Shekhar Kapur

Queen Elizabeth's reign is threatened by familial betrayal and Spain's invading army. She and her shrewd advisor must act to safeguard to the lives of her people. When the dashing seafarer, Walter Raleigh, captures her heart, Elizabeth is forced to make her most tragic sacrifice for the good of her country. A tale of one woman's crusade to control her love, destroy her enemies and secure her position as a beloved icon of the western world.

England, 1554. Henry VIII is dead. The country is divided, Catholic against Protestant. Henry's eldest daughter Mary, a fervent Catholic, is Queen. She is childless. The Catholics' greatest fear is the succession of Mary's Protestant half-sister, Elizabeth. After Mary's death, Elizabeth ascends to the throne, thrust into an edgy world of political and religious flux she struggles to protect her power, life, and independence as the court boils with...