Tudors: A History of England Volume II - Softcover

Ackroyd, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 023076407X ISBN 13: 9780230764071

Publisher: Macmillan, 2012

Synopsis

This is the second volume of Peter Ackroyd's masterful history of England: the "Tudors". Rich in detail and atmosphere and told in vivid prose, "Tudors" recounts the transformation of England from a settled Catholic country to a Protestant superpower. It is the story of Henry VIII's cataclysmic break with Rome, and his relentless pursuit of both the perfect wife and the perfect heir; of how the brief reign of the teenage king, Edward VI, gave way to the violent reimposition of Catholicism and the stench of bonfires under 'Bloody Mary'. It tells, too, of the long reign of Elizabeth I, which, though marked by civil strife, plots against the queen and even an invasion force, finally brought stability. Above all, however, it is the story of the English Reformation and the making of the Anglican Church. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, England was still largely feudal and looked to Rome for direction; at its end, it was a country where good governance was the duty of the state, not the church, and where men and women began to look to themselves for answers rather than to those who ruled them.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Ackroyd is an award-winning novelist, as well as a broadcaster, biographer, poet and historian. He is the author of the acclaimed non-fiction bestsellers, Thames: Sacred River and London: The Biography, as well as the History of England series. He holds a CBE for services to literature and lives in London.

Edition details

• Publisher: Macmillan
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 023076407X
• ISBN 13: 9780230764071
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352