Elizabeth and Leicester: The Truth about the Virgin Queen and the Man She Loved Paperback – Illustrated, October 28, 2008

Sarah Gristwood's portrayal of the lifelong romance between Elizabeth and Leicester is intimate, chatty, highly interesting, highly entertaining. She is rather like an auntie clucking away in the background. over the escapades of a favorite niece. You feel she just loves Elizabeth, and Dudley too. But she gets them down to earth emotionally so you feel that inside they are no different from countless other men and women in love, on the rebound or even in remission. The long long relationship is spread before you in all its vicissitudes.Of course they were not ordinary but they had ordinary emotions. Elizabeth was Queen. Would Robert have loved her had she been a dairy maid? Not likely. She was the forbidden fruit he couldn't quite pluck although he tried all his life. Although his affection for her was undoubtedly very deep, I get the feeling he was not in love with her as a woman but as a symbol and personification of power he lusted to share. Was Elizabeth in love with him? Yes. She carefully saved his last letter to her sent just before he died in a little casket labeled "his last letter." There was only one "his" to Elizabeth Tudor. Leicester would have married her in a heartbeat, of course, but the reason the Queen did not marry Dudley was, Gristwood remarks simply, because she didn't want to. For whatever reason. (But she loved him).The book is rich in historical detail written with Gristwood's knack for taking you right to the event. For instance she describes what it would have been like for the four Dudley brothers, including Robert, imprisoned in the Tower after the ascension of Mary I. The young men were crammed together in one small area. The youngest brother, Guildford Dudley, the husband of Lady Jane Grey, was executed just outside the Tower precincts, and his three remaining brothers would have been able to see the bloody cart bringing back his body and head (as would Lady Jane herself). They would also have a bird's eye view of the beheading of Lady Jane, literally right under their window on Tower Green. They would have seen her groping for the block after she was blind-folded, they would have heard the thunk of the axe.This book is a woven tapestry of events and emotions and inter-relationships brought to you in stunning detail and with insight and compassion, too. Gristwood goes into a long discussion of the death of Leicester's wife, Amy Robsart, which has intrigued people down the ages. How could a young woman fall down a shallow set of stairs and thus break her neck and why did she send away all her servants to a local fair on that day? Was she planning to commit suicide because of Robert's defection to the Queen and due to the fact she possibly had cancer of the breast? Would anybody try and commit suicide in such a chancey way? Gristwood totally rules out the involvement of Robert in his wife's death, certainly this was no murder perpetrated by him. Some historians have pointed the finger at Cecil , but this seems unlikely too. Was she pushed? But except for one old lady there was nobody around. Gristwood will leave you dangling, she neither explains nor solves the mystery but the discussion is fascinating. Poor Amy.Elizabeth's close brush with death from smallpox. Her rage over Robert's secret marriage. Leicester's agony over the death of his little son by Lettice Knollys, the Earl's only heir. Elizabeth's infatuation with the Duke of Alencon, her "Frog."It's all here, told in a refreshing way."Elizabeth and Leicester" is a great read! Five stars.

Mildly interesting, I really wanted more. But, this may not be the author's fault. Apparently, some things are just not known. At least she didn't fake knowledge or speculate to the point of absurdity. I still enjoyed the book, though I won't claim any "Wow! This was great!" moments.

I won't go into detail on the book, as other reviewers have already written about that. I am fascinated with the relationship between the two of them and the book didn't disappoint. It was well researched and well written. My only umbrage is, once again, how us kindle readers get ripped off on the pictures. I know kindle has the capability. I would rather seem them in black in white than not at all- Luckily, I am familiar with 'most' of the poitraits the author described. But for someone who doesn't read a lot of Tudor history, you would be so curious to see what the players looked like. To add insult to injury, there is a whole footnote section dedicated to "Picture acknowledgements". I sure would have liked to see them- I didn't want to give the book itself lower stars because it WAS good and the writer addressed all the the issues that have been swirling around for centuries.

I love reading anything by Sarah Gristwood. I have enjoyed 15th and 16th century history for 30 years. I seldom give 5 star ratings. I do so when the author is easy to read without a lot of background knowledge. This author will encourage 'history novices' to continue the search for knowledge.

This book is well written and interesting. It compiles information from many different sources including private papers to provide a great insight into the relationship between Elizabeth and her ultimate favorite, Robert Dudley, without reading like a textbook. It provides a wonderful insight into the relationship that shocked contemporaries and impacted relations between England and many other countries. As the author points out, any courtship between the two lasted only a few months, but seems to have defined how most people think about this decades-long relationship. Much is done to redeem Leicester as a politician and a patriot and to counteract his reputation a scheming traitor.Sarah Gristwood has published this same book under multiple titles, including  Elizabeth and Leicester: The Truth about the Virgin Queen and the Man She Loved  (which is a bit cheaper) and  Elizabeth & Leicester . I made the mistake of buying multiple versions of the same book, thinking they were different books on a similar topic.

This book is well written and interesting. It compiles information from many different sources including private papers to provide a great insight into the relationship between Elizabeth and her ultimate favorite, Robert Dudley, without reading like a textbook. It provides a wonderful insight into the relationship that shocked contemporaries and impacted relations between England and many other countries. As the author points out, any courtship between the two lasted only a few months, but seems to have defined how most people think about this decades-long relationship. Much is done to redeem Leicester as a politician and a patriot and to counteract his reputation a scheming traitor.Sarah Gristwood has published this same book under multiple titles, including  Elizabeth & Leicester: Power, Passion, Politics (which has many more reviews) and  Elizabeth & Leicester . I made the mistake of buying multiple versions of the same book, thinking they were different books on a similar topic.

Very happy with the product and service.

Amazing. I was completely transported to these exciting times. Each time I picked up the book I was in another world. So well written, so enthralling. didn't want to put it down. The only complaint was that I ran out of pages!!!! If only every book I read was as good as this....I will certainly buy from this author again. brilliant and THANK YOU

A great story although not as easy to read as some versions i have read . Still , it never fails to thrill and i enjoyed it never-the-less .

This is a period in history that just fascinates me. I don't usually read non-fiction but I really enjoyed this.

Bought as a present for a Tudor mad daughter; this makes for a good read. Fascinating.

Book arrived in good clean condition. Excellent read - very detailed.