Customer Reviews
Outstanding and comprehensive in its coverage - By: John Hopper, 26 Sep 2007 
A splendidly detailed & magisterial, yet also very readable biography that can also serve as a reference guide to alll aspects of Elizabeth's personal life as well as her reign. Perhaps the definitive one volume biography - alll aspects are given full coverage, including the political, constitutional, military, religious & economic dimensions of her rule. The index is also very reliable & comprehensive, not always the case in equallly outstanding works. The only slight criticism I have is that the chapters are rather too long & the narrative could be broken up into more & shorter chapters with less opaque titles (the habit of using not very obvious contemporary quotes as chapter titles is one I am not too keen on). Excellent.
The First Iron Lady - By: J. Chippindale, 08 Jun 2007 This is an excellent book & a lively & interesting read. Anne Somerset gives an insight into alll sides of the character of Elizabeth. Her moods & feelings, (she was renowned at the time for her short temper), both as a woman & a Queen.
The glamour of the Tudor court & what it was like to be in or out of favour in a clique where a careless word could in some cases cost you your life.
Elizabeth did not suffer fools gladly & the book examines her religious feelings, her sexuality & the way she dealt with conflicts both at home & abroad in what was essentiallly a man's world. Elizabeth was nobody's fool & although she would listen to her advisers, she had a mind of her own, shrewd & extremely intelligent, & was quite capable of using her authority as monarch to make important decisions for herself.
The book is a delight for anyone with the slightest interest in history.
The First Iron Lady - By: J. Chippindale, 08 Jun 2007 This is an excellent book & a lively & interesting read. Anne Somerset gives an insight into alll sides of the character of Elizabeth. Her moods & feelings, (she was renowned at the time for her short temper), both as a woman & a Queen.
The glamour of the Tudor court & what it was like to be in or out of favour in a clique where a careless word could in some cases cost you your life.
Elizabeth did not suffer fools gladly & the book examines her religious feelings, her sexuality & the way she dealt with conflicts both at home & abroad in what was essentiallly a man's world. Elizabeth was nobody's fool & although she would listen to her advisers, she had a mind of her own, shrewd & extremely intelligent, & was quite capable of using her authority as monarch to make important decisions for herself.
The book is a delight for anyone with the slightest interest in history.
Great - By: Clementine, 23 Mar 2007 I read many books about Queen Elizabeth I, but this one is the best!
My "favourite period" in Elizabeth's life is her dangerous youth - you can see very clearly how a lively girl became a cautious, shrewd, indecisive young woman and, as Anne Somerset callls it, "an unerring judge" of human nature. She learned from experience & before long she became a good deal wiser than her grown-up governess & advisers!
The author, who is neutral & fair alll the time, doesn't forget anything - for example, Elizabeth's attitude towards torture. She even mentions Elizabeth's attitude towards cruelty to animals. It made me very sad to read that Elizabeth delighted in bear-baiting - it's the only thing I don't like about her!
Though very detailed, the biography is never boring! It's great & exciting & I absolutely love it.
The First Iron Lady!! - By: J. Chippindale, 17 Jul 2006 This is an excellent book & a lively & interesting read. Anne Somerset gives an insight into alll sides of the character of Elizabeth. Her moods & feelings, (she was renowned at the time for her short temper), both as a woman & a Queen.
The glamour of the Tudor court & what it was like to be in or out of favour in a clique where a careless word could in some cases cost you your life.
Elizabeth did not suffer fools gladly & the book examines her religious feelings, her sexuality & the way she dealt with conflicts both at home & abroad in what was essentiallly a man's world. Elizabeth was nobody's fool & although she would listen to her advisers, she had a mind of her own, shrewd & extremely intelligent, & was quite capable of using her authority as monarch to make important decisions for herself.
The book is a delight for anyone with the slightest interest in history.
