A unique fictionalized biography of the powerful Queen Elizabeth I of England, placed in the broad context of English history from 1584 to 1603. Other biographers of Elizabeth have covered primarily the early stages of her reign, making only brief mention of events that occurred after she turned 50. Meanwhile, this is the emergence of England as the “mistress of the seas”, and the journey of Francis Drake, and the founding of the first English settlement in North America, and the activities of Walter Raleigh, and the destruction of the Spanish Invincible Armada in the Gravelines naval battle in 1588. The persecution and execution of Mary Stuart caused a further round of bitter rivalry between England and Spain - no one had paid close attention to this cause-and-effect relationship before John Guy. Little-known facets of the psychological portrait of Elizabeth I are also outlined - she is not only a powerful queen, but also a vulnerable woman who, in the last years of her life, fell into melancholy, bordering on self-doubt and even real depression. A major specialist in Tudor history, John Guy used a variety of written sources, some of which were examined for the first time (especially handwritten state documents relating to relations between England and other European powers). About 30 unpublished letters from Elizabeth herself, drafts and diary entries were also studied, reflecting her inner world, preserving her thoughts and emotions - everything that was not and could not be reflected in official sources. Those documents that researchers had previously used in translations, Guy sought to find in the original. This is precisely the main feature of the book, which distinguishes it from all other stories about the Elizabethan era - the Golden Age in the history of England.