Elizabeth: The forgotten Years, got it in paperback, a recent re-release. Elizabeth the first of England a heroine queen in any and every perspective, last of the Tudor dynasty, a lifetime fending off foreign invaders, (on land and at sea) suitors, desirable and otherwise, not to forget several attempts upon her life and dealing with people such as Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots.
The Forgotten Years, John Guy's title, concentrates upon the final two decades of her life, sometimes described as the second reign, a period in which she had to deal with Mary's claim to her throne and also Phillip ll and the Spanish Armada. She often kept a difficult relationship with her court, which was filled with dangerous and ambitious courtiers, yet essential to her rule, men such as Francis Walsingham her spymaster, the devoted adviser William Cecil. Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, the Earl of Essex, whom, perhaps not surprisingly, comes to something of a sticky end. All are intertwined in a story of high powered medieval intrigue and political diplomacy.
The author and historian, John Guy, turns an often difficult and sometimes downright boring history into an enjoyable and interesting read. Although there is some modern terminology in this work, this is all part of Guy's easy style and a lot of his research has come through Elizabeth's handwritten letters, in which there are interesting notes upon Dudley, Sir Phillip Sydney and Walter Raleigh and not forgetting the daring exploits of Drake and Hawkins. Of course as you can probably expect, Essex is one of the main characters in the book, not only for his daring do, but also for his often vain, feckless and self-righteous outlook upon Elizabeth, the Court and even England, such a man is likely to make many enemies.
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