Elizabeth I and Her Conquests

I'm on a roll. My second book for the year is a short biography on Elizabeth I by Margaret Simpson. I think I actually borrowed this book from a friend during freshman year. She'll be glad to know I got around to reading and and even more glad to get it back on her bookshelf.

Elizabeth I is an amazing historical figure. The Queen lived to be 70 years old in a time when the life expectancy was half of that. She almost died at 25 when her half-sister (Bloody) Mary put her in the tower. There were several instanced in her early life before she was on the throne and even after having gained the throne when she could have been beheaded or hung.

All of the plotting to take the throne and execution to keep the throne that the Tudors did all together brought me to the conclusion that they were a little nutty and in their own way barbaric. However, a lot of issues they fought over in 16th century England are still prominent issues in today's world. Religion, for example: There might not be as much conflict between Protestants and Catholics these days, but there is a lot of conflict between Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

I found it very interesting to see England as a small child. I'm accustomed to seeing it in the big leagues with the United States and Russia. But during Elizabeth's time Spain was the big explorer, conqueror, etc. And England was very lucky to have defeated their Armada, very lucky.

The biography I read, Elizabeth I and Her Conquests by Margaret Simpson was actually published in the UK. It includes a couple of comic strip/letter tidbits which speeds the reading along and kept me engaged. I think I retained a lot of what I read instead of some it "going in one ear and out the other." (Does that make sense?) The book actually kept me up to speed in APUSH this week when we talked about Roanoke, the lost colony and the founding of Virginia which was named for the Virgin Queen, Good Queen Bess. And of course all of the religious persecution that led us to the New World in the first place.