Elizabeth I: War and Politics, 1588-1603

by Wallace T. MacCaffrey

Overview

Acclaimed for their dramatic rendering of the personalities and forces that shaped Elizabethan politics, Wallace T. MacCaffrey's three volumes thoroughly chronicle the Queen's decision making throughout her reign in a way that combines pleasurable reading with subtle analysis. Together in paperback for the first time, these books will find a wide readership among those interested in debunking Elizabeth's many mythic images and in following the steps of Elizabethan policy-makers as they grapple with the most crucial political problems of their day.


MacCaffrey completes his analysis by investigating how Elizabeth and her ministers governed in the years between the Armada of 1588 and her death in 1603. In light of the Queen's desire to uphold her popularity through the maintenance of peace and prosperity, the author explains why she pursued war with Spain by only half-measures and how the brutal conquest of Ulster and the destruction of Tyrone came to be seen as prerequisites for the incorporation of Northern Ireland.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691228273
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/13/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	608
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Wallace T. MacCaffrey is Francis Lee Higginson Professor Emeritus of History at Harvard University.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Maps
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction	3
Pt. I	The English Monarchy at War
1	Machinery of War: The Council	17
2	The Machinery at Work: At Home and Abroad	45
3	Paying for the War	59
Pt. II	Waging the War I: The Enemy - Spain
4	The Portuguese Voyage, 1588-1589	73
5	War on the High Seas and in the Indies, 1589-1595	97
6	War on the Spanish Coasts, 1596-1597	107
Pt. III	Waging the War II: The Allies - France
7	The Willoughby Expedition, 1589	137
8	Brittany and Rouen	152
9	Brittany and Rouen: The Second Round	163
10	Brittany and Picardy	184
11	The Cecil Mission and Vervins	196
12	Shuffling Towards Peace, 1598-1603	220
Pt. IV	Waging the War III: The Allies - The States General
13	From Dependency to Alliance, 1588-1594	249
14	From Alliance to Collaboration, 1595-1603	270
Pt. V	The Three Kingdoms
15	The Northern Neighbor, 1581-1603	303
16	Ireland: The Building of a New Order, 1530-1593	329
17	Deputy Fitzwilliam and the Macmahon Affair	349
18	Fitzwilliam and the First Rupture With Tyrone	372
19	Russell and the Coming of War	385
20	The Yellow Ford	404
21	The Failure of Essex	418
22	The Triumph of Mountjoy	431
Pt. VI	The Court: The Revival of Faction
23	The Rise of Essex, 1584-1591	453
24	Essex the Councillor	472
25	England's Glory and the Wide World's Wonder	495
26	The Fall from Grace	514
Retrospective	537
Bibliography	575
Index	585

Editorial Reviews

This study, the author's 1981 volume, Queen Elizabeth and the Making of Policy, 1572-1588 (-10112-4), and his 1969 work, The Shaping of the Elizabethan Regime: Elizabethan Politics, 1558-1572 (-00767-5), are being released as uniform paperbacks for $18.95 each. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

She claimed to have the heart and stomach of a king, though in the frail body of a weak woman. Elizabeth I of England inspired the love of her people, encouraged arts and learning, longed for peace while waging war--and with her vacillation and dithering could drive her privy counselors mad. MacCaffrey, fellow of the Royal Historical Society and author of two previous works on Elizabeth, focuses on the politician behind the Virgin Queen, her vision shaped by years of court intrigue and fear, and her fallibility as well as statecraft. This well-researched, scholarly work lacks the personal color of Mary Luke's Gloriana ( LJ 10/1/73) and Anne Somerset's Elizabeth I ( LJ 10/1/91), but as a secondary source it sheds new light on a complex, contradictory queen. Recommended for larger history collections.-- Nancy L. Whitfield, Meriden P.L., Ct.

Library Journal

"MacCaffrey is a consummate writer-he possesses a fluid style, with smooth transitions, that holds the reader's attention to the subject amidst highly detailed descriptions."

History

"MacCaffrey is a consummate writer-he possesses a fluid style, with smooth transitions, that holds the reader's attention to the subject amidst highly detailed descriptions."—History

From the Publisher