Queen Elizabeth's golden age is also the story of her golden suitors, foremost of them the courtier Raleigh, who finished his life on the block in the reign of James I. Two excellent books have now been written about this proud soldier of fortune, Sir Walter Raleigh: In Life and Legend (Continuum, £25) by Mark Nicholls and Penry Williams and The Favourite (Constable, £25) by Mathew Lyons, who in his lifetime won the epithet of both patriot and traitor.

Lyons’s narrative has the more romantic design, concentrating on Raleigh and his association with Elizabeth, while Nicholls and Williams take us through to the axe after 13 years in the Tower when Raleigh showed his skill in verse and literature, writing a history of the world.

Here we have a remarkable man jousting with the unpredictable politics of the time, both as hero and victim. To be honest, I was orginally drawn to him through his search for the fabled treasures of El Dorado in the jungles of South America. This was a failure, echoing a good deal of his life. If he had succeeded, all would have been forgiven — but then luck never really followed his coat tails.

Raleigh was the pre-eminent opportunist, at six-foot a man of physical presence but with a “bold and plausible tongue”. His attendance on Elizabeth — enhanced by the iconic image of the cloak over the puddle, revealed only through gossip about 20 years later — was a drama much desired by the queen, who was brilliant in conquest of men, but “wedded to herself”. The ambitious Raleigh became her favourite and Lyons gives a poetic feel to this dalliance.

Yet it is also a story of tragedy. Nicholls and Williams seek to dismember many myths that have grown around Raleigh yet in a book of great depth probe the ambitious and adventurous character of a man who was deeply interested in the New World. One example was the establishment of the community in Roanoke that failed so miserably with abandonment of the settlement.

One might say that Raleigh’s life was constantly tinged with disaster. Anyone who has followed the television serial The Tudors will understand the dangers of the court, although that was set in the realm of Henry VIII. Elizabeth came through much of that intrigue and, by the time Raleigh invaded her apartments, was a consummate diplomat and survivor. For Raleigh to survive himself, he would need to be embraced by the queen, share her secrets and act as her trusting agent. It is in this realm that The Favourite “tracks the careful steps of their dance as Elizabeth negotiated, Raleigh at her side, the darkest years of her reign, overshadowed by the fear of conspiracy, assassination and war”.

Merciless in Ireland on her behalf — and as a sea raider — Raleigh brought spice to the court. While the queen flirted with him, others despised him. Whatever his demeanour, which would lead him to a charge of treason, Raleigh was the archetypal pioneer, who would love and fight his way to glory. These books are a tribute to him and his absorbing life.