In the Lion's Court: Power, Ambition, and Sudden Death in the Reign of Henry VIII
Biographer and novelist Wilson (The Tower of London) focuses his study on six Tudor men whose fates in the court of Henry VIII vividly echo those of the Tudor lion's six wives: "Divorced, beheaded, died,/ Divorced, beheaded, survived." Wilson proposes that the fates of Henry VIII's "six Thomases" Wolsey, More, Cromwell, Howard, Wriothesley, and Cranmer can be remembered by a similar rubric: "Died, beheaded, beheaded,/ Self-slaughtered, burned, survived." The promise of the subtitle is amply fulfilled in Wilson's six-part study, chronologically arranged and framed by a useful introduction and a valedictory epilog. The study contains a brilliant series of parallel portraits a fresh look at each Thomas's family and social origins, his education, his entry into "the lion's den" of the royal Council chamber, and his exit therefrom. The value of these portraits to today's reader is that, as Wilson promises, we can begin to understand what it was like to live through that time of great upheaval "when we draw alongside the people who did just that." Recommended for all libraries. Robert C. Jones, formerly with Central Missouri State Univ., WarrensburgCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.