"A. N. McLaren's study of political culture in the first part of the reign of Elizabeth is a thoughtful and thoroughly researched study that deals with the connections between ideology and politics, on how concepts of hierarchy, patriarchy, and commonwealth changed in the reign of Elizabeth I. The research for the study and the analysis are both first rate. Readers should persevere, however, as Political Culture in the Reign of Elizabeth I asks scholars to think about the connections between ideology and politics in new and important ways." Renaissance Quarterly

Anne McLaren explores the consequences for English political culture when, with the accession of Elizabeth I, imperial "kingship" came to be invested in a female ruler. She looks at how Elizabeth managed to be queen, in the face of considerable male opposition, and emphasizes the continuities between Elizabeth's reign and the outbreak of the English civil wars in the seventeenth century. Political Culture in the Reign of Elizabeth I thus offers a wholesale reinterpretation of the political dynamics of the period.

In this major contribution to Ideas in Context Anne McLaren explores the consequences for English political culture when, with the accession of Elizabeth I, imperial 'kingship' came to be invested in a female ruler. She looks at how Elizabeth managed to be queen, in the face of considerable male opposition, and emphasizes the continuities between Elizabeth's reign and the outbreak of the English civil wars in the seventeenth century. Political Culture in the Reign of Elizabeth I thus offers a wholesale reinterpretation of the political dynamics of the period.