Elizabeth I was Queen of England for almost forty-five years. The daughter of Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn, as an infant she was briefly accepted as her father¿s heir. After her mother was executed at her father¿s command she was declared illegitimate and led a sometimes scandalous existence until her accession to the throne at the age of twenty-five. Elizabeth oversaw a vibrant age of exploration and literature and established herself, the "Virgin Queen", a national icon that lives on in the popular imagination. But Elizabeth was England¿s second female monarch, and was greatly influenced by the experiences and mistakes of the reign of her half-sister, Mary I, before her. During her reign, Elizabeth had to perform a complicated balancing act in religious matters. As religious wars raged in Europe, Elizabeth herself a moderate Protestant, had to manage an inherited Catholic realm and the demands of zealous Protestants. Judith M. Richards takes an objective and rounded view of Elizabeth¿s whole life and provides the perfect introduction for students and general readers alike.

List of Plates. Acknowledgement. Introduction. Chapter 1: Elizabeth, briefly Princess of England. Chapter 2: From suspect 'second person' to Queen of England. Chapter 3: Establishing the new reign. Chapter 4: Mary Queen of Scots, the English succession and other problems, 1563-7. Chapter 5: the queen and her realm mid-reign. Chapter 6: Old problems and new in the queen's middle years. Chapter 7: Killing a queen and facing invasion 1585-9. Chapter 8: An ageing queen and the difficult later years of her reign. Chapter 9: Elizabeth's final years. Chapter 10: What can be known of Elizabeth I?

Judith M. Richards was previously senior Lecturer at La Trobe University and is now a history research associate there. Publications include 'Mary Tudor' in this series, and a range of essays covering sixteenth and seventeenth century historical issues, with a particular focus on monarchy.