{"product_id":"all-the-queen-s-men-9781838956424","title":"All the Queen’s Men: The Competition to Marry Elizabeth I","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe throne of England hung in the balance, and every prince in Europe wanted to claim it.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Elizabeth I ascended the throne in 1558 she became the most eligible woman in Europe. All saw the same prize: marry Elizabeth, rule England. Ambassadors flooded her court, armed with portraits, jewels and marriage proposals from princes, archdukes and kings. Sweden promised mountains of silver. Spain offered imperial protection. Austria pledged powerful alliances. Even Ivan the Terrible - already twice married - sent envoys bearing gifts and threats in equal measure.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor nearly five decades, Elizabeth kept them all waiting. She contrived to play each suitor against the other to her own end. A persistent Erik XIV wrote love letters for a decade, convinced he could win her hand. She strung along the charming French Duke of Alençon, exchanging rings before wriggling free with an alliance secured. Meanwhile, Robert Dudley, never far from Elizabeth's side, became the favourite who made foreign ambassadors tremble with envy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten with historian Sophie Shorland's unique eye for a gossipy aside, morbid titbit and acerbic wit, and drawing on ambassadorial dispatches, secret intelligence reports and Elizabeth's own letters, \u003ci\u003eAll the Queen's Men\u003c\/i\u003e reveals how Elizabeth I turned the competition for her hand into foreign policy - using courtship as diplomacy, flirtation as statecraft, and her perpetually single status as the key to England's survival in the tangled web of European politics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication date:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 October 2026\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePage count:\u003c\/strong\u003e 384\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e Height 163 mm; Width 242 mm; Thickness 35 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Atlantic Books\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9781838956424\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Sophie Shorland","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":67651203399930,"sku":"9781838956424","price":15.11,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0522\/4297\/2845\/files\/9781838956424.jpg?v=1791259503","url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/all-the-queen-s-men-9781838956424","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}