The concentrated interest of the reign lies in the period now under my hands.

It is all action, and I shall use my materials badly if I cannot make it as interesting as a novel." Nothing was neglected by Froude which could throw light upon the splendid and illustrious Queen who raised England from the depths of degradation to the height of renown.

It was at the zenith of Elizabeth's career that Froude stopped.

His original intention had been to continue till her death.

But the ample scale on which he had planned his book was so much enlarged by his copious quotations from the manuscripts at Simancas that by the time he reached his eleventh volume he substituted for the death of Elizabeth on his title-page the defeat of the Armada.