Young Elizabeth by Nicola Tallis was an amazing book, I just love reading books about Elizabeth I. She was one of England's most famous monarchs, also known as the ‘Virgin Queen’ This book was beautifully written throughout and thoroughly researched.
It became a great page and I just wanted to learn more about her.

This is a must-read for any history enthusiast.

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Michael O'Mara Ltd for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this title!!!!
Wow it was amazing, a lot of people like me, are obsessed with the tudors. This is a great novel which takes you thorough Elizabeth the firsts life from infancy to queenship! I would recommend everyone that loves the Tudor period to read this book as it is stunning and well thought through very well recommended xxx

It is hard to review non-fiction historical books. The author is very talented and knowledgeable and does an excellent job. The book is very informative and a good read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Like many other reviewers, I had believed that I knew quite a lot about the life of the Virgin Queen but Young Elizabeth threw a light on the early infancy, childhood and adolescence of the one of the most intriguing characters in Tudor history. What was most moving was the bond between the King's children and how their love for each other was threatened by the politics of the day. Full of detail and beautifully written, I can highly recommend this book.

i have just read this book immediately after finishing the amazing "Mary I:Queen of Sorrows" by Alison Weir. As, of course, both being half-sisters and daughters of Henry VIII there is an amount of overlap and similarity within the books at specific times, places and people where research quotes the same sources but each is tackled from the perspective of a different daughter. It is interesting that there appears to be less primary sources regarding the early years of Elizabeth than of Mary but Nicola Tallis has written an equally amazing story based on what original sources there are. As Alison Weir says herself, "Outstanding".
My grateful thanks to NetGally, Michael O'Mara Ltd and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Wow, I love these types of books as I get really immersed in them. I'm so interested in this era of history as I feel I lea4n so much about the people, the food and the way they all behave. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this book, very informative and many new insights. Great to read, different to any others I have read about Elizabeth. This is before her reign and has some great insights. Definatley recommend this to everyone

In ‘Young Elizabeth: Princess, Prisoner, Queen’ we follow Elizabeth on her perilous path to the throne. Her journey is brought vividly to life through a superb narrative combined with meticulous research.

To get there she had to survive the reigns of her father, her half-brother, and her half-sister. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate by Henry VIII, overlooked by Edward VI when he left the crown to Lady Jane Grey and implicated in the Wyatt Rebellion during Mary I’s reign, when Elizabeth came close to sharing the fate of the nine day’s queen.

Tallis’s portrait of Elizabeth is a must read which gives the reader greater understanding of the Queen she became.

A wonderful book for anyone interested in the Tudors.

This book is clearly well researched, detailing the events surrounding Elizabeth's life, even if they occured before her birth. Tallis also clearly and objectively references numerous sources when it comes to personal accounts of Elizabeth as well as the political schemes in play at the time, but manages to write this in such a way that keeps the reader interested- no mean feat!

I found that I learnt a lot and couldn't put this book down. This is a must-read for any history enthusiast.

Expected to be a boy, Elizabeth was a disappointment to her father on birth. Her mother was accused of much and executed and Elizabeth pronounced a bastard before the age of three. Until her late teens, Elizabeth was not really a credible candidate for the throne as her illegitimacy and then her religion stood against her. Potentially abused by her guardian's husband and used as a pawn by many powerful men, this intelligent girl learned to politic to survive.
Usually a biography of Elizabeth I skips lightly over her formative years with huge gaps during her childhood, here Tallis has chosen to focus on the life of the monarch before her coronation and a really excellent book it is. The meticulous research really fills in a lot of gaps and outlines the psychological influences on the actions during the actual reign. Relationships are explored and there is a genuine empathy for the difficult situations a vulnerable girl finds herself in.

I was chosen to review this book because I reviewed Alison Weirs "Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown".

I have become rather intrigued by the tudors thanks to Six the musical. This lead me to look into the actual history with Alison Weir six wives series. As I am way more of a fiction reader, non fiction tends to be quite heavy for me. Nevertheless, I was honoured to be chosen & dived in. I'm glad I did!

The story laid out of Elizabeth's early life by Nicola Tallis was intriguing. I found it was well researched but didn't become overly heavy. I learnt so much about Henry's' daughter & longest reigning heir. This has encouraged me to look into this further (when time permits)

What a totally fascinating book this is. Elizabeth, as queen, has appeared in many different forms and formats but seldom from birth. To me, this book is the exception in as much as it speaks to the intrigues and politics and shenanigans that went on in the Tudor Court of Henry leading up to Elizabeth's birth and the decades that followed.

I loved the book, its style and content and its readability. If you have an interest in Tudor England, treat yourself; I cannot imagine you will be disappointed.

Well researched and unlike some historical reads it is very easy to read. Charting the life of Elizabeth I for her first 25 years it starts before her birth with the relationship of her mother Ann Boleyn and Henry VIII and how this affected her life many years after the death of them both. It also focuses on other relationships that were influential on her life.

A fascinating read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Young Elizabeth.

