Elizabeth I

What a refreshingly well-written, concise and historically well-researched book! Ridley is a master of the historic biography, and every book I have read so far (having started off with his account of Henry VIII) is a riveting read and impossible to put away.May Royal Tunbridge Wells continue to serve as an inspiration to this gifted writer and connaisseur of the depth of the English language.

Jasper Ridley's biography of Elizabeth is well-written and coherent, broken into chapters that examine pivotal events during the reign in foreign and domestic policy. Ridley's work differs from most Elizabethan biographies in its focus on political and military aspects rather than personal studies of the queen. While at times the text drags, for the most part it is crisp and solid reading, and paints a fascinating picture. What makes the book stand out, however, is the quality of its documentation and use of primary sources, and its tremendous value as a research tool. Mr. Ridley has made assiduous use of archived state papers and contemporary commentaries that depict events as they were actually experienced and grasped by the people in the 16th and early 17th centuries. A student partaking in research on this period or studying the European Renaissance in general would benefit tremendously from a consultation of the bibliography, since the author essentially gives an index of the calendars of state publications that detail various decisions and military planning of the late 1500s. Furthermore, Mr. Ridley is careful to delve deeply into foreign sources as well; he makes extensive use of the archives in Simancas, Spain, as well as archival resources in Italy, to furnish shades of detail often overlooked. The overall result is that Mr. Ridley's biography has an unparalleled "real-time" feel to it. And, the author covers territory that too often is neglected in Elizabethan biographies, especially in regard to military affairs that are difficult to research elsewhere. He examines the English defeat and expulsion from Le Havre in France that resulted in the permanent loss of Calais in 1563; the long Anglo-Spanish war of the 1590s that crippled the finances of both countries, and (with Spanish victories at sea) frustrated English attempts at colonization in the Western Hemisphere while preserving Spain's foothold; and also at the bitter Anglo-Irish guerrilla war of the century's last decade, which devastated the Irish countryside and drained England's resources to the limit. For a detailed biography, Jasper Ridley's biography (along with that of Anne Somerset) is top-notch, and as a research tool it is of inestimable help.

This is postitively the best book that I have ever read on the wonderfully shrewd and amazingly intelligent Elizabeth I. I have read literally hundreds of biographies on the legendary Queen but none have echoed my own thoughts and opinions on the matter as well as this one. After spending two years researching this area of history and all of its characters, I actually learned hundreds of new facts from Ridley's book. The facet of this work that I enjoyed the most was Ridley's examinations of lesser characters. People know that Elizabeth allied herself with the Dutch Protestants in their religious wars against Spain but Ridley actually researches and presents to the reader the specifics; the personalities of the people involved, the events that shaped them and the Queen's own personal opinions. Anyone who is passionately addicted to this fascinating period should definitely read this book.