Sir John Norreys and the Elizabethan Military World

Sir John Norreys and the Elizabethan Military World is the first biography of Elizabeth I's most trusted soldier. It chronicles Norreys's life between 1570 and 1600, examining how Norreys built on his family's personal friendship with Elizabeth to navigate the treacherous waters of the court and rise to prominence as a warrior and diplomat. The book incorporates English, Irish, Belgian, Dutch, Spanish and French archival material, including a number of previously unexploited English sources such as Norreys's personal papers in the Bodleian Library. The life of Sir John Norreys is a tale of ambition, rivalry, corruption, violence and achievement typical of the nobility of the Elizabethan age, and provides a marvellous "grand tour" of western Europe in a time of budding imperialism, religious hatred, international intrigue and military innovation.

John Nolan is Lecturer, University of Maryland, European Division.