‘This beautifully written and impeccably researched biography offers a fresh perspective on one of the most colourful and controversial characters of the Tudor and Stuart age. The hero of Elizabeth I and the scourge of her successor, Ralegh is brought to life as never before.’
Tracy Borman, author of The Private Lives of the Tudors
‘Much of what we think we know about Sir Walter Ralegh – potatoes, tobacco, spreading his cloak over a “plashy place” – is fable. The real story is far more exciting. Here was a man who both achieved and failed extravagantly, who was both hated and loved excessively, and who both lived life and faced death courageously. In this fascinating, eloquent and scholarly new book, Anna Beer reveals the full measure of the man.’
Suzannah Lipscomb, author of
The King is Dead: The Last Will and Testament of Henry VIII
‘A fascinating reappraisal. Beer brings Ralegh to life as a man, as well as providing exceptional detail on the times in which he lived. I highly recommend it.’
Elizabeth Norton, author of The Lives of Tudor Women
‘Heroic, grasping, gifted, a poet and politician, an explorer, dreamer and schemer – an iconic renaissance man brought vividly to life in this work of maturity, judgement and humanity.’
Sarah Fraser, author of The Prince Who Would Be King
‘Writing with pace and personality, Anna Beer captures Sir Walter Ralegh in all his paradoxical complexity: his bravery and intellectual energy, the man of violence who also wrote passionate poetry, his lust for life competing with a desire for a good death. Sometimes drawn to Ralegh and at other times repelled by him, Anna Beer assays his career with honesty and sharp observation.’
John Cooper, author of The Queen’s Agent
.jpg)
Sir Walter Ralegh in 1588 (artist unknown)
For Becca and Elise