“Always the same”? Four hundred years after her death, Elizabeth I is now studied more than ever; it is thus hardly surprising that her biography is periodically rewritten in the light of new archival and interpretive findings. The obvious difficulty of writing a full-scale biography of this ruler is the need for the wide-ranging explanations of the sixteenth century's religious, political, and economic complexities. Having announced her marriage to her kingdom at the outset of her reign, Elizabeth forged a figurative bond that lasted till her last day. Her story continues to overlap with the history of England, making the writing of her biography a truly daunting task. David Loades's Elizabeth I stands out among other recent biographies of the great queen particularly because of its impressive scope, second perhaps only to Anne Somerset's comprehensive work in the early 1990s.

Elizabeth's life story inevitably exceeds the formal limits of her life—that is why her biographies traditionally begin with the preamble to her conception (the first two acts of Henry VIII's matrimonial escapades) and often acknowledge the reverberations of her accomplishments in the memory of the later generations. The details of the complicated events that led to Elizabeth's birth, however, are usually left to the chroniclers of the Henry VIII and his six wives saga. In contrast, Loades offers a welcome modification to the scheme, especially constructive because it establishes the continuity between Elizabeth and her mother, Anne Boleyn—a link so elusive that, for a long time, it has been hardly acknowledged. What follows is a thorough and systematic account of the historic circumstances, events, and vicissitudes of Elizabeth's life, during the reigns of her father and her siblings, and after she became queen. Although its clarity and vivid style certainly make this book attractive for the general audience, it is by no means a popularized story, but an earnest historical study, especially appealing because Loades shows a great respect for obscure and controversial aspects of his subject. Always ready to point out that certain traditional views or apocryphal tales lack documented support, the author prefers to offer several possible explanations for decisions and actions in question, without advocating one conjectured view as more plausible than the others.

Sensitive to the context of his sources, Loades consistently alerts the reader to the circumstances and political allegiances of the people whose version of the events may otherwise be taken at face value. One of Loades's main premises is that many received notions about Elizabeth are in fact myths formed by her male observers. Instead of propagating the understanding of Elizabeth as an androgynous phenomenon, this biography approaches the queen's mind as being as female as her body—a mind “no whit less powerful, perceptive or well-trained than a man’s, but different” (xxi). This stance proves very effective for a fresh explanation of what has been often viewed as Elizabeth's flaws: her indecisiveness and unpredictability.

Inasmuch as historians frequently develop sympathies for the subjects of their inquiry, Loades transmits his admiration for Elizabeth's “uniquely feminine” style: her calculated shrewdness, her ability to maneuver in order to stay in control, and her innate gift for independence. While the narrative seems deliberately to stand back from any excursions into the queen's emotional life and relationships, the portrayal of her character is projected, first and foremost, through the lens of her queenship. This biography shuns the amusing stories and anecdotes about Elizabeth's quirky behavior that are usually cited aplenty. Instead, it offers a no less fascinating evidence of Elizabeth's political tactics throughout her reign.

The last chapter of the book, however, brings about a surprising turn: as the curtain falls on the dead queen, she comes back to life for another call—and this time, she shares the spotlight with no one. If the readers have not been satisfied with this biography's occasional glimpses into Elizabeth's personal preferences and predicaments, the concluding chapter is certain to reward their patience. This final assessment picks up seamlessly where the introduction has left off, and this readjustment of the focus yields an opportunity to touch on many aspects of the queen's personality: in particular, to explore her “intellect, image, and sexuality” (315)—the three areas developed especially well in the recent scholarship.

In fact, Loades has a significant advantage over many previous biographers of Elizabeth I: in the last decade, the wealth of materials has been substantially enlarged by the publication of Elizabeth's Collected Works and many first-rate investigations of this queen's multifaceted life and reign. One of the opportunities not quite realized by this book, however, is to educate its readers in order to share with them the most fascinating discoveries of recent research. Whereas some of the controversial issues debated in the academy inform Loades's narrative throughout the book, the author omits a number of important developments. For example, the notion of the “cult of Elizabeth” has been revised since it was introduced by Roy Strong in 1977, and the work on Elizabeth's images also has been carried out in new directions. In these and other instances, the new biography fails to point the readers to the appropriate secondary sources. Its bibliography contains some surprising omissions both of the seminal studies and dependable biographical points of reference—for instance, Susan Frye's Elizabeth I: The Competition for Representation, Carole Levin's The Heart and Stomach of a King: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power, and Anne Somerset's Elizabeth I. With that said, nevertheless, this book makes a refreshing contribution to understanding the formidable queen, especially due to its keen awareness of Elizabeth as a female ruler making her way in a male world.