Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
Audiobook13 hours
The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire
Written by Susan Ronald
Narrated by Josephine Bailey
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Dubbed the "pirate queen" by the Vatican and Spain's Philip II, Elizabeth I was feared and admired by her enemies. Extravagant, whimsical, and hot-tempered, Elizabeth was the epitome of power. Her visionary accomplishments were made possible by her daring merchants, gifted rapscallion adventurers, astronomer philosophers, and her stalwart Privy Council, including Sir William Cecil, Sir Francis Walsingham, and Sir Nicholas Bacon. All these men contributed their vast genius, power, greed, and expertise to the advancement of England.
In The Pirate Queen, historian Susan Ronald offers a fresh look at Elizabeth I, focusing on her uncanny instinct for financial survival and the superior intellect that propelled and sustained her rise. The foundation of Elizabeth's empire was built on a carefully choreographed strategy whereby piracy transformed England from an impoverished state on the fringes of Europe into the first building block of an empire that covered two-fifths of the world.
Based on a wealth of historical sources and thousands of personal letters between Elizabeth and her merchant adventurers, advisers, and royal "cousins," The Pirate Queen tells the thrilling story of Elizabeth and the swashbuckling mariners who terrorized the seas, planted the seedlings of an empire, and amassed great wealth for themselves and the Crown.
In The Pirate Queen, historian Susan Ronald offers a fresh look at Elizabeth I, focusing on her uncanny instinct for financial survival and the superior intellect that propelled and sustained her rise. The foundation of Elizabeth's empire was built on a carefully choreographed strategy whereby piracy transformed England from an impoverished state on the fringes of Europe into the first building block of an empire that covered two-fifths of the world.
Based on a wealth of historical sources and thousands of personal letters between Elizabeth and her merchant adventurers, advisers, and royal "cousins," The Pirate Queen tells the thrilling story of Elizabeth and the swashbuckling mariners who terrorized the seas, planted the seedlings of an empire, and amassed great wealth for themselves and the Crown.
Author
Susan Ronald
Born and raised in the United States, SUSAN RONALD is a British-American biographer and historian of eight books, including Conde Nast, The Ambassador, A Dangerous Woman, Hitler’s Art Thief, and Heretic Queen. She lives in rural England with her writer husband.
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Reviews for The Pirate Queen
Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars
4/5
25 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A really good read! A terrific canter (with plenty of primary references) across the decades in which the astonishing merchant adventurer and pirate characters of Elizabethan England flourished. The book is written with that hugely welcome combination of pace, evidence and a well crafted 'story'. It has whet my appetite for more of the author's books, and more of the detail of this incredible period of English (and Spanish) history.