Press

What the critics say

Fresh and lively... Vividly told... He sets before us not only the woman behind the throne but the girl behind the woman
- Sunday Times

The best account in English of the early years of Elizabeth... One of the most zestful pieces of narrative history written...a racy read and first-rate history
- Evening Standard

What a page turner! A white knuckle ride through history...inspired research, from the clues embedded in the portraits to court ceremonial to the often circumlocutory letters
- Time Out

I found myself compelled by David Starkey's vivid recreation of the hazardous uncertainty of Elizabeth's early life, her successive exclusions from the centre of power, the studiedly ambiguous answers she offered her interrogators, her inevitable implications in conspiracies and narrow escapes from execution
- Times Literary Supplement

Combines a relaxed and unfussy style with a thorough knowledge of the period and a sharp eye for detail. Elizabeth's life makes for a compelling story and Starkey tells it well
- Spectator