YET another tome about the lives of Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots.

Subtitled 'Cousins, rivals, queens', this 500-plus page history concentrates on the relationship between the two female monarchs and their attitudes towards each other. They never met, but their exchanges of letters provide fascinating glimpses of character.

Elizabeth, the spinster unsuccessful in the marriage stakes but wedded determinedly and with considerable ability to her kingdom, was fortunate to have senior advisors of great acumen and guile. Mary, a tragic victim of love, failed to rule effectively a Scotland riven by religious feud and was surrounded by courtiers much less able than those in England.

Dunn relates the saga with colourful prose ("...claim the throne her mother had kept warm for her..." and "...would wither unripened on the bough" as two random examples).

If you like your history with heaps of emotion and intrigue, this is a book for you.

It's an oft told tale but nonetheless a good one which Dunn presents freshly and vividly.

Updated: 09:36 Wednesday, April 28, 2004