Brings to life the young girl who would later become such an iconic, influential British monarch
“The stigma of illegitimacy, cast upon her by her own father, meant she was cut out of the line of succession before her 3rd birthday”
Her path to the throne was far from smooth, and her future was never set in stone, her life was subject to the twists and turns of the unstable politics of the period.
It will completely transform how you see young Elizabeth.
Well researched, beautifully written, in a totally accessible way for any reader
Thanks @historian_nicola, @michaelomarabooks & @netgalley for such a page turner

Well-written & Researched.
Not having read any other books about Elizabeth’s early life, I couldn’t say whether this book contains any new information. All I can say is that I found it eminently readable and informative and it was clear that the author had gone to great lengths with her research. I certainly gained new insights into the young woman who was to become a truly remarkable monarch.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this story from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Elizabeth I was a fascinating character - born of the tyrannical Henry VIII and the disgraced Anne Boleyn, her early years were idyllic as the heir to the throne. Then Anne was beheaded and replaced by Jane Seymour, who gave Henry his much needed son. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate, but still the King's daughter. However, on Henry's death she had a difficult path to negotiate - only young herself, she became the centre of plots as the Catholics tried to put forward their own candidate, her equally illegitimate sister Mary. Highly intelligent and articulate, she did well to survive the maelstrom of Edward, Jane and Mary's reigns.

Survive she did, to become the much-beloved and lasting legacy of Henry, despite being female. The book tells of her careful planning and determination not to be drawn into foolish plots, particularly during her sister's reign. The book is firmly based on research and fact, but is written in a very rearticularly during her sister's reign. The book is firmly based on research and fact, but is written in a very readable style. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope the author will follow on with the next stages of Elizabeth's fascinating life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Michael O'Mara Ltd for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read a few books about Elizabeth l. She’s a fascinating figure; conflicted, strong, enigmatic, flawed….Few match the approach taken by Dr Nicola Tallis and the research appears to be meticulous and extraordinary. There can be few individuals who’ve experienced so many significant traumas in their early and formative years. It’s difficult to look back on those events with any true understanding of how they must have affected and ultimately shaped a young woman destined to rule. Dr Tallis takes the reader through these events with fascinating, if speculative, views on how such traumas may have caused some of her known physical ailments including breathlessness, headaches and swelling.

This is an academic title, but it’s presented in a way accessible to the lay reader. It’s often an emotive and bumpy ride as we follow her life from one disaster to another. One moment feted by the Court, the next vilified with the suggestion of inappropriate liaisons. A domineering and distant father, her mother beheaded, four stepmothers and then the death of her father is beyond the bounds of our imagination. Dr Tallis brings it all very vividly to life and the text is rich in detail. I found this a fresh and thoroughly engaging read. .

It’s no secret that I am a bit obsessed with the Tudors, so I was VERY excited to read this book – and it delivered!

The book covers the period from when Anne Boleyn first met Henry VIII, to when Elizabeth I becomes queen. It’s possibly one of the most tumultuous and exciting times in British history, and Tallis does an excellent job of exploring the effect that would have on the girl who would become one of the most memorable and influential British monarchs.

Using extensive primary sources, we get a glimpse into the every day life of the young Elizabeth I, whether it’s her childhood routine, or her servants as a teenager. Tallis also draws on other historians’ work, especially in the areas of Elizabeth’s life where there is some speculation as to exactly what happened. I also thought she dealt with some of the more difficult topics – specifically Elizabeth’s encounter with Thomas Seymour – both sensitively and with a good balance of modern and contemporary values.

As much as this is a book about Elizabeth I, Tallis does an excellent job of laying out the full historical context. For example, Elizabeth’s relationships with each of her step-mothers was very different, and Tallis lays all of the changes and politics behind each one really clearly.

It is a thorough and well-researched non-fiction book, but it still reads almost like a thriller. It was such a page turner, I would get absorbed into it for hours at a time and the writing never once felt overly dense or difficult. While a lot of the historical context given was not new to me, it still felt fresh and enjoyable to read.

This is an excellent addition to anyone’s Tudor shelf, for both the Tudor buff and the Tudor novice.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

Young Elizabeth is an accessible academic text. It appears to have been extremely well-researched, gathering information previously little known about Elizabeth I's first years and the complex upbringing she had in light of having several stepmothers of various temperaments. Tallis tells about Elizabeth's struggles to gain recognition and position in her own right under the respective reigns of her younger brother Edward VI and older sister Mary. The author describes the brutal treatment of Elizabeth by those who wished to deny her queenship. The book ends with Elizabeth's eventual accession to the throne following the death of Mary I.

Many thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for the ARC.

A story that many of us will be familiar with, especially those who are historical fans or Tudor fans. The story of young Elizabeth, who is constantly aware she was 'supposed' to be a boy to give Henry VIII the male heir he desperately wanted. Elizabeth is a fascinating woman and seeing what she went through before becoming queen only adds to her persona. Would absolutely recommend this to any historical non-fiction fans.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for this ARC.