The story of Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart still fascinates historically interested readers to this very day. Their lives, tragically intertwined, is movingly retold in this new double biography, which is both a psychological as well as a fascinating political portrait of the queens.The two cousins were divided on the most fundamental question facing women of any era: to marry or not to marry. Elizabeth, a woman motivated by power, decided not to accept second place to any husband. The result: her bloodline ended with her and she therefore failed in this duty of a monarch. In contrast Mary, a woman ruled by passion, married three times. Her life, full of love, hate and political intrigue, ended tragically with her execution on the orders of Elizabeth. Yet it was her bloodline that continued and provided the monarch, who united the kingdoms of these two extraordinary women.

The story of Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart still fascinates historically interested readers to this very day.Their lives, tragically intertwined, is movingly retold in this new double biography, which is both a psychological as well as a fascinating political portrait of the queens.

"Muhlstein is an excellent writer: the book is effective, its characters vividly portrayed."-History Today

This major double biography examines the relationship between the two queens: Elizabeth, one of the few queens to never marry and so never to subordinate herself and her power, and Mary, who is seen as a slave to passion.

The historian Anka Muhlstein was born in Paris, and has lived in New York for the past 30 years. She has published several historical works including the lives of the three 'Temporary Queens'of France, Catherine de Medici, Marie de Medici and Anne of Austria, who ruled as regents on behalf of their sons.