Jenkins is known for her popular biographies of English monarchs and authors, as well as for her many novels. Elizabeth the Great is considered Jenkins's greatest work of nonfiction. The biography was both popular and critically acclaimed. Within three years of initial publication in 1958, the book had gone through seven printings. Critics praised Elizabeth the Great as an even-handed biography which appeals to the general reader. The work is considered historically accurate, without being bogged down by the dry, fact-laden histories often produced by academic scholars. She is also recognized for her restraint in not overly psychoanalyzing the subject of her biography in Elizabeth the Great. Jenkins maintains an even-handed representation of the queen's personality, as well as of the various figures in her court. Jenkins's ability to capture the flavor and texture of court life in Elizabethan England is attributed to her fine attention to...