Author: Alison Plowden (deceased)
Published: The History Press (Reprint 2011)
Genre: Biography
Rating: 5/5
I know. I am obsessed with Tudor England and learning about this time period is one of my biggest passions in life. When I find a biography on Elizabeth I written with flesh and blood and not just dry facts I am pleased. Alison Plowden's first book in her quartet covering Elizabeth I's life was a pleasure to read.
This well-researched biography brings the reader into the complicated and twisted first 25 years of Elizabeth's life. Plowden had done a marvelous job supporting her interpretation of Elizabeth's life and the psychological affects of her childhood with first-hand accounts. Readers and Tudor Historians can only suspect how the execution of Anne Boleyn and her father's consecutive marriages influenced Elizabeth's mental and spiritual development. What Plowden does supply her audience with are the tales and records of a shrewd, young, diplomatic young woman who was forced to learn how to protect herself and her status from a young age. Through her supporting evidence readers can see how these real life events helped mold Elizabeth into the stubborn, strong queen she would become.
For anyone looking to learn about Elizabeth's childhood I would strongly recommend this biography. Another biography I would also suggest is David Starkey's Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne.
No comments:
Post a Comment