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Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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Elizabeth
I: The Golden Reign of Gloriana One odd
things comes to mind at once about this book – the second part of the title,
as listed by Amazon, does not appear anywhere within the book itself.
How’s that for confusion? David
Loades is an accomplished professor – or so we are informed – and he has
done an excellent job of providing a biography of Elizabeth I of England,
possibly the best ruler that England ever had.
He shows both her remarkable talents and unique achievements, as well as
how she controlled her kingdom and court, and how her life shaped her for her
role. The
book, however, sheds little new light on the Queen. Events it discusses are familiar to most readers from the
start, although the book is writing in an engaging style that interests the
reader from the start. As we know,
an interested reader is one who will learn more from the book.
The
biography brings out events that may have been missed by many people and
students. Elizabeth was not above
the practice of ‘courtly love’, the nobles’ equivalent to cybersex, which
may have led to two scandals in her reign.
One of them, Dudley, was not fatal, but the other, with the immature Earl
of Essex, could have had fatal consequences, as Essex tried to lead a Putsch
against her courtiers, who he believed had poisoned the Queen against him.
Due to his incompetence and immaturity, the attempt got nowhere and he
was executed. For
us Alternate History fans, David Loades provides plenty of grounds for
speculation. For example, what if
Elizabeth had been executed by Mary? She
had been forced by Mary to marry a catholic?
Philip of Spain, while married to Mary, managed to smuggle enough troops
to England to hold the country for Spain? Mary
had a child? Or, most intriguingly
of all, what if Elizabeth had married someone at some point?
As
a final Note, this book provides considerable background on European politics in
the Elizabethan era, which is very interesting for readers of ‘Ruled
Britannia’ (Harry Turtledove).
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