Elizabeth I and her Circle

Susan Doran is an established, well-respected Elizabethan historian, and her most recent book confirms that she can successfully analyze Elizabeth in ways accessible and interesting to both an academic audience and a popular one. Elizabeth I and Her Circle approaches Elizabethan history from a new perspective, her interactions with those close to her, including family, courtiers, and councillors. Studies have existed for individuals connected to Elizabeth, but this is the first monograph on her actual relationships with those around her. To question the impact these relationships had on Elizabeth personally is also a new methodology for interpreting Elizabeth as a woman and a monarch. While Doran’s book is refreshing in both scope and methodology, it is available to and readable by academics, armchair Elizabethan historians, and those unfamiliar with the courtiers and councilors covered in her study. Doran offers extensive endnotes, while at the same time offering a three-page chronology highlighting key events from every year of Elizabeth’s reign.