Excerpt from Victoria, Queen and Empress: The Mother of Kings, the Good Queen, the Devoted Wife, the Noble Woman; The Story of Britain's Golden Era<br><br>The history of a queen is largely the history of the country over which she holds dominion. In nearly every instance the woman sinks into insignificance alongside the sovereign, and in all England's gal lery of woman rulers, whether as consorts of kings or queens in their own right, two names alone stand out in wisdom of government and strength of womanhood - Elizabeth and Victoria. Elizabeth lived in the age that was gold when she entered upon its troublesome paths. Poetry and the arts made up the glitter and the shine. Shakespeare, Spencer, the great architects and more than one painter created a glory whose halo has ever rested about the brow of the Virgin Queen, though she gave little admiration for these softer affairs of life. She was of a man-like build of character, a warrior, a conquer or; she was the last of the great Tudors, inheriting many of the traits of a house not always gentle, but always strong of will. She was a young woman when she ascended the throne not rightfully hers, and all through her life she was fearful of meeting a dreadful end. She knew craft and duplicity, she intrigued and manoeuvred to gain her ends which were not always of the noblest. She had a childhood passion for display and splendor, while her love of dress was phe nomenal even in an age when dress was elevated to the heights of a religion. There was scandal ever ready to take her name and use it for nefarious ends. Elizabeth united her people, she crushed the power of Rome in her kingdom. She stretched her sceptre over the sea and made Spain a suppliant where it had been an arrogant rival. She established the Church of England and placed it on a firm founda tion, and this at a time when dogma took the place of religion, and when theology turned Christianity to one side. She was a strong woman and a ruler with the interests of her subjects at heart, but ever her own will foremost with her, and herself her queen. In point of length of reign she was fairly the rival of that other queen - Victoria.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.