In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII’s court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king’s favor and ascend to the heights of political powerEngland in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe … most of Europe opposes him. The quest for the king’s freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum.
Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy: he is also a consummate politician, hardened by his personal losses, implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage. With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death.
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All three books of the trilogy were gripping to read. The characters develop through time, and their thought processes can be traced without much head scratching. I highly recommend these historical novels.
I have found Oliver Cromwell fascinating since I was young when I read the book Lark by Sally Watson. I sympathized with Sally so much I went on to read everything I could find about that period in British history. Fast forward to 2018 and Ms. Mantel’s excellent novel. She captures the time, the mood, the ambiance so well and tells the story so well I was immersed and living in 17th century England so much that I had to blink and refocus whenever I had to put the book down. I highly recommend this book.
A delicious read. Beautifully written with well drawn characters. Provides valuable insight to English history and the reign of Henry VIII.
Informative historical fiction
Truly remarkable.
Didn’t like it
Lovers of Tudor England will love it…..Cromwell is a complex individual…..after this you’ll want to read Bringing Up The Bodies……a great author!
This was too long for me and had too many characters. i was listening to it on audio and kept tuning out of the story.
Boring and hard to follow
No one has done historical novels filled with real historical figures better than Hilary Manntel. Her Thomas Cromwell May or May not be true to history but he will always be one of fiction’s greatest creations.
One of my favorite books of all-time.
Dense but an amazing read for anyone who loves British history.
One of the great books of historical fiction!
Powerful recreation of turbulent times
Qffers great insight into the world of Henry VIII and England of the early 1500’s.
Difficult to get into to start with because of the writing style, I stopped and started three or four times, once I had I loved this book. Thomas Cromwell, a fascinating man portrayed with a warmth and colour that drew me into his story. I have to say he is someone I was deeply interested in to begin with, and I am not sure what those without this initial passion would make of this portrayal. Loved it and looking forward to the next about Anne Boleyn. The rivalry, contest and enmity between these two should make for a terrific book.
Not easy to read the way it’s written.
Outstanding historical fiction from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell rather than Thomas More. A little difficult to understand at the beginning because it is not always clear who the speaker is, but it is well worth the effort.
Deadly difficult to read.
I found it hard to read and difficult to keep track of the multitude of characters, many referred to by more than one name; also, the dialogue was unrealistically stilted.