The First Elizabeth

Written by Carolly Erickson

Narrated by Nelson Runger

Elizabeth was not just Queen, she was ruler. In an age of male supremacy she, by sheer force of character, became not only the unchallenged leader of the English but also the first leader of an empire upon which the sun never set. Erickson's biography tells the truth about this extraordinary woman and profiles some amazing people-their personalities and culture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781461810278

Carolly Erickson

Distinguished historian Carolly Erickson is the author of Rival to the Queen, The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots, The First Elizabeth, The Hidden Life of Josephine, The Last Wife of Henry VIII, and many other prize-winning works of fiction and nonfiction. Her novel The Tsarina’s Daughter won the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction. She lives in Hawaii.

Reviews for The First Elizabeth

[dberryfan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Oddly written. She seems to accept some rumors as true that many other biographies of Elizabeth discount, and she has odd detours into specific events which are not at all important. Yet she glosses over quite important events and only alludes to them in passing. Still, Elizabeth is always interesting, and it's certainly not the worst account of her.

[turtlesleap · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A lavishly detailed account of the life and times of Elizabeth I of England, Erickson's book is a carefully researched gem. The book attempts to adequately portray the broad society and political backdrop against which Elizabeth reigned as well as the details of day-to-day life for the queen and her contemporaries and some sense of the personalities involved. Very nicely done.

[nellista_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was a bit skeptical about this book at first. On only the second page, Erickson refers to Anne Boleyn as having the marks of scrofula on her neck at her coronation. Now, this is something I have not read before. I've read about the mole, and possibily a goitre, but not scrofula, which is Tuberculosis in the neck lymph nodes. This lead me to be a bit skeptical of further information I might come across, but this was really the only startling thing. In fact, having read a lot about Elizabeth I, this book ended up being quite refreshing. There were lots of small facts mentioned about the way of live, the organizational nightmare of running a Court, the progresses, the fashions, even the details about the fitting of the Spanish Armada. It was not a dry read full of political maneuverings, but a more intimate look at how Elizabeth and those about her lived. However it did seem a bit rushed at the end. The Earl of Essex and his rise and fall don't take up much of the book at all, in fact the time from the triumph over the Spanish Armada to her death were covered very quickly. Well worth the read for some interesting gems of information.

[Diane Edwards · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed listening to the history/life of a great and interesting woman.