Elizabeth, subtle and seductive, was also a warrior. Self-possessed, she was also owned by every gossip in Europe. Her virginity was a national asset, but a wasting asset as her reign progressed. Her body was the body politic, closely guarded but obscenely scrutinised, subject to adoration, speculation and threat. Anna Whitelock's skilful and detailed history will bring you closer than seems possible to this glittering, infuriating, fascinating woman

Hilary Mantel

With the lively imagination of a dramatist and the rigor of an academic, Whitelock discards the chastity belt of conventional royal history and presents Elizabeth in terms of the intimate politics of her life

The Times

Whitelock's fearless approach to Elizabeth is not like that of Essex. She, too, has burst into the bedroom and shown us the Queen in her most private state. This is an intimate history of the court and a brilliant history of intimacy

Frances Wilson, Mail on Sunday

A great story, told with wit and verve

John Gallagher, Sunday Telegraph

An impressive and powerful debut

David Starkey on Mary Tudor

Whitelock excels in her timely portrait of a religious fanatic

Frances Wilson, Sunday Times Books of the Year