Welcome to Litsy!

Thus concludes my monthslong tour of Elizabeth I's reign. This is well-researched and well-written, but the ground is (contra the title of the book) somewhat well-trod and Guy struggles to hide his fondness for Mary Queen of Scots.

Yaaaass Queen Elizabeth!
Guys put a lot of research into this and he didn't disappoint

Very good biography of the sunset of the virgin queen's reign. Guy had obviously put a great deal of research into a part of her reign that can be overlooked, and you really get a sense of her as a person and a queen.

#TBRtemptation post 6! Elizabeth was crowned at 25. It took 25 years to solidify her throne & authority. Wars against Spain and France, a revolt in Ireland, a conspiracy involving Mary, and more occurred. Her advisors and her suitors always pressed from every direction. Guy mined overlooked archives and letters and port documents to provide a clearer, truer picture of the queen that has captivated the world ever since. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

Okay, I'm taking a break from this book for a little bit because it's so big and has so much information and I can't fit it into the library time constraints for new books. It's $35 so as if I can afford it but I'll let it chill for a little and check it out of the library again later, maybe in the new year. LOVE IT though, just is taking super long to get through. 💛💛💛

Can we just marvel for a second at those books (you know the kind) that are PACKED with information, just facts on facts on facts, and in this awed stupor you're like "I cannot even fathom how much research this author had to do or how long it took"? Because this is one of those books and I'm like ?????? rn

Me: *already has tons of books out, so as to not be tempted to get more I leave my library card at home when I go to library to return books*

Also me: *sees new biography on Elizabeth I, proceeds to swipe dad's library card and checks it out, relinquishing all self control*

Truly superior historical biography written by an expert scholar of Tudor England. Guy not only has complete mastery of the primary sources of Elizabeth's reign, but quotes from multiple recently discovered documentary sources. Scholarly, and yet, completely readable. Elizabeth was a difficult and complex woman, and Guy portrays her clearly and fairly--to the point that I was a little shocked to learn that she could be as cruel as her father.

The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, 'truly, was Elizabeth's Armada of the soul.'