Subscribe to Read
Sign up today to enjoy a complimentary trial and begin exploring the world of books! You have the freedom to cancel at your convenience.
Elizabeth & Leicester: Power, Passion, Politics
| Title | Elizabeth & Leicester: Power, Passion, Politics |
| Writer | |
| Date | 2024-10-12 03:00:13 |
| Type | |
| Link | Listen Read |
Desciption
A gripping account of one of history’s most fascinating of alliances–the love affair between Queen Elizabeth I and her political advisor and confidant, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.No one knows quite when and where their relationship began — though Leicester once said he’d known Elizabeth since she was eight years old. They shared an important commonality of experience — both with a parent dead on the headsman’s block, both imprisoned in the Tower just yards away. Within days of the death of her sister, Mary, he was at her side and within months, openly spoken of as her lover, even her future husband. Her relationship with her “bonnie sweet Robin” was one of the most important in the life of Elizabeth. For thirty years he loved her, advised her, understood her, sat by her bed in sickness, and represented her on state occasions. Yet, much of the fascination in their relationship comes from what is not on display: the sudden death — some said murder — of Leicester’s wife, which damaged his reputation irretrievably; and Elizabeth’s persistent refusal for ever afterwards to marry anybody at all.Not a conventional biography, Elizabeth & Leicester is, rather, an intimate portrait of an affair between two people at a crucial moment in history.
Review
In my youth (god, I can SAY that, how horrible), I was an English history major. At U.C. Berkeley. I actually toyed with the idea of getting a Ph.D, applied, was accepted, and was informed in my acceptance letter that there were no jobs and if I wanted to pursue academia, go forth, but be prepared to flip burgers for a living. Which prompted me to go to cooking school instead! Yes, true story.History remains a passion and you really can't get any more passionate than those damn Tudors. I have purchased every major popular history on the Tudors and a goodly number of academic tomes on them, and they continue to fascinate.This is another book on Elizabeth and Leicester. It's well researched, and I like how this author cites other author's theories (this is a well travelled road and one hell of a crowded field), because a tremendous amount of this is just that: theory. She paints a much broader and interesting portrait of Leicester than I've seen in previous books (sort of the point here), with less emphasis on Liz (which is good, because, yeah, I've read a lot on her). There is much sensible interpretation here with some interesting asides. The writing is quite engaging, and I was left with a sadness about these two. They were of a kind. The sort that took fate by its ears and wrestled it to the ground, however, at a great personal cost. I didn't need the appendices on popular cinema treatments, and, I suspect, given the quasi-academic tone of this book, her publisher probably insisted gently on it. Ignore them. This is welcome addition to my burgeoning bookshelf on the Tudors.
