Bestselling author of NATHANIEL'S NUTMEG, Giles Milton takes us on another fascinating and extraordinary historical adventure.

In April 1586, Queen Elizabeth I acquired a new and exotic title. A tribe of North American Indians had made her their weroanza - 'big chief'.

The news was received with great joy, both by the Queen and her favourite, Sir Walter Ralegh. His first American expedition had brought back a captive, Manteo, whose tattooed face had enthralled Elizabethan London. Now Manteo was returned to his homeland as Lord and Governor. Ralegh's gamble would result in the first English settlement in the New World, but it would also lead to a riddle whose solution lay hidden in the forests of Virginia.

A tale of heroism and mystery, BIG CHIEF ELIZABETH is illuminated by first-hand accounts to reveal a remarkable and long-forgotten story.

"Like Giles Milton's previous book, ... Big Chief Elizabeth is a cracking read, a successful attempt at popular history" - Evening Standard

"Milton is a great storyteller ... he sets about filling in the historical gaps with relish, using his considerable imagination to conjure mood from dry parchment" - Sunday Express

"Grippingly told true adventure story" - Daily Mail

"Milton ... draws a vivid picture of the terrible hardships the settlers endured" - The Times

"'Milton knits together the most vivid anecdotes and descriptions from a very colourful literature of exploration and colonization, and anyone wanting easy access to them has it here'." - The Times Literary Supplement

"Milton has a terrific eye for the kind of detail that can bring the past vividly to life off the page" - The Spectator

"Splendid stuff ... fascinatingly told ... An excellent book" - Time Out

"A wonderfully colourful story told with pace and verve" - Sunday Telegraph