The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I, Genius of the Golden Age

A skillful storyteller and historian, Hibbert ( Cities and Civilizations ) here refreshes long-familiar facts with the drama befitting such an epochal personality as Elizabeth I, the child of executed Anne Boleyn. Succeeding to the crown at age 25, the queen ruled during England's renaissance in the arts, with the emergence of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser, Lyly et al. Although she promised her subjects tolerance, Elizabeth rivaled her father and half-sister, ``Bloody Mary,'' in mercilessly dealing with any threat to her throne. It may be significant that Gloriana's death at age 70 in 1603 marked the realm's decline in prosperity and classic works--the end, in every sense, of the glittering Elizabethan era. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Apr.)