The favourite : ambition, politics and love - Sir Walter Ralegh in Elizabeth I's court

When the adventurer Walter Ralegh first encountered Elizabeth I he supposedly placed his cloak over a puddle and allowed the queen to walk across it. Thus began one of the most intriguing relationships between a monarch and her favourite. The Favourite explores the labyrinthine complexity of human emotion, ambition and ritual within the restricted confines of the Tudor court. Was the favourite a Machiavellian schemer who fooled the queen in her affections? Was Elizabeth willing to manipulate her courtier for her own ends? The Queen's affection for Ralegh would protect him but he would soon become the 'most hated man in England'. In The Favourite , Mathew Lyons reveals a new portrait of an immortal relationship and a fascinating exploration of the many layers of love between Gloriana and Ralegh - courtier, chancer and privateer. Reviews for Impossible Journeys : - 'Jocular but scholarly compendium of outlandish voyages.' Book of the Week, Time Out - 'Lyons's account is truly heartbreaking.' New Statesman - 'The book as a whole has a kind of understated magic.' Guardian - 'Presents the tales with great wit and wisdom, and an undercurrent of learning that makes the whole project very attractive indeed.' Independent on Sunday - 'Each story is told exquisitely and comes backed with exhaustive research.' Sunday Times In The Favourite, Mathew Lyons strips away the myth - and the self-mythologising - to find Sir Walter Ralegh in the one role in which his contemporaries knew him best: the courtier who could win the attention - and the heart - of Elizabeth I, while also being the 'most hated man in England'. Using first-hand accounts, Lyons uncovers the maze of ambition, desire and amorality in which Ralegh lived before he rose to fame - a brutal Elizabethan world riven with crime and corruption and riddled with traitors and spies. Explores the labyrinthine complexity of human emotion, ambition and ritual within the restricted confines of the Tudor court. This title reveals a fresh portrait of an immortal relationship and an exploration of the many layers of love between Gloriana and Walter Ralegh- courtier, chancer and privateer A Decayed Estate Leagues of Smoke In a Country Strange The Deceits of Fortune The World's Eye The Virgin Queen The Wind of Faction The Fort of Fame Excess of Duty The Right-flourishing Man The Sacred Anchor A Durable Fire Hollow Servants Amore et Virtute The Less Afraid. The true story behind one of the greatest love stories in British History, the relationship between Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Ralegh. The true story behind one of the great love affairs in British history: Sir Walter Ralegh and Queen Elizabeth I 'Ambition, politics and love--Sir Walter Ralegh in Elizabeth I's court'--Cover.