All the Queens Men [Hardcover]

Evelyn Anthony (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Harpercollins (June 1960)
• ISBN-10: 9997406060
• ISBN-13: 978-9997406064
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,390,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So you want to know about Elizabeth I?, February 8, 2002

By 

Lyonis "lyonis" (Bountiful, UT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All the Queens Men (Hardcover)

[...] Evelyn Anthony's classic novel about Queen Elizabeth and her courtiers. Anthony is a well established name in historical fiction, and this book is one I read many years ago. I was fascinated by the richness of the story of Elizabeth as Queen and as woman, and her relationships with the great names of her day,who loved, hated, supported, and conspired against her. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a good Elizabeth I novel.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Heartless, September 9, 2006

By 

Lilly Flora "by Lilo Drandoff" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: All the Queen's Men (Paperback)

This is a life story of the major men who had a role in this life of Queen Elizabeth I, and Mary Queen of Scots. I won't summarize those events because they're fairly well known.

Let it just be said that this book, while it may be technically well written, is totally without heart. Everyone in it is cynical and ambitious and forced into being halfway decent people because other people decide (not being decent themselves) that they must be. It is hard to imagine that among the great and well known consolers and personages of Elizabeth's reign there could be not one good person among them, but that's how this book portrays them.

It is also boring at times, and very much not the book on Elizabeth and Robert Dudley I was looking for. In fact, this is the worst I have ever seen Dudley portrayed-not only ambitious but stupid and mean. This is not a book about the folly of Queen's trusting men; it is a book about some nasty people who happened to have power.

Not at all how I think things really were.

Two stars.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TALE OF TWO QUEENS AND THEIR MEN..., December 26, 2005

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: All the Queen's men (Hardcover)

This is historical fiction at its finest. The author, a born storyteller and gifted writer, tells the story of Elizabeth Tudor, who would become Queen Elizabeth I, and those men who were to play important roles in her life. The author also tells the parallel story of Elizabeth's cousin and claimant to the throne of England, the potential usurper, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, and those men who were to play important roles in her life. It seems that Elizabeth Tudor, unlike Mary Stuart, had a knack for choosing her men wisely.

It is clear from the story that Elizabeth I was a Protestant Queen who ruled with her head, rather than with her heart. Mary Stuart, on the other hand, was a Catholic Queen who ruled with her heart, rather than with her head. Elizabeth would eschew sharing her crown with the love of her life, Robert Dudley, putting no man before her obligations and love of country. Mary Stuart, on the contrary, would decide to rule with a king beside her but would, unfortunately, choose most unwisely in selecting Lord Darnley as her bridegroom. She also had little talent for the wily, political, behind-the scenes machinations in which Elizabeth I and her advisors so effectively engaged. Consequently, it was no surprise that it was Mary Stuart, rather than Elizabeth I, who would one day lose her head to the executioner's blade.

The author tells a riveting story of both Queens and their lives. She carefully delineates how it was that their paths were to cross over time. Eventually, Mary Stuart, her Scottish kingdom torn asunder as a result of her many foolish decisions and the political machinations of Elizabeth I and her advisors, fled Scotland. Leaving behind James, her infant son and heir, she entered England, foolishly seeking succor and aid from Elizabeth I, only to find herself a prisoner of her wily cousin. Never again, would Mary Stuart rule Scotland. Instead, her infant son, who would be raised a Protestant, would be declared Scotland's King.

Mary Stuart would remain her cousin's prisoner for over twenty years, causing Elizabeth I much heartache, as Mary Stuart was a Catholic Queen Regnant, providing a cause around which England's Catholics could rally. Elizabeth I knew that she, as well as England, would know no peace as long as her Catholic subjects had such figurehead in their own backyard. Over the years, plots to restore Mary Stuart to the Scottish throne and crown her Queen of England, would come to the attention of Elizabeth I. This was to cause Elizabeth I great heartache.

After all, not only was Mary Stuart, as was Elizabeth I, a Queen Regnant, she was also her cousin by blood. The execution of Mary Stuart, for which her advisors clamored, was, therefore, a precedent that Elizabeth was most reluctant to set, though it would guarantee surcease by her Catholic subjects. She also knew, however, that Mary Stuart, though long her prisoner, would not cease plotting to escape. When Elizabeth I was finally presented with seemingly irrefutable evidence of her cousin's perfidy and treasonous behavior, she finally took the step that she had long dreaded.

This beautifully crafted, well-researched story grips the reader from beginning to end. Replete with period detail, those who were to play an important part in the historical events of the time come vibrantly alive under the pen of this noted author. It is a riveting tale that will keep the reader turning the pages until the very last. This is a book that those who enjoy well-written historical fiction will love. Bravo!