One of the most famous and baffling romances in history, between Elizabeth I, Queen of England and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, began in May of 1587, when she was fifty-three and he was just shy of twenty. Their relationship continued until 1601, when he was beheaded for treason. Strachey portrays the Queens and the Earls compelling attraction for one another; their impassioned disagreements; and their mutual contest for power which led to a final, tragic confrontation. Here we also have superb portraits of influential people of the time: Francis Bacon, Robert Cecil, Walter Raleigh, and other figures of the court who struggled to assert themselves in a kingdom that was primarily defined by her sovereign.
