Will I love After Elizabeth?

The end of the Tudor dynasty is often rushed over; as everyone knows, Elizabeth I died childless, and her throne passed to her Stuart cousin, James. Leanda de Lisle shows why this transfer of power shouldn’t be glossed over in this sumptuous nonfiction.

In this book, she explores the wild, colourful, tumultuous politicking that went on in Elizabeth’s final years and in the years immediately after her death. What results is a story of plots, murders, and spies, as politicians employed every trick (clean and dirty) to ensure the Stuarts gained the Tudor crown.

When Elizabeth I died, she was succeeded by her Scottish cousin James VI, who became James I of England.

However, the events before and after Elizabeth’s death make it clear that it was not as smooth a transition of power as many believe. It was a period of tension, thick with succession plots and intrigues.

This book is a reminder that we should never look back on history through the prism of hindsight. James I inherited Elizabeth’s throne, but it almost didn’t happen; Leanda de Lisle masterfully recreates the atmosphere of intrigue, fear, and courtly factionalism.