Customer Reviews

Behind the Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Give Behind the Mask:The Life of Queen Elizabeth I by Jane Resh Thomas to every young person you know. Give it to the older folk as well but especially young people who are threatened nearly every day with History as dead skin cells and dates when it should be what Ms. Thomas has given us--a life.

Ms. Thomas delivers us to the England of Henry VIII, where baby girl Elizabeth is born, where neither mother, father, sister, brother, teacher, nor priest is to be trusted. The author leads us through the early years of Elizabeth's life, her lessons in poetry, penmanship, intrigue, and suspicion, and lands us in Elizabethan England with a very clear understanding of why the Queen is who she is and why she does what she does.

The pictures are lush. The captions are even better, inviting the reader to look again at the paintings and their details, and again and perhaps a tenth time, to uncover the personalities and mysteries within the frames.

Best of all, Thomas shows us that history, although it is non-fiction, is not the truth. Every historian has a point of view, a way of looking at events, a reason it matters. Without this, history is merely lists of dates and possibly accurate facts. Obviously, telling the story of Elizabeth I mattered to Ms. Thomas. And I think we, the readers, matter to her as well for she has given us a chance to love history.

The San Francisco reader ignored the fact when he bought it that this book was published for young people "10 up" and for adults who don't have degrees in British history and who want basic information. Now he complains because because of its "lack of sophistication" and "reading level". My son and his friends, sophisticated black teenaged boys, love this book for giving history and historical figures some humanity. Now he's reading all he can find about the Renaissance times and people. Ilearned a lot from it too, enough to make sense of the recent movies about Queen Elizabeth the first.

Take a look at the cover of this book for just a moment. Just a single solitary moment. Maybe the last thing you want to do is read a young adult biography on England's greatest queen, and I can understand where you're coming from. But take a good long look at the image presented on the cover here. This portrait of Queen Elizabeth was fashioned in her time and is commonly referred to as The Rainbow Portrait. It is, to my mind, the most flattering painting ever made of the ruler and it hasn't been touched since she posed for it. When you first look at it, it seems pretty standard. There she is with the high forehead (considered attractive at the time), the bright curly red hair, and the ostentatious finery. In fact, let's take a closer look at that finery. If you look carefully you cannot help but notice that her gown is covered in ears and eyes. You heard me right. Honest to goodness ears and eyes are all over this thing! You don't notice it at first, but once you've seen it you can never forget it. Such is the case with Thomas's book itself. It may not look like much at first, but once you take even a glance at the text you immediately become transfixed by the lives of Elizabeth, her crazy family, suitors, and enemies.

Elizabeth was born the second child of the (in the words of the great comic Eddie Izzard) "big fat hairy king", Henry VIII. Fond of killing off his wives when they either displeased him or couldn't produce male heirs, Elizabeth was the daughter of the soon-to-be beheaded Anne Boleyn. Her life was touch and go from the start. One minute she was treated as a prized pet and the next she was sent to royal grounds far from court. What followed soon after was a series of deaths and accessions to the throne. When Henry VIII died he was followed by Elizabeth's little half-bro Edward VI. When Eddie died he was followed by the Lady Jane Grey (for nine days). After she was tossed out came Elizabeth's older half-sis Mary (Bloody Mary to you commoners). Finally, Mary kicked it and Elizabeth rose to the throne. She was only 25 or 26 at the time and extraordinarily canny in the choices she made. Refusing to marry (and thereby give up her ruling power) Elizabeth remained sexy and single. Over the course of her life she dealt with assassination attempts, the continual threat of Mary Queen of Scots, an invasion of England by the Spanish Armada, excommunication, and all sorts of fun stuff. The result? Elizabeth remains perhaps the best remembered Queen of them all, making her an excellent subject of bios and bio-pics.

I'm easily bored. If I pick up a children's book that won a Newbery Award pre-1950 to read, you'll probably find me curled up in a corner fast asleep in five minutes time. Non-fiction is therefore one of the banes of my existence and I heap large helpings of praise onto any author that can make a realistic subject even halfway interesting. Not being familiar with Jane Resh Thomas, I was understandably nervous when I confronted this tome of a book and its 16th century subject. To my vast relief, my fears were more than unfounded. Here is a history book that has plumbed every interesting tidbit, rumor, factoid, and story for the eager ears of the reader. Want to hear how Queen Elizabeth would expose her chest to foreign diplomats (to put them on edge, you see)? Read it here. Curious about her six foot tall rival who was a queen that disguised herself as a boy to gain English sanctuary? It's a great tale. None of this is to say that Thomas neglects actual informative facts about the Elizabethan era and its people. In fact, this kind of information is so plentiful that it fills each and every page without ever drawing undue attention to itself. I think I learned more about ancient court life within these pages than I could have hoped to anywhere else.

In addition to fabulous factual storytelling and a wonderful ear for narrative, tension, and intrigue, Thomas has filled the book with numerous paintings of the characters involved, even going so far as to include Elizabeth's life in portraits as a color filled section of seven portraits that follow her through the years. To help the easily confused (like my pretty self) there's a fabulous opening section that names and describes many of the book's major players. There's also a portrait gallery of Henry VIII's wives and description of their mostly shortened lives. The back of the book contains a useful chronology of events, a well-cited bibliography of every source Thomas used or even thought of using, and an index. You're in safe hands with this thorough researcher.

