Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne, by David Starkey... Whether history class was your most or least favorite in school, you should find this book a fascinating read. David Starkey is not simply a renowned English historian, an expert on Tudor England, he's also a fine writer indeed. In this book, what could be dry-as-dust facts are instead lively stories of real people living real lives in the midst of turbulent times.
Regarding turbulent times, almost anyone who got through school knows about Henry VIII and his six wives, his elder daughter, Mary (also known as Bloody Mary), and his younger daughter, who became the first Queen Elizabeth. But my guess is that few of us, unless we're real history buffs, know much about the extraordinary times in which they lived.
Most books that I have read about Queen Elizabeth I deal with her years as a monarch. Starkey, however, takes us from her birth in 1533 to her accession to the throne in 1558. During those years she led a life that could well be the stuff of fiction. But it was real. In his introduction to Elizabeth, Starkey says that during that period "... she had experienced every vicissitude of fortune and every extreme of condition." As I read the book, I marveled that she survived those years and went on to be the most successful queen England has known.
Her mother was executed by her father, which must have been a terrible blow to the child, but she never spoke of it. She was both princess and intended successor to the throne, then disinherited, then reinstated. She was accused of treason and imprisoned in the Tower by her own sister, facing possible execution. She survived plots and counterplots, threats to her well-being by family as well as foe, during these years of religious persecution. Yet in the midst of all this turmoil, she kept her head-literally and figuratively-and lived to age 70.
And all this happened before she was 25 years old. Starkey has this to say, "But, above all, I never forget that the years of Elizabeth's apprenticeship are a wonderful adventure story. We know they had a happy ending and that she survived and became queen. Elizabeth herself, her friends and enemies, had no such foresight." An exceptional life, with its highs and lows, and little in between.
In reading this book, besides my admiration for her sheer grit and ability to adjust to both wonderful and dreadful circumstances, I learned a great deal more about her as a person than ever before. Most of my earlier reading about her life was about her as Queen Elizabeth. As a child, she was precocious, brilliant even, and throughout all these dangerous and difficult times, she showed a natural instinct for dealing with the type of political chicanery with which she was surrounded. Even her education, conducted of course by private tutors, is astonishing in its depth and breadth; among other subjects, she studied Latin and Greek and was fluent in French.
Starkey writes with humanity and a wry and engaging tone, even when discussing religious persecution or political skullduggery. In one place, he refers to "extravagant characters and madcap schemes."
This is a book to be read, then read again, and for me more times than that. Starkey brings those days to life. And the young queen-to-be is a person you will enjoy getting to know. I recommend it.
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