'...surely the most important [biography] since Neale's appeared nearly sixty years ago...gives us a persuasive picture of the queen, sympathetic but wholly without hagiography?' History 'Now at last it [Sir John Neale's 1934 biography of Elizabeth I] faces an academic challenge.' The Times Higher Education Supplement 'The strength of Professor MacCaffrey's treatment lies in the clarity with which he presents the portrait of Elizabeth as policy maker, and her strengths and weaknesses in that capacity. As a public figure his skills do justice to her role.' Archive for Reformation History 'Shrewd judgments are numerous, and the narrative incorporates subtle analyses of events, personalities, and the relationships between them.' Journal of Modern History She claimed to have the heart and stomach of a king, though in the frail body of a weak woman. Elizabeth I of England inspired the love of her people, encouraged arts and learning, longed for peace while waging war--and with her vacillation and dithering could drive her privy counselors mad. MacCaffrey, fellow of the Royal Historical Society and author of two previous works on Elizabeth, focuses on the politician behind the Virgin Queen, her vision shaped by years of court intrigue and fear, and her fallibility as well as statecraft. 'This well-researched, scholarly work lacks the personal color of Mary Luke's Gloriana and Anne Somerset's Elizabeth I, but as a secondary source it sheds new light on a complex, contradictory queen.' Nancy L. Whitfield, Meriden P.L. 'Queen Elizabeth (1533-1609) ruled England for more than 40 years, marking an age and establishing her country as a significant power. MacCaffrey, a professor emeritus of history at Harvard, concentrates on the queen as a politician and analyzes her successes and failures in this scholarly study of her statecraft. He highlights such historical events as the Spanish Armada (1585) and the establishment of the Church of England (1599). The queen's decision to send an army to fight Spanish rule in the Netherlands plunged her country into war; she was, however, able to supplant Catholicism and establish Protestantism as the state religion without causing a civil revolt at home. As potrayed by MacCaffrey, the strength of Elizabeth's reign rested on her great popularity; but she was frequently plagued by indecision, one of her few weaknesses.' Publishers Weekly
