Elizabeth I [Paperback]

In this major biography, MacCaffrey focuses on Elizabeth's career as a practicing politician, taking into account her formative personal experiences, her temperament, her own view of her role, and the constraints she frequently faced.

Wallace MacCaffrey is a professor emeritus at Harvard University

???Queen Elizabeth (1533-1609) ruled England for more than 40 years, marking an age and establishing her country as a significant power. MacCaffrey, a professor emeritus of history at Harvard, concentrates on the queen as a politician and analyzes her successes and failures in this scholarly study of her statecraft. He highlights such historical events as the Spanish Armada (1585) and the establishment of the Church of England (1599). The queen's decision to send an army to fight Spanish rule in the Netherlands plunged her country into war; she was, however, able to supplant Catholicism and establish Protestantism as the state religion without causing a civil revolt at home. As portrayed by MacCaffrey, the strength of Elizabeth's reign rested on her great popularity; but she was frequently plagued by indecision, one of her few weaknesses.??? ???Publishers Weekly

???She claimed to have the heart and stomach of a king, though in the frail body of a weak woman. Elizabeth I of England inspired the love of her people, encouraged arts and learning, longed for peace while waging war--and with her vacillation and dithering could drive her privy counselors mad. MacCaffrey, fellow of the Royal Historical Society and author of two previous works on Elizabeth, focuses on the politician behind the Virgin Queen, her vision shaped by years of court intrigue and fear, and her fallibility as well as statecraft...Well-researched...sheds new light on a complex, contradictory queen. Recommended for larger history collections.??? ???Library Journal

???As presented by MacCaffrey the resolutely unsentimental Elizabeth I is less the indomitable, manifestll33