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Thomas Cromwell : the rise and fall of Henry VIII's most notorious minister

by Hutchinson, Robert, 1948-

Format: Print Book 2009
Availability: Available at 1 Library 1 of 1 copy

Available (1)
Location Collection Call #
CLP - Main Library Mezzanine - Non-fiction DA334.C9 H88 2009
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  Mezzanine - Non-fiction
 
Call Number  DA334.C9 H88 2009
 
 

Summary
The son of a brewer, Thomas Cromwell rose from obscurity to become the confidant of the King and one of the most influ ential men in British history. Cromwell drafted the law that allowed Henry VIII to divorce his first wife and marry Anne Boleyn, setting into motion the brutal Pro testant Reformation. Over the course of his career, Cromwell amassed a fortune through bribery and theft, and created many enemies along the way. His fall was spectacular--beheaded out side the Tower of London, his boiled head was placed on a spike above the London Bridge.

Rich in incident and colorful detail, this is narrative history at its finest.
Published Reviews
Publisher's Weekly Review: "Rising to power with Anne Boleyn's decapitation and losing his own head over the Anne of Cleves debacle, Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540) was Henry VIII's loyal hatchet man-dissolving Catholic monasteries, breaking with the pope and finding ever more loopholes to justify Henry's marital and financial whims. Hutchinson (The Last Days of Henry VIII) effortlessly explains the business side of the Tudor court in which Cromwell's legal mind excelled while giving a one-sided portrait of controversial Anne Boleyn. Of the five royal wives Cromwell knew, the "pockmarked and sadly malodorous" Anne of Cleves receives most of Hutchinson's meager sympathy. In spite of considerable research, the focus on Cromwell's professional life means that the man from humble beginnings still eludes readers as anything more than a petty and "rapacious loan shark." Unlike contemporaries More and Cranmer, Cromwell seems uninterested in religion, friends or family. But those more interested in the nuts and bolts of Henry's court rather than the monarch's soap opera antics will find this a welcome respite from fictionalized Tudor drama. 8 pages illus., 8 pages of color photos. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Cromwell, Thomas, -- Earl of Essex, -- 1485?-1540.
Prime ministers -- England -- Biography.
Great Britain -- Court and courtiers -- Biography.
Great Britain -- History -- Henry VIII, 1509-1547.
Publisher New York :Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press,2009
Edition 1st U.S. ed.
Language English
Notes Reprint. Originally published: London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007.
Description vii, 360 pages : color illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography Notes Includes bibliographical references (pages 330-344) and index.
ISBN 9780312577940 (alk. paper)
031257794X (alk. paper)
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