Winter King
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
It was 1501. England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, violence, murders, coups and counter-coups. Henry VII had clambered to the top of the heap - a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's crown who through luck, guile and ruthlessness had managed to win the throne and stay on it for sixteen years. Although he built palaces, hosted jousts, gave out lavish presents and sent ambassadors across Europe, for many he remained a usurper, a false king. But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. Now, in what would be the crowning glory of his reign, his elder son would marry a great Spanish princess. On a cold November day this girl, the sixteen-year-old Catherine of Aragon, arrived in London for a wedding upon which the fate of England would hinge. In his remarkable debut Thomas Penn recreates an England which is both familiar and very strange - a country that seems medieval yet modern, in which honour and chivalry mingle with espionage, realpolitik, high finance and corruption. It is the story of the transformation of a young, vulnerable boy, Prince Henry, into the aggressive teenager who would become Henry VIII, and of Catherine of Aragon, his future queen. And at its heart is the tragic, magnetic figure of Henry VII - controlling, paranoid, avaricious, with a Machiavellian charm and will to power. Rich with incident and drama, filled with wonderfully drawn characters, Winter King is an unforgettable story of pageantry, surveillance, the thirst for glory - and the fraught, unstable birth of Tudor England. - Publisher.
Reviews with the most