The Ebbs and Flows of Fortune: The Life of Thomas Howard, Third Duke of Norfolk
In A Man for All Seasons, the figure of the Duke of Norfolk comes across as a domineering, rough-and-tumble man of mixed loyalties, alternately trying to stand by sometime friend Thomas More and yet stay in good graces with Henry VIII. Head (history, John Tyler Community Coll.) has taken the broad outlines of that character and filled in most of the details. "Thomas Howard's loyalty to the crown was seldom more than a thin veil over his own deeper motives of self-interest, greed, ambition, and pride.... Norfolk saw no reason to change a system of government, a social order or a religious faith that tended to benefit his family and himself." On More's execution, Head writes, "If the judicial murder of one of England's greatest men was demanded by the king, Norfolk was willing to play his part; loyalty far outweighed conscience." The tumult of 16th-century England and Henry's court will always be an important area for historians. This well-researched, straightforward work fills a gap about one of the major characters of that arena. Appropriate for academic and larger public libraries.?Katherine Gillen, Luke Air Force Base Lib., Ariz.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.