subject matter. Would that some modern biographies possessed this talent!