Customer Reviews

Young Elizabeth: The First Twenty-Five Years

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Books should be judged on whether they achieve their purpose. Plowden's purpose in this book appears to be the creation of a scholarly, yet readable biography of Elizabeth I's pre-queen years. This she does with consummate skill. The writing is superb, and the scholarship seems excellent. Plowden selects details calculated to wet the reader's curiosity and to draw a thorough picture of her subject. She has definite opinions, but she does not do all her readers' thinking for them.

I found this book and the rest in Plowden's Elizabeth quartet very appealing. Based on these books, I've been collecting biographies on all sorts of other tantalizing personalities that the writer mentions in passing.

Note: I am an English masters student, not a historian. I am therefore better qualified to judge the quality of the writing than the quality of the research.

One criticism: The book begins with a very swift overview of the complex circumstances leading to Elizabeth's birth. The part pertaining to Henry VIII is easily digestible, but the earlier section involving Henry VII, Katherine of Valois, Owen Tudor, and the War of the Roses proceeds at baffling speed. If you are not already familiar with this convoluted period of English history, the multitude of characters entering and exiting the stage may overwhelm you. My advice: hang in there; it gets better.

Elizabeth I is one the most famous woman in history, and yet history books concentrate on the accomplishments of her reign without paying much attention to the woman behind them. This book is a wonderful introduction to Elizabeth the woman- well researched and detailed, it is never-the-less an enjoyable read for the non-historian. By reviewing the early incidents which shaped Elizabeth and her view of the world, Plowden lays the groundwork for explaining her actions thoughout her long reign. I haven't read the rest of the series yet, but I am looking forward to doing so in the near future.

I think this excellently written book gives a historically accurate insite of the early life of Elizabeth I. I would recomend this book to anyone who is interested in Elizabeth I and Tudor history. :)