The politics of royal matrimony are the central thread of the life of the Virgin Queen. But this vivid portrail of Elizabeth I encompases that extravagant, exuberant age to which she gave her name, as well as her personal life. Figures in this pageant are her father, Henry VIII, Mary Stuart, Philip of Spain; her great courtiers and favorites, Essex, Drake, Raleigh, and the rest; and her many enemies.