Books

Elizabeth and Leicester

  • Jan 27, 2021
  • Sarah Gristwood
  • 684 responses.

Elizabeth and Leicester Though the story has been told on film and whispered in historic gossip this is the first book in almost fifty years to solely explore the great queen s attachment to her beloved Robert Dudley the Ea

  • Title: Elizabeth and Leicester
  • Author: Sarah Gristwood
  • ISBN: 9781440609350
  • Page: 185
  • Format: ebook

    • Though the story has been told on film and whispered in historic gossip this is the first book in almost fifty years to solely explore the great queen s attachment to her beloved Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester Fueled by scandal and intrigue, their relationship set the explosive connection between public and private life in sixteenth century England in bold relief WThough the story has been told on film and whispered in historic gossip this is the first book in almost fifty years to solely explore the great queen s attachment to her beloved Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester Fueled by scandal and intrigue, their relationship set the explosive connection between public and private life in sixteenth century England in bold relief Why did they never marry How much of what seemed a passionate obsession was actually political convenience Elizabeth and Leicester reignites this 400 year old love story in a book for anyone interested in Elizabethan literature.

    • [PDF] ↠ Free Read ☆ Elizabeth and Leicester : by Sarah Gristwood À
      185 Sarah Gristwood
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      Posted by:Sarah Gristwood
      Published :2020-02-17T18:44:06+00:00

    About "Sarah Gristwood"

    1. Sarah Gristwood

      Sarah Gristwood attended Oxford and then worked as a journalist specializing in the arts and women s issues She has contributed to The Times, Guardian, Independent, and Evening Standard.

    684 Comments

    1. In my youth (god, I can SAY that, how horrible), I was an English history major. At U.C. Berkeley. I actually toyed with the idea of getting a Ph.D, applied, was accepted, and was informed in my acceptance letter that there were no jobs and if I wanted to pursue academia, go forth, but be prepared to flip burgers for a living. Which prompted me to go to cooking school instead! Yes, true story.History remains a passion and you really can't get any more passionate than those damn Tudors. I have pu [...]

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    2. First I would like to say that I found everything in this book very fascinating.Even though most of the info was political in nature and not so much personal.I still was captivated from page one.I found Ms.Gristwood's theories intriguing and the writing and research seemed very well done.But I was hoping for a more intimate portrayal of their relationship and I just didn't feel this was the book I was looking for.Very enjoyable read otherwise and if you happen to like reading about Queen Elizabe [...]

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    3. I always love books about the Tudor monarchy. I really enjoyed this book. A lot of books on this subject tend to get repetitive, it's exciting to find a book from a different perspective. This book examines in detail the relationship between the Virgin Queen and her long term confidante Robert Dudley.The subject of Elizabeth and Robert is one that creates a lot of discussion, and very divided opinions. Most historians have different ideas about who controlled the relationship. Was the Queen in c [...]

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    4. This book gave a deeper look into the lives of the Queen and her favorite, the Earl of Leicester. The politics of the time were just as complicated as they are today perhaps much more so because of the lack of modern day technology. It was an educational look into Robert Dudley's influences on his Queen.

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    6. Elizabeth and Leicester, the Virgin Queen and her 'sweet Robin', are one of the great romances of history, immortalised in history books and Hollywood movies alike. Most people have some awareness of their relationship: the great queen and the man she loved but could never marry; the age-old question of whether the Virgin Queen truly was a virgin and whether she and Leicester were loversUnfortunately much of what is known about their relationship is little more than myth, fabricated over the yea [...]

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    7. If you're unfamiliar with the life of Queen Elizabeth I and the people who surrounded her you might find this book a little overwhelming. But if you've read a fair share of biographies about the queen you'll find this one to be illuminating, certainly an accomplishment given all that has been published. This author may do to Leicester, what Antonia Fraser did for the revision of Marie Antoinette in history. By the books end, and after a very thorough analysis of the relationship and a respectful [...]

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    8. I'm fascinated by Elizabeth's relationship with Robert Dudley and this is the best book I have found that talks about it. Solid scholarship and using a knowledge of the human condition to inform her suppositions, this is the book to read if the relationship fascinates you as well.

