Sweet Robin: A Biography of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester 1533-1588

Few chroniclers have had a good word to say for Robert Dudley. Both his father and grandfather were executed for treason, he himself was imprisoned in the Tower of London as a young man, and his first wife died in suspicious circumstances. Yet he was the only man that "good Queen Bess" ever loved. When the young Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, she brought Robert Dudley to court, making him her Master of the Horse and her closest confidant. Men were jealous of his influence, mistrustful of his charm and good looks, scandalized that the son and grandson of traitors should come near to being their king. In a book that is as readable as it is authoritative and closely researched, Derek Wilson traces Leicester's life and achievements: his struggle for power with Secretary Cecil; his patronage of writers, scholars and actors; his support of the Puritans; his term as Governor of the Low Countries; his marriages and affairs. He puts into perspective the appalling libels which were circulated about him and, above all, throws fresh light on his ever-changing relationship with the Queen, which remained constant for over thirty years, and left her broken-hearted at his death.