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Josephine Ross
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The Men Who Would Be King: The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth I Kindle Edition

by Josephine Ross (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 78 ratings
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“Splendid stuff, ‘history with attitude.’ Written with energy and aplomb.”
 —The Times (London)

The colorful, often tempestuous courtships of Queen Elizabeth I of England (the “virgin Queen”) are brought to breathtaking life in The Men Who Would Be King, a thrilling, utterly fascinating popular history by Josephine Ross. The highly respected author of The Winter Queen and The Tudors, Ross captures all the splendors of the royal court, and all the delicious intrigues surrounding the romances of the powerful daughter of King Henry VIII during her glorious reign. The Men Who Would Be King is spirited British history, captivating and eminently readable, that will equally delight fans of historical nonfiction, Tudor aficionados, and anyone who loves the bestselling novels of Philippa Gregory.

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  1. Print length
    243 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    William Morrow Paperbacks
  4. Publication date
    August 7, 2012
  5. File size
    7.1 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Splendid stuff, ‘history with attitude.’ Written with energy and aplomb, it is a stirring and yet salutory story, well told.” (The Times (London) )

From the Back Cover

Courting the Virgin Queen

For more than half a century, Elizabeth I was pursued by kings, princes, and nobles from across Europe. During the marriage negotiations, romance blended with diplomacy as suitor after suitor endeavored to ally himself with her in the most intimate of treaties. Yet not one of these illustrious rivals managed to secure his quarry. Even Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester—the most persistent of all the suitors to the queen—never won her, though he was dearly loved by Elizabeth all her life.

Why did so many fail? Was Her Majesty haunted by the six marriages of her father, Henry VIII? Was her traumatic early love affair with Thomas Seymour, a man who was effectively her stepfather, to blame? Or was Elizabeth simply in love with the chase?

A fascinating chronicle filled with romance and intrigue, Josephine Ross's The Men Who Would Be King tells the riveting true story of the greatest hunt in history: the pursuit of the Virgin Queen.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007US2Y5E
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; Reissue edition (August 7, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 7, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 7.1 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 243 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 78 ratings

About the author

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Josephine Ross

Josephine Ross

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Josephine Ross is an acclaimed writer and lecturer on Jane Austen. Beside "Jane Austen, A Companion"(John Murray/Thistle) and "Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades and Horrible Blunders"(Bloomsbury), she is the author of a number of histories and biographies, including ""The Monarchy of Britain" and "The Tudors", as well as several illustrated books for Vogue.

Setting history in context is important to her, as is correcting myths and misunderstandings - such as the popular misreading of the "Rears and Vices" joke in Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park".

Married to the late historian James Chambers, Josephine lives in London's Notting Hill

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
78 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Madonna J
    4.0 out of 5 stars The virgin Queen
    Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    A little more indepth look at the widely known loves of Eliabeth I. There were many during her long reign, with one woven in and out of her entire life. Her determination to remain unmarried was both personal and political. Many women died in childbirth during that time, but political pressure to marry and produce an heir also concerned her as a reason for ambitious enemies to challenge her for the Throne. A serious threat could be rebellion by her subjects, war with other countries or even bodily harm by poison or violence.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Icon Was A Woman
    Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Ross' book revealed the Virgin Queen (also a branch on my family tree) was a real woman full of passion, dreams, desires, intellect and emotional conflict. Queen Elizabeth I has become a historical icon which overshadows the human frailty of a female leader when it was truly a man's world. I have even more regard for her having glimpsed the woman inside the Queen.
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  • sally hallman
    3.0 out of 5 stars Textbook Analysis of Elizabeth I
    Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    The book is very informative, but reads as a thesis on the Queen rather than a story of the Queen. Once again I feel the author got tired of the subject matter before the end and rushed through some of the relationships toward the end of her life. This was informative but very dry in its' portrayal of what was probably one of the most interesting Monarchs ever in England.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Isabell
    4.0 out of 5 stars well written
    Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    I have enjoyed reading this book about Queen Elizabeth I. It is well written and interesting. Enough detail but not too much.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Mercedes Rochelle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Read
    Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2023
    This book is an interesting approach to a subplot we often read about in biographies of Elizabeth I. Instead of being a background to her story, the courtships are the focal point and help explain the complicated artifices she used to keep her political balls in play. She was a master juggler! Many of her suitors were clearly inappropriate—mostly based on religion—but she somehow managed to keep reeling them in after they showed signs of losing interest. Only when there were no more stratagems to play did she finally express a definitive “no”. Or maybe not! The author feels that elaborate flatteries were necessary to mollify her deep-seated insecurities, so there was a dual purpose to the convoluted game she played. Only during her first disastrous wooing (Thomas Seymour) was she the naïve recipient of a man’s advances. But Elizabeth was a fast learner, and she immediately understood the trap she nearly fell into. Instead, she came to depend on arm’s-length adulation as reassurance that she was truly desirable. As we all know, Robert Dudley succeeded in penetrating her emotional armor, but the queen managed to find a different means of satisfaction:

    “Her affair with Lord Robert Dudley was an intensely sexual relationship that was never consummated. The exhibitionism of it all was part of the excitement for Elizabeth; it was a form of acting that required an audience, for the extravagance of her indiscreet familiarity with her favorite was not proof of sexual surrender, but rather a tantalizing, titillating substitute.”

    Elizabeth’s background, the example of her mother and stepmothers, as well as the disastrous marriage of Mary Queen of Scots gave her more than enough reason to view marriage with antipathy. Of course, the reaction of her countrymen to her sister Mary’s choice of a foreign prince argued against going that route, while others’ reaction to Dudley—in other words, marrying a subject—made it clear that there was no easy choice for a husband. No wonder she favored the cult of the Virgin Queen, which initially made no one happy, though in the end, they wouldn’t have had it any other way. This was a very enjoyable read and I highly recommend it.
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  • white tiger
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    elizabeths suitors were a bad lot. manipulative and untrustworty, they won't raise your admiration!
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Molly
    5.0 out of 5 stars What I never knew about Elizabeth I
    Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2014
    I had known Elizabeth had never married and deep down I thought it was because she never wanted to end up like her mother and now this book has supported my feelings and theory. If she married she would have given up too much. She lived in the tower under her sister's reign, too. With the way royalty lived in Europe kings and queens had to constantly watch their backs. With what Elizabeth knew and witnessed at such a young age I can't blame her for choosing to reign a lone. Her history she was brave and strong with her decision to not marry but sad, too, for never possibly being able to be really loved.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • John Steinbeck
    3.0 out of 5 stars Too much Tudor.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    I guess I have been reading too many books dealing with the Tudors. Seems like I heard it all before....
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