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    10. Don't let the cover put you off, 'Elizabeth & Leicester' is no bodice-ripper. Gristwood has written an excellent historical record of possibly most important relationship of Elizabeth I's life. Giving equal attention to the lives of both Elizabeth and Robert Dudley (later to become the Earl of Leicester), Gristwood investigates the relationship that existed between the pair from almost the moment Elizabeth became Queen and Dudley was appointed her Master of the Horse. The Earl of Leicester h [...]

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    11. After thoroughly enjoying Sarah Gristwood's other historical biographies, it was with eager anticipation that I turned to this. The legendary courtship between my favourite Tudor monarch and her Master of the Horse, Robert Dudley (later knighted Earl of Leicester), has for centuries intrigued scholars and captivated the public imagination, my own notwithstanding. I have read every great biography on this iconic royal and, like others, feel a creeping dread whenever I finish another, of having ex [...]

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    12. Few relationships fire our imagination like that of Elizabeth I and her ‘bonnie sweet Robin’ – the Earl of Leicester Robert Dudley.’This is taken from the back cover of Sarah Gristwood’s fascinating book about the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.This non-fiction book looks solely at Elizabeth and Robert Dudley, from their childhood right up until Dudley’s death in 1588 during the victory celebrations of England’s defeat of the mighty Span [...]

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    13. The relationship of Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester- her "eyes" as she famously nicknamed him, has continued to fascinate historians, novelists and film and TV producers, hundreds of years after their deaths, in this book of over 500 pages, Sarah Gristwood examines the relationship between the Virgin Queen and her master of horse. The book starts with a parralel of Elizabeth and Roberts lives from early childhood- examining the difficulties of Elizabeth's early childhood w [...]

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    14. With the primary documents basically known and castles and historic sites fully documented, 21st century writers are providing general readers with more focus on specific aspects of Tudor history and more interpretation. Recently I've read : "The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers", and "The Dawn of Empire, Edward VI: The Lost King of England" and "After Elizabeth: The Rise of James of Scotland and the Struggle for the Throne of England". These books, like this one, are devo [...]

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    15. This is getting a bit better now that I'm about a third of the way in. Early on I found the assumptions about placement difficult and a bit annoying. I would ask myself questions like "how old was Elizabeth then?" but I'd be unable to find the answer. I'd go to the beginning of the section, but there was never really an introduction to place the stories and so I'd have to go to other sources to find what I thought should be pretty basic information.Then there are the references to information th [...]

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    16. Being a complete Tudor era - and of course Elizabeth I - obsessive, I've already read Gristwood's very enjoyable, if slightly speculative, biography of the tragic Arbella Stuart, a minor royal of the time who was considered at one point a possible threat to the throne and suffered greatly as a result. I'm about four chapters in and so far it's interesting, although a bit of a retread of already known facts and Gristwood tends to lay the pop psychology on rather thick regarding Elizabth's attitud [...]

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    17. I am on the fence about this book. I feel like Gristwood glossed over some of Robert Dudley and his families actions. Perhaps there was a deep emotional connection between he and Elizabeth but the bottom line of many courtiers of that time was to get ahead. I especially take issue with the her take on the Jane Grey crisis. Gristwood says Edward VI wanted her as his replacement without any cajoling from John Dudley. Perhaps he was very precocious as she points out but he was molded by his tutors [...]

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    18. I'm a bit of a romantic at heart, so I always thought Dudley and Elizabeth were the perfect married couple, even if they never married each other. She seems to have cared about him, be it from a personal or political view. She may have known his talents and kept him near her for that reason or just enjoyed having him around. The one thing we do know is that Elizabeth trusted few people and kept many of the same advisors until they died (e.g. Cecil). The last years of her left her without her mos [...]

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    19. I've read a few fictional accounts of Elizabeth and tho I've found them okay, parts of them can be dull. Why didn't they just stick to the history? I really enjoyed this book. It seems this time history is more exciting than fiction. There are no answers to the question of whenever 'Elizabeth was a maid or no' but Sarah presents all the eveidence for us to examen. After reading this I think that she was a Virgin. I just don't think that she would have been able to keep something like that a secr [...]

