Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years

Written by John Guy

Narrated by Alex Jennings

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Elizabeth I: The Forgotten Years by John Guy, read by Alex Jennings.

An ageing queen, an heirless state, conspiracy all round: here is the court of Elizabeth I as never known before

History has pictured Elizabeth I as Gloriana, an icon of strength and power. But the reality, especially during her later years, was not so simple.

In 1583 Elizabeth is fifty years old, past childbearing, but her greatest challenges are still to come: the Spanish Armada; the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots; relentless plotting among her courtiers. This gripping and vivid portrait of her life and times - often told in her own words ('You know I am no morning woman') - reveals a woman who is fallible, increasingly insecure, and struggling to lead Britain. This is the real Elizabeth, for the first time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin UK Audio
• Release date: May 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9780241976173

John Guy

John Guy is an award-winning historian; an accomplished broadcaster; a fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge; and the author of Mary Queen of Scots, which won the Whitbread Award for Biography and the Marsh Biography Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award for Biography. He has contributed to numerous BBC programs and has written for the Sunday Times, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the Mail on Sunday, the Economist, the Literary Review, the Times Literary Supplement, and the London Review of Books.