BIOGRAPHY / HISTORY

One of the most famous and tortured romances in history – between Elizabeth I, Queen of England,

and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex – began in 1587, when she was fifty-three and he was nineteen. Their passionate affair continued for five years, until Essex was beheaded for treason in 1601. In a fast-paced succession of brilliantly rendered scenes, Lytton Strachey portrays Elizabeth and Essex’s compelling attraction for each other, their impassioned disagreements and their mutual struggle for power, which culminated so tragically – for both of them. Alongside the doomed love affair, Strachey pens colourful portraits of the leading characters and influential figures of the time: Francis Bacon, Walter Raleigh, Robert Cecil and other members of her glittering court who fought to assert themselves in a kingdom and a country defined by Elizabeth’s incomparable reign. Lytton Strachey here illuminates, in spellbinding prose, one of the most poignant affairs in history alongside the glamour and intrigue of the Elizabethan era.

‘A beautiful and memorable book’ – Atlantic Monthly ‘The real drama of ambition, passion and personality in the pageant of veracious history’ – The Philadelphia Enquirer

LYTTON STRACHE Y

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198mm

ELIZABETHAND ESSEX

A TRAGIC HISTORY

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Lytton Strachey (1880–1932), one of the most famous writers

of his time, was a prominent member of the Bloomsbury Set

and pioneer of a new style of biography. Author of, among

others, Landmarks, Eminent Victorians and Queen Victoria

(also Tauris Parke Paperbacks).

‘A beautiful and memorable book.’

Atlantic Monthly

‘The real drama of ambition, passion and personality in the

pageant of veracious history.’

The Philadelphia Enquirer

Tauris Parke Paperbacks is an imprint of I.B.Tauris. It is dedicated to pub-

lishing books in accessible paperback editions for the serious general read-

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associated with many aspects of wisdom and learning.

ELIZABETHAND ESSEX

A Tragic History

Lytton Strachey

T P PT P PTA U R I S PA R K EP A P E R B A C K S

New paperback edition published in 2012 by Tauris Parke Paperbacks

An imprint of I.B.Tauris and Co Ltd

6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU

175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010

www.ibtauris.com

First published in 1928 by Chatto & Windus

Published in 1950 by Penguin Books

Published in 2000 as a Classic Penguin

Cover image: Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) (panel) by

Hilliard, Nicholas (1547–1619) (manner of) Private Collection / Photo

© Philip Mould Ltd, London / The Bridgeman Art Library

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any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a

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ISBN: 978 1 78076 049 0

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

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