Thomas attempts in this book to show the life of Elizabeth without commenting on her too much. Yes, Elizabeth could be as cruel and calculating as her predecessors and she wasn't afraid to "Off with their head" a couple of her closest compatriots. In the end, however, she comes off as a remarkable woman. Thomas leaves plenty of room for speculation on lurid topics that cover everything from Elizabeth's sex life to her love of sweets for dinner. Nothing here is written in stone, but this is probably as good a teen biography of this great woman you're going to get for at least another one hundred years. As someone who looked upon reading this book initially as a chore, I can tell you honestly that it was a joy to go through. A biography that deserves remembrance.

If you are interested in learning more about Elizabeth I, start with this book. While it is true that it targets an adolescent audience, it clears up much confusion and muddled facts surrounding the Virgin Queen's life. The story is presented in a clear, straightforward fashion and is an easy read (which DOES NOT mean that it is not worth reading!). I have read many biographies of "Good Queen Bess" and this remains one of my favorites.

Ms. Thomas did a wonderful job in creating this book about Elizabeth I. I found this book to be incredibly helpful when creating a report. It had me wish I knew this thoughtful and insightful queen. I felt I was in the time period because it had information and facts where other biographers made speculations and mere guesses. In other books, I felt as if the author had not even researched it at all. I would recommend this book to anyone, not just as a resource but also as a free read.

My favorite thing about this book is the wonderful illustrations. It is the first biography on Elizabeth that I have found with just about every single portrait of her ever made. It also has all of the popular paintings shown in color in this book, which makes buying the book worthwhile even if you do not read it!

If you are interested in learning about more about Elizabeth, this is the first book you should read. The author keeps the story simple and easy to read, it almost seems like you are reading a very interesting novel. She gives you a brief, but very complete coverage of Elizabeth's entire life, which will enable you to pick up the more complicated and detailed volumes written about Elizabeth and be able to follow them much more easily.

Another wonderful thing about this book, is she gives a brief description/background of all the important people from Henry VIII 's reign as well as Elizabeth's. She also gives a bibliography per chapter, giving you the names of books to look into if you want to read further on more specific periods of her life.

I have always been interested in Elizabeth I since I was in grade school many years ago. However, I have never read anything that wasn't sketchy or merely factual until now. Ms. Thomas has written an excellent biography of Elizabeth's life, and her anecdotal references make it much more interesting than anything I've read in a history book. It made me see Elizabeth as a real person in a real time, and also brought to light the reality that a person in her station during that time did NOT live an enchanted life. I would have liked to have seen more pictures, perhaps even maps of specific places mentioned in the book. I agree with some of the other reviewers that the writing seems more directed toward adolescents than adults and some wording is a little awkward. Apart from some needed editing, I would recommend this book for anybody interested in Elizabeth I.

I saw the recent movies about Elizabeth and a couple of the older ones and I had sooo many questions. What was real? What was just cinematic license? This book is enjoyable to read, the facts are presented clearly and well-documented, and there's no glossing over the uncomfortable parts as happens in so many books written for children. Ms. Thomas obviously respects the intelligence of her readers. I think a lot of adults will find this book the best place to start when finding out more about Good Queen Bess . . . or trying to figure out the conflicting views of her from the movies. On top of which, the book is just plain gorgeous--great drawings and color paintings. Thanks, Ms. Thomas!

I just finished reading Behind the Mask and was enthralled. The writing is masterful; it captures your interest and pulls you into time and place and truly makes Elizabeth a person we come to know and understand and care about. I was never aware of all the events going on at that time; what a maelstrom of intrigue permeated life. And that extraordinarily strong leadership was necessary for survival both to rulers and countries. And what a devastating effect the Reformation had. I remember a quote that always intrigued me: "Luther arose and threw the apple of discord into the world". Finally, I understand it. Behind the Mask gives you insight into history.

While the publisher touts this book as appropriate for children 10 and up, I think the School Journal recommendation of Grades 8 and up is much more appropriate. My eight year old wanted to read this book for a class project. I mistakenly thought it would be an excellent choice, but by page 17, I'd forbidden her to continue. By that time, I'd been asked to define prostitute, castration, disemboweling, liaison, "skin ulcer," and deformed as she read passages that included subjects like the corruption in the priesthood (priests living openly with prostitutes), the adultery charges against Anne Boleyn (including explanations of how the fact that her third child was born stillborn and deformed might have led to rumors about Annes morality, as deformity was believed to stem from the woman participating in witchcraft or sexual intercourse with the devil) , and Henrys persecution of those who refused to accept his new authority as head of the Church of England (including the execution, castration, and disemboweling of priests who defied him). While all the information is accurate and well-researched, this gritty detail (much of which I didn't have to deal with until I was a sophomore in college) seems inappropriate for a child's introduction to the fascinating life of Queen Elizabeth I or Tudor England. It is much more likely -- especially for a sensitive child -- to put them off both subjects forever!