September 17, 2018
Cultural historian Beer (Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music) sheds light on the underattended elements of Walter Ralegh’s life in this well-told but questionably sourced biography. In addition to the oft-discussed vanished Roanoke colony and Ralegh’s later quest for gold in South America, this volume covers Ralegh’s less-known compassion for the natives he encountered on his voyages and the part he played in sophisticated Tudor politics (the ambitious, multitalented courtier briefly rivaled the famed earl of Essex in the Elizabethan court before losing his head—first figuratively, then literally—under the new Stuart king). While Ralegh comes through in this account as a Renaissance man of exploration, poetry, and politics, his charisma remains elusive, and the absence of vital citations, along with some factual errors (conflating the poet Thomas Wyatt with his son, misidentifying the relationship between the earls of Essex and Leicester) results in uncertainty regarding source reliability and bias. Beer’s understanding of Ralegh shines through in her analysis of his popular poetry, which he artfully used to attract Elizabeth I’s attention, and his bitter, far less successful work aimed at James I. The narrative’s poignant assessment of Ralegh’s desperate pleas of relevancy to James and his last, tragic grasp at greatness provides a strong finish. Beer reminds readers of Ralegh’s political rise, seafaring adventures, and fraught relationships with notable monarchs in an examination more literary than scholarly. Agent: Kirsty McLachlan, David Godwin Assoc.
Starred review from September 15, 2018
A new biography of Sir Walter Ralegh (c. 1554-1618), a handsome, wily, politically astute, and powerful figure in Elizabethan England.Beer (Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music, 2016, etc.) creates a sharp, sympathetic, and discerning portrait of a charming man of "dark, Celtic, good looks" who became a favorite of Elizabeth I only to fall precipitously from grace under the queen's successor, James VI of Scotland. Without a noble background, Ralegh's unlikely rise to prominence was fueled by his "energy, vision and intelligence" mixed with "arrogance, violence and deception." An improbable naval hero (he could not sleep onboard ship, he claimed), he survived sea battles; a womanizer, who married in secret without the queen's approval, he rose above sex scandals. He was a "cultural relativist in a century of religious absolutism" and a "poster boy" for "a more decent form of British imperialism, concerned not with "trade and plunder" but with settlement. For a time, his loyalty to Elizabeth ensured that he would survive the rivalries that rent the fabric of the court; in 1584, he gained a coveted patent "to discover unknown lands, to take possession of them in the Queen's name, and to hold them for six years." His plan to found the colony of Virginia was, Beer acknowledges, "only a tiny part of a larger geo-political struggle; Protestant England's war with Catholic Spain"--the adversary nation that Ralegh hated vehemently. The author is forthright about her subject's failings and clear in her admiration, as well, especially for his talent for rhetoric: "He was the master of persuasion, a man who could make you believe that defeat was victory, that black was white." In 1592, imprisoned by Elizabeth, he bribed his way to freedom; two years later, he was "a freewheeling adventurer" once again, in South America on a quest for gold. After Elizabeth died, he became "a small cog in the very large machine of international power politics," imprisoned, condemned, and beheaded.A penetrating, spirited recounting of a courtier's roiling life and times.
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November 1, 2018
High adventure on the open seas and intrigue at the court of one of the most colorful and talented monarchs in European history are the backdrops for Beer's (Sounds and Sweet Airs?, 2016) rousing life of Sir Walter Raleigh. Legend has it that the multitalented Raleigh?writer, soldier, courtier, spy, politician, New World explorer?once laid down his cloak before Queen Elizabeth I so it would not be necessary for Her Majesty to tread through a puddle; the story is apocryphal, but what is accurate is that at one point Raleigh was indeed a gentleman devoted to his queen. With colorful detail and astute interpretation, esteemed historian Beer follows Raleigh's dramatic rise and disastrous fall (on the executioner's block) as he played the political game to his advantage, based on his personal access to the queen. It was a slippery, dangerous, exciting, glamorous world and Raleigh wanted nothing more than to be at its heart. But it went horribly wrong for the dashing Raleigh, and the full story is well-told here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)