The story of the private man

Having completed her Six Tudor Queens series of novels on the wives of Henry VIII, Alison Weir gives Henry himself a voice, telling the story of his remarkable 36-year reign and his six marriages.

Henry began his rule as a chivalrous Renaissance prince who embodied every virtue. He had all the qualities to make a triumph of his kingship, yet we remember only the violence. Henry famously broke with the Pope, founding the Church of England and launching a religious revolution that divided his kingdom. He beheaded two of his wives and cast aside two others. He died a suspicious, obese, disease-riddled tyrant, old before his time. His reign is remembered as one of dangerous intrigue and bloodshed--and yet the truth is far more complex.

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“Superbly readable and engaging . . . I doubt we will ever tire of the Tudors, not while we have novelists like [Alison] Weir to bring them to life.”—Historical Novel Society

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