Eiizabeth I’s struggles to right the English economy, deal with controversy over her lineage and the religious changes she made, all became drama played out in my mind’s eye. Ronald painted sets with her words, and the people came to life. Reading this book is effortless, and it provides a splendid study of that time and the people involved.

I’d been fascinated by the Spanish Armada and how it was destroyed in 1588, but I hadn’t really felt all that was at stake if they’d won against England. The Cold War that played out between Russia and the United States between 1950s-1980s had nothing on the conflict that took place on the Atlantic Ocean during Elizabeth’s reign.

Although the book focuses a lot on the Queen’s privateers – legalized pirates by any other name – much time is spent with her relationship with Robert Dudley, the Earl of Liecester, Thomas Seymore – who was her guardian for a time, as well as those famous pirates, Sir Francis Drake, and Admiral John Hawkins.

Ronald’s book is an armchair historian’s dream and a keen, mostly unbiased, look at one of history’s most famous and most daring women. If you’ve ever been interested in pirates or English history during a most dangerous time when history could have flipped in any of several directions, The Pirate Queen: Elizabeth I, Her Daring Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire is definitely a book you should pick up.

Although almost 500 pages long, take heart in the fact that the book is heavily documents and several of those pages are reference. The layout of the book, wide margins and easy-to-read typeface, also make it extremely attractive in this time of microscopic fonts.

Susan Ronald is also the author of The Saucy Blood Diamond: Power, Greed, and the Cursed History of One of the Worlds Most Coveted Gems.