'The experience of insecurity, it turned out, would shape one of the most remarkable monarchs in England's history'

'The experience of insecurity, it turned out, would shape one of the most remarkable monarchs in England's history'

In the popular imagination, as in her portraits, Elizabeth I is the image of monarchical power. But this image is as much armour as a reflection of the truth. In this illuminating account of England's iconic queen, Helen Castor reveals her reign as shaped by a profound and enduring insecurity that was a matter of both practical politics and personal psychology.