Book review: A revelatory history lesson about Elizabethan Ireland

"It is amazing to see how he keeps a hold of hundreds of names and personages, and how he weaves together events to provide a coherent, fast-moving, breath-taking tale"

An 1855 engraving of Queen Elizabeth the First of England reigned from 1558 to 1603. She was also known as The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess. This engraving is based on the famous Rainbow portrait of the Queen painted in 1600.

• The Elizabethan Conquest of Ireland 
• James Charles Roy 
• Pen & Sword, hb: €40