The Reign of Henry VIII: Personalities and Politics

Biographers have always found Henry VIII a controversial, albeit endlessly intriguing, character. This work, which is a radical departure from existing treatments in that it suggests that Henry was easily and often manipulated by those about him, will add to that controversy. Unfortunately, Starkey produces precious little in the way of new evidence to support his thesis (there are no footnotes and his bibliography is scant), and if his work has any real value it will be as a stimulus to debate. J.J. Scarisbrick's Henry VIII (1968), Lacey Baldwin Smith's Henry VIII: the mask of royalty (1971), and G.R. Elton's The Tudor Revolution in Government (1953) are better, more scholarly, and more convincing. Most libraries can skip. James A. Casada, History Dept., Winthrop Coll., Rock Hill, S.C.
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