Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I

by Ackroyd, Peter

• ISBN13: 9781250003621
• ISBN10: 1250003628
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-10-08
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Summary

Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain's most acclaimed writers, brings the age of the Tudors to vivid life in this monumental book in his The History of England series, charting the course of English history from Henry VIII's cataclysmic break with Rome to the epic rule of Elizabeth I.

Rich in detail and atmosphere, Tudors is the story of Henry VIII's relentless pursuit of both the perfect wife and the perfect heir; of how the brief royal reign of the teenage king, Edward VI, gave way to the violent reimposition of Catholicism and the stench of bonfires under "Bloody Mary." It tells, too, of the long reign of Elizabeth I, which, though marked by civil strife, plots against her, and even an invasion force, finally brought stability.

Above all, it is the story of the English Reformation and the making of the Anglican Church. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, England was still largely feudal and looked to Rome for direction; at its end, it was a country where good governance was the duty of the state, not the church, and where men and women began to look to themselves for answers rather than to those who ruled them.

Author Biography

PETER ACKROYD is an award-winning novelist, as well as a broadcaster, biographer, poet, and historian. He is the author of the acclaimed Thames: Sacred River, London: The Biography, and the first volume of his history of England, Foundation. He holds a CBE for services to literature and lives in London.

Table of Contents

Contents

List of illustrations vii

1. Hallelujah 1

2. All in scarlet 14

3. Heretic! 25

4. The woes of marriage 34

5. Into court 46

6. Old authentic histories 62

7. The king’s pleasure 78

8. A little neck 91

9. The great revolt 105

10. The confiscation 118

11. The old fashion 129

12. The body of Christ 139

13. The fall 145

14. War games 157

15. A family portrait 168

16. The last days 176

17. The breaking of the altars 184

18. Have at all papists! 193

19. The barns of Crediton 206

20. The lord of misrule 222

21. The nine-day queen 235

22. In the ascendant 245

23. Faith of our fathers 262

24. An age of anxiety 272

25. Nunc Dimittis 281

26. A virgin queen 287

27. Two queens 297

28. The thirty-nine steps 311

29. The rivals 325

30. The rites of spring 337

31. Plots and factions 354

32. The revels now are ended 371

33. The frog 384

34. The great plot 400

35. The dead cannot bite 418

36. Armada 428

37. Repent! Repent! 436

38. The setting sun 444

39. A disobedient servant 454

40. The end of days 463

41. Reformation 467

Further reading 473

Index 483