Henry VIII

Reviews / Votes

Praise of this edition:

The best general biography of Henry VIII in nearly half a century: comprehensive in coverage, judicious in analysis, and pleasurable to read. - Peter Marshall, University of Warwick, UK

An excellent book that is up-to-date and wide-ranging, from policy-making and faction to visual display and material culture. It is packed with illuminating evidence and orientates the reader effectively through the complex historiographical debates. Dr Wooding provides a well-balanced biography of Henry, paying as much attention to his early years as to the 1530s and 1540s. Essential reading for students and other scholars. - Natalie Mears, Durham University, UK

Praise of the first edition:

As a primer in the key developments and personalities of the period ... the book works excellently. As well as providing a reliable, conventional narrative ... there are useful digressions into everything from Tudor food to Tudor climate. Most winningly of all, the book recognises that the central interpretative challenge for anyone writing about Henry is to explain how he mutated from a learned, attractive, doted-upon young king into someone regarded by many of his subjects - and many modern historians - as little more than a tyrant... - The Tablet

Lucy Wooding's readable one-volume study comprehensively updates J.J. Scarisbrick's classic 1968 biography and deftly charts a middle way through ongoing controversies. Unlike some other discussions of the king, it gives due weight to the years 1509-1525. - History Review

Lucy Wooding covers the whole reign, necessarily drawing on others' work, expounding and reviewing it in a way that students will greet with joy. A long afternoon in the company of her book, deftly used, will give them an air of easy familiarity with the great debates of the past few decades ... She takes her own line at every point, formulates her judgments in fluent and pointed prose, and illustrates her case liberally with quotations from chronicles, letters and formularies of faith. - Times Literary Supplement

As the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession looms, a superabundance of judgments - scholarly and otherwise - on the king's life and times will bombard readers. This new offering in the Routledge Historical Biography series, however, is a most welcome addition to Henrician studies. - D.R. Bisson, Belmont University, CHOICE, Vol. 46, No. 11, July 2009

The author does a wonderful job of telling a gripping story that also gives a sense of the complexity of the reign and the period ... Readers will be well instructed about a very significant period of English history-and they will be entertained as well. - Anne McLaren, University of Liverpool, UK