Elizabeth (Radio Collection)

An abused child, yet confident of her regnal destiny, a woman in a man's world, passionately sexual--tho, as she maintained, a virgin--Elizabeth I was to be famed as England's most successful ruler. This biography, by concentrating on the formative early years--from her birth in 1533 to accession in 1558--shows how her experiences of danger & adventure formed her character & shaped her opinions & beliefs. An absorbing tale of one young woman's turbulent, courageous & seemingly impossible journey towards the throne, it's the story of the making of a queen. In growing up, she experienced every vicissitude of fortune & every extreme of condition. She was three at the time of her mother's execution. When she was a young woman, her stepfather cut her dress off of her with a knife. She had been Princess & inheritrix of England--then bastardized & disinherited. At sixteen she was the head of a great princely household. Yet she was also an accused traitor on the verge of execution. Amid all this, she'd mastered the most advanced classical curriculum of the day. But it was her lessons in the school of life that mattered more & taught her humanity. Starkey recreates a host of extravagant characters, madcap schemes & tragic plots, while using original documents to point up the importance of the rituals of power & life at court. He writes clearly about religion & constitutional history. Elizabeth, whose Protestant faith was personal & sophisticated, was judicious in her handling of Reform, as in her choice of councilors. Here, too, is a fresh view of the famous rivalry between the daughters of Henry VIII: the pious Catholic Mary & her clever sister. While Elizabeth remained devoted to her father, she was also determined not to lose her opportunity for power--& not to make Mary's mistakes. The skill with which she achieved her goal proved to be a sign that England had reached a watershed moment. Starkey's attention to detail & vivid storytelling ability combine to produce a narrative of these years that reads like a novel. Meticulously researched & enormously compelling, this is a masterpiece of biography.