Book Reviews: The Women Who Would Be Queen; Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens, by Jane Dunn. HarperCollins. Pounds 20

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Byline: ROBIN McMASTER

MARKING the 400th anniversary of the death of Elizabeth I, this dual biography charts the lives of two extraordinary women and their pursuit of a single goal - the English throne.

While Mary Queen of Scots, the younger by some nine years, followed the traditional route - brought up in the French court in preparation for marriage to Francois II, cementing the Auld Alliance against the Auld Enemy - Elizabeth, the virgin queen, travelled a less conventional path.

Elizabeth's strategy was largely one of avoiding risk and, in the 16th century, marriage and childbirth were perhaps the biggest risks of all.

With the fate of her …