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    20. Finally a book committed to telling the love story like no other -- the long, and presumably chaste, but passionate relationship between Elizabeth and her "dear Robin" the Earl of Leicester. He was her prime favorite and enjoyed an open flirtatious relationship with the Queen and proved a most loyal confidante and subject. He alone was rewarded with gifts of land and was named Protector of the Realm in the event of her death. She created him Earl of Leicester presumably to better be able to marr [...]

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    21. I need to stop reading Sarah Gristwood books. She writes about fascinating topics, but she is a terrible writer. An example:"It is hard to get much of a reading on Douglass's character; not one of any great firmness, one might hazard, surely?"If one is writing a work of non-fiction on a topic in which there is limited archival evidence, then one, surely, should not hazard to make judgements about people out of thin air. The book is full of equivocation and guess work. It rambles to and fro throu [...]

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    22. Fascinating book if you're anyway interested in Elizabeth and Robert Dudley's relationship. While the first couple of chapters don't reveal much more about their relationship than any ordinary Elizabeth I biography, as it goes on it becomes increasingly fascinating.Gristwood takes the opinion that it was Elizabeth, rather than Leicester that held the balance of power in the relationship, and the games she played are heartbreaking told and you can really sense when the couple are close and then t [...]

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    23. This is a well-written analysis of Elizabeth's most important emotional relationship, as well as the most enduring one of her lifetime. Gristwood may sometimes give the Dudleys the benefit of the doubt, but she does not appear particularly biased, especially in light of the beating that Leicester's reputation has taken over time. I liked her thesis that Leicester grew apart from Elizabeth over time, and may have been largely content to do so. I wish Gristwood spent more time on the relationships [...]

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    24. I ended up skimming the rest of this once I hit the half-way point. While the book was well researched it wasn't very gripping. I wanted to read about Elizabeth and Robin.ead I got the entire socio-political climate of Europe with copious footnotes. Perhaps all these asides served the greater purpose of adding context to their relationship, but I found it dull and a bit of a slog. The author even managed to squelch any intrigue that remained regarding the death of Amy Robsart. Oh well. This was [...]

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    25. Another well researched, enjoyable read by Sarah Gristwood. This book gives us an appreciation for Robert Dudley that is beyond the self-serving Earl that we most often read about. If only Elizabeth and Dudley had married and had an heir. All the turmoil of the Stuarts would never have existed. I can't help but wonder if Elizabeth knew she was incapable of bearing a child and therefore saw no point in marrying? Did Thomas Seymour have something to do with her inability to conceive? A question wi [...]

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    26. Interesting companion reading for those who are interested in the reign of Elizabeth I. I quite enjoyed this and appreciated gaining a broader and in-biased insight into Leicester. I did not realize how committed he was to Protestantism and this knowledge gave much more depth into him and his relationships with Elizabeth and her councils. He was a most loyal and serving courtier and this book did a splendid job of debunking many myths and much vilification without untoward bias or apology. Nicel [...]

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    27. Normally I have trouble reading factual accounts of history but this is so easy to read. There are no prejudices to any of those written about, and a variety of possible conclusions given to those actions (or lack of) which have no obvious motives or explanations given at the time. Alison Weir is recorded as saying that this book is "Quite simply one of the most enthralling history books I've ever read." So far I am inclined to agree whole heartedly.

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    28. This book is pretty much just ok. When I read a novel like this I expect the author to use the historical evidence to pick a side, form a theory or present something new. This just rehashed the same old evidence and sat on the fence as to what the existing documents meant for if Elizabeth and Robert were together. It’s good if you know nothing about this era of history but if your looking for something new and different on Elizabeth’s reign you won’t find it here.

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    29. Excellent and well researched book about Elizabeth and Leicester that explores their relationship in the context of the politics and the major players of the time in which they lived. While I love a good historical novel, I prefer this richer and more in depth look at what their friendship and working relationship meant to the history of England and Elizabeth's reign. I have read many books about the Tudors, and this is one of the best.

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    30. A thoroughly-researched, well written overview of an epic relationship. That said, I'm surprised by how much of it simply confirms what I've read in other sources -- there's a bit of same-old/same-old here, considering the plethora of scholarly Tudor material available There are also a few moments of too much detail, bordering on trivia. But that's par for the course in many of these works of history.

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