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Deborah (162 KP) rated Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England in Books

Dec 21, 2018

There's an old Chinese curse that runs "may you live in interesting times". Penn throws some new light on an era that certainly can be described as 'interesting' and somewhere I'm sure I wouldn't want to be living!

The Winter King of the title is Henry Tudor. Although more a history of the reign than biography (his early life is described only in brief), Henry doesn't come across as particularly likeably - not someone you'd like to sit down to dinner with! His whole style of kingship seems to be based around control of everyone around him and control was often achieved through financial means rather than physical threat. The story unfolds as almost horrific where we see innocent people 'informed' against, imprisoned illegally, tried with 'packed' juries and presented with crippling fines! The wonder really is that such a king was not overthrown! We see here how the notorious Empson & Dudley really worked, and although in a way they were scapegoats for many in the old Henrician regieme when Henry VIII came to the throne, you can see how imprisoning and then executing this unpleasant pair would have been a great crowd-pleasing move!

This book also shines some light on other charaters; it goes someway to explaining the later behaviour of Henry VIII for starters! The insight into the relationship of Philip of Burgundy and Juana of Castile was brief, but enlightning.

Many Tudor writers go straight for the two obvious targets; the larger than life Henry VIII and his daughter, Elizabeth I, so here it made an interesting change to see the earlier Tudor world and how Henry VIII grew up in this; even if it was a place full of paranoid and insecurity!

Kudos

Emma Watson recommended The Constant Princess in Books (curated)

"There's a book that I read when I was very young - 'The Constant Princess' by Philippa Gregory, about Catherine of Aragon - and I know it sounds silly, but I thought, "I've got to be just like her". She was the first wife of Henry VIII and she survived, having been cruelly divorced. I remember being really inspired by that."

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Kudos

Deborah (162 KP) rated The Boleyn King (Boleyn Trilogy, #1) in Books

Dec 21, 2018

An historical entertainment more than a traditional historical novel, this imagines that Anne Boleyn had a son, ergo she wasn't discarded and her son became king on the decease of Henry VIII. Potentially I thought this might be very, very bad, but actually it was pretty well written and entertaining, A few odd Americanisms in there ("visit with" etc.), but overall better than I expected.

Kudos

Triangle (2009)

7.6 (15 Ratings) Rate It

Movie

A Horror/Sci-Fi film that is based around a group of people going for a day out on a yatch. Things...

Horror Sci-Fi Time Slasher Paradox

Henry: Model of a Tyrant

David Starkey

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

How and why did Henry VIII turn from a glamorous Renaissance prince into this country's greatest...

The Prince and the Pauper

Mark Twain

6.5 (6 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Tom Canty and Edward Tudor could have been identical twins. Their birthdays and their faces match,...

Alison Pink (7 KP) rated The King's Deception (Cotton Malone, #8) in Books

Jan 15, 2018

As usual Steve Berry does not disappoint!! Cotton Malone is one of my very favorite fictional characters & just like the man who thought him up, he never lets the reader down either.
This installment deals with Henry VIII & a supposed secret he passed on while on his deathbed, a secret that if proven true could decimate the English monarchy as we know it. Along with plunging them back into a bloody battle over Northern Ireland. Elizabeth I a man? How could you not be intrigued!?