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nwhyte's review
2.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1586764.html
A short (180 pages) but colourful account of the relationship in the 1590s between Elizabeth I and the second Earl of Essex, which ended with his execution in 1601. No footnotes or much sourcing at all, which makes one a bit suspicious of its historical accuracy, though it is told in suitably dramatic terms. I knew the basics already, but Strachey catches our attention by portraying a court struggle between Cecil (the younger son of Lord Burghley, who founded the Salisbury dynasty) and Essex's supporters, with Francis Bacon playing a key role ny switching sides and ensuring Essex's doom; the queen then dies of a broken heart. I had not realised that Essex was actually the great-grandson of the "other Boleyn girl", Anne's sister Mary - indeed his grandmother was quite possibly her daughter by Henry VIII, making him the queen's great-nephew. It also hadn't occurred to me that he was much the most prominent courtier ever to be made Lord Deputy or Lord Lieutenant of Ireland - I had vaguely assumed that his father had held the post at some point before his horrible death, but I was wrong. The involvement of William Shakespeare in the whole thing is interesting but incidental (and anyway covered better by Shapiro).
A short (180 pages) but colourful account of the relationship in the 1590s between Elizabeth I and the second Earl of Essex, which ended with his execution in 1601. No footnotes or much sourcing at all, which makes one a bit suspicious of its historical accuracy, though it is told in suitably dramatic terms. I knew the basics already, but Strachey catches our attention by portraying a court struggle between Cecil (the younger son of Lord Burghley, who founded the Salisbury dynasty) and Essex's supporters, with Francis Bacon playing a key role ny switching sides and ensuring Essex's doom; the queen then dies of a broken heart. I had not realised that Essex was actually the great-grandson of the "other Boleyn girl", Anne's sister Mary - indeed his grandmother was quite possibly her daughter by Henry VIII, making him the queen's great-nephew. It also hadn't occurred to me that he was much the most prominent courtier ever to be made Lord Deputy or Lord Lieutenant of Ireland - I had vaguely assumed that his father had held the post at some point before his horrible death, but I was wrong. The involvement of William Shakespeare in the whole thing is interesting but incidental (and anyway covered better by Shapiro).
veniasum's review against another edition
4.0
For the first three chapters, I had serious doubts:
1. Taken as history, this reads as...dated. Also, no footnotes. Few quotations.
2. The pacing at the very beginning seemed off, both too quick and too slow.
HOWEVER. I shifted to thinking of this more as historical fiction that majors on the historical and minors on the fiction (novelistic history?), rather like "I Claudius," which is, I think, a more fitting genre judgment. Also, I didn't have any idea what was actually going to happen (I'm weak on the Elizabethans, apparently), and so the suspense built dramatically and the ending was a very effective punch in the gut.
In the end, surprising myself, I highly recommend it. I would like to read something on the topic more academic, which is a good sign.
1. Taken as history, this reads as...dated. Also, no footnotes. Few quotations.
2. The pacing at the very beginning seemed off, both too quick and too slow.
HOWEVER. I shifted to thinking of this more as historical fiction that majors on the historical and minors on the fiction (novelistic history?), rather like "I Claudius," which is, I think, a more fitting genre judgment. Also, I didn't have any idea what was actually going to happen (I'm weak on the Elizabethans, apparently), and so the suspense built dramatically and the ending was a very effective punch in the gut.
In the end, surprising myself, I highly recommend it. I would like to read something on the topic more academic, which is a good sign.
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