Elizabeth, subtle and seductive, was also a warrior. Self-possessed, she was also owned by every gossip in Europe. Her virginity was a national asset, but a wasting asset as her reign progressed. Her body was the body politic, closely guarded but obscenely scrutinised, subject to adoration, speculation and threat. Anna Whitelock’s skilful and detailed history will bring you closer than seems possible to this glittering, infuriating, fascinating woman
Hilary Mantel
With the lively imagination of a dramatist and the rigor of an academic, Whitelock discards the chastity belt of conventional royal history and presents Elizabeth in terms of the intimate politics of her life
The Times
Whitelock’s fearless approach to Elizabeth is not like that of Essex. She, too, has burst into the bedroom and shown us the Queen in her most private state. This is an intimate history of the court and a brilliant history of intimacy
Frances Wilson, Mail on Sunday
Whitelock brings a fresh eye to the significance of anecdotes and, in doing so, injects them with new life ... With this dazzling portrait of Mary’s successor, she takes her place among the foremost – and most enthrallingly readable – historians of the Tudors
Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times
A great story, told with wit and verve
John Gallagher, Sunday Telegraph
An impressive and powerful debut
David Starkey on Mary Tudor
Whitelock excels in her timely portrait of a religious fanatic
Frances Wilson, Sunday Times Books of the Year





Anna Whitelock's greatest achievement is her portrait of Mary as a woman as well as a Queen ... complex and compelling
Anita Sethi, Independent
Brilliant
Jenny Uglow, Financial Times
A memorable portrait
Literary Review
Dazzling and fresh
Sunday Times Summer Reads
The fascinating story of England’s first successful queen told from a unique perspective
Good Book Guide
It’s a rollicking introduction to a remarkable woman, who lived in a very weird world
The Times, Summer Reads
Essentially a biography of Elizabeth I with a special concern for the Queen’s relationship with her male favourites and the various marriage negotiations that dominated England’s external relations until at least the early 1580s ... Gradually she won me over, principally by her very skilful use of contemporary quotations, and since much of the contemporary comment was extremely lively, the book became a very good read ... A readable and well-documented biography
Times Higher Supplement
Anna Whitelock demonstrates that the ladies of the bedchamber exercised considerable power and influence in their abilities both to make suggestions to the Queen and to report on her private thoughts ... Some of the best parts are the material details of Elizabeth’s domestic surroundings ... In places the book offers fascinating glimpses of Elizabeth I’s life behind closed doors, and is enriched by Anna Whitelock’s eye for the curious and engaging detail ... This is partly a book about gossip, and it is in these kinds of gossipy and flavoursome morsels that its chief insights and pleasures lie
TLS
It’s a great story, told with wit and verve
Sunday Telegraph
One cannot fault Whitelock for her meticulous research
Independent on Sunday
Whitelock makes sparkling use of the eye-witness testimonies of courtiers, who recorded their impressions of the Queen
Daily Mail
A memorable portrait, though not one that unquestioning admirers of the Virgin Queen may find palatable
Literary Review
The first Queen Elizabeth is examined again in this revelatory book, which seeks out the private woman behind the public image
Independent Best Winter Reads
Fresh insightful analysis to a more general history of Elizabeth’s reign ... Whitelock has skilfully pulled together a wealth of evidence, and the intimate parts of this study are wonderful
Tablet