The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire - Softcover

Ronald, Susan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060820675 ISBN 13: 9780060820671

Publisher: HarpPeren, 2008

Synopsis

Elizabeth I was originally dubbed 'the pirate queen' by Philip II of Spain and acknowledged as such by the pope. Extravagant, whimsical, hot-tempered, sexually enticing and the epitome of power, Elizabeth I has never ceased to amaze, entertain, and educate through the centuries. Yet very little has been written, and no books have been dedicated to, Elizabeth I for the financial magician that she was. She played the helpless woman in a man's world to great effect and beleaguered Protestant queen in a predominantly Catholic Europe, using her wiles to exploit every political and social opportunity at hand.Yet her many accomplishments would have never been possible without her daring merchants, gifted rapscallion adventurers, astronomer philosophers, and stalwart Privy Councilors like William Cecil, Francis Walsingham, and Nicholas Bacon. All these men contributed their vast genius, power, greed, and expertise to the rise of England and the foundations of the British Empire. Her foundation of empire was built on a carefully choreographed strategic plan where privateering - piracy to us today - was the expedient method she and her advisors selected to turn her rogue state into the greatest empire the world has ever seen.

About this title

Review:

Susan Ronald guides us masterfully through an Elizabethan world inhabited by 'colourful rapscallions' and 'indomitable sea dogs' who roam the seas seeking plunder, glory, and new lands

From the Author:

I'm frequently asked why I wrote this type of book - so different from all others about Queen Elizabeth I.

The reason lies in a recent comment made by Dr David Starkey where he accuses women authors of 'feminising history'. While the comment is obviously intended to grab headlines and be controversial, at its core, Dr Starkey does have a valid point: why are Henry VIII and Elizabeth I remembered most for their love-lives?
In Henry's case, frankly, he only has himself to blame. His own father's paranoia about the Tudor right to rule England had been passed down to him, and so Henry's tyrannical pursuit of a male heir became the all-consuming public yet personal story. By wife number 4, not one of Europe's most marriageable princesses would have him -- and poor, Anne of Cleves, desperate to escape her own persecution at the hands of her brother, thought Henry a better bet than staying at home. The fact that he established the Church of England was more down to Anne Boleyn than Henry, especially when you consider that Henry believed that he died 'in the true Catholic faith'.
In Elizabeth's case, the historic fixation on her love-life is rather more remarkable. It is MALE historians who have created it. It is MALE historians who give the credit for all of her insight, intellect and actions to her privy council. It is MALE historians who have effectively sidelined Elizabeth - the daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII - as a ditherer. It is MALE historians who claim that she couldn't possibly have been a virgin. It is MALE historians (and men) who traditionally believe that women are not good with money or war.

As I read Elizabeth's own words, I realized that we were being fed a history of Elizabeth written by men, for men... yet another case of history being written by the victors. As far as Elizabeth's love life goes, seeing as most people - if not all - lie about their sex lives publicly, this seems to me to have very little to do with Elizabeth as monarch. She was NOT committed to a Tudor dynasty, or she would have married and had children. Elizabeth WAS however committed to security of the realm, and my book is about how she achieved it. The fact that I've redressed the balance somewhat, Dr Starkey, and have 'defeminised' the inherited MALE wisdom is just a bonus.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarpPeren
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0060820675
• ISBN 13: 9780060820671
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 512