The Virgin Queen Elizabeth I Genius Of The Golden Age Analysis

Christopher Hibbert’s “The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I, Genius of the Golden Age”, approaches the life of Queen Elizabeth I with a novelistic tone, although initially introduced as a biography, it reads differently. It begins with a prelude to allow the reader to familiarize oneself with a brief history of the county’s royal standing, and conflicts within said family. There is a useful family tree-style chart which could prove useful if you knew little to nothing of her father, King Henry VIIII of England, or the Tudors in general. The book deals somewhat with Elizabeth’s reign, but focuses prominently on who she was as a person, it does not put a great deal of weight upon her accomplishments; it fails to truly communicate why she may be considered the genius of the golden age, as the achievements she gained and struggles she endured throughout her reign are what made England great again. While the author writes beautifully, the

The only true timeline which does occur is that the text starts with an explanation prior to Queen Elizabeth’s birth and ends with her death. The prelude is almost necessary as this work is for the introductory reader of the Tudor family and period. It begins with a briefing on Catherine of Aragon and King Henry VIII’s lives, marriage, and eventual annulment. The union of Catherine and Henry is downplayed rather quickly, as her inability to produce an heir is an apparent issue, as only one of her six children survives beyond infancy, Mary, the eventual Queen of England. The marriage must come to an end, as an heir is ultimately any royal’s goal, and so King Henry VIII sets his sights on Anne Boleyn, or as the author writes “Bolaine”, who is a lady of Queen Catherine at this point. Anne Boleyn is described in great