Top 10 Elizabeth I Books

1. Elizabeth

by David Starkey. HarperCollins. From the publisher: "David Starkey's brilliant new biography concentrates on Elizabeth's formative years -- from her birth in 1533 to her accession in 1558 -- and shows how the experiences of danger and adventure formed her remarkable character and shaped her opinions and beliefs."

2. Elizabeth I: Ruler and Legend

by Clark Hulse. Univ of Illinois Press. From the publisher: "Published on the occasion of the four hundredth anniversary of Elizabeth's death, this handsome volume contains over one hundred photographs of books, manuscripts, maps, letters, paintings, clothing, furniture, and many more artifacts dating from her reign."

3. The Life of Elizabeth I

by Alison Weir. Random House. From the publisher: "Against a lavish backdrop of pageantry and passion, intrigue and war, Weir dispels the myths surrounding Elizabeth I and examines the contradictions of her character, exploring complex questions."

4. Mysteries of Elizabeth I: Selections from English Literary Renaissance

by Kirby D. Farrell (Editor), and Kathleen M. Swaim (Editor). University of Massachusetts Press. From the publisher: "The essays in this volume shed new light on Elizabeth I, exposing many of the public and private fantasies that she and her subjects used to manage their relations."

5. The Myth of Elizabeth

by Susan Doran (Editor), and Thomas S. Freeman (Editor). Palgrave Macmillan. From the publisher: "This wide-ranging interdisciplinary collection of essays examines the origins and development of the image and myths that came to surround the Virgin Queen. The essays question the prevailing assumptions about the mythic Elizabeth and challenge the view that she was unanimously celebrated in the literature and portraiture of the early modern era."

6. Elizabeth I

by Anne Somerset. Bantam Doubleday Dell. From the publisher: "Brilliant, mercurial, seductive, and maddening, an inspiration to artists and adventurers and the subject of vicious speculation over her choice not to marry, Elizabeth became the most powerful ruler of her time. Anne Somerset has immortalized her in this splendidly illuminating account."

7. All the Queen's Men: The World of Elizabeth I

by Peter Brimacombe. Palgrave Macmillan. From the publisher: "Opening with an overview of the reigns of the first four Tudor monarchs, the author emphasizes just how much England was in need of a strong and charismatic ruler, particularly after the disastrous reign of Bloody Mary. Subsequent chapters examine the make up of the royal court and the personality of Elizabeth herself, showing how her perilous path to the throne taught her much that was to stand her in good stead as Queen."

8. I, Elizabeth

by Rosalind Miles. Crown Publishing Group. From the publisher: "Now in this spellbinding novel, Rosalind Miles brings to life the woman behind the myth. By turns imperious, brilliant, calculating, vain, and witty, this is the Elizabeth the world never knew. From the days of her brutal father, Henry VIII, to her final dying moments, Elizabeth tells her story in her own words."

9. First Elizabeth

by Carolly Erickson. St. Martin's Press. From the publisher: "In this biography, Carolly Erickson brings Elizabeth I to life and allows us to see her as a living, breathing, elegant, flirtatious, diplomatic, violent, arrogant, and outrageous woman who commands our attention, fascination, and awe."

10. Chronicles of the Tudor Queens

by David Loades. Sutton Publishing. From the publisher: "Recreating the dramatic events and personalities of Mary and Elizabeth's reigns, this book uses the words of their contemporaries as witnesses to an extraordinary period of history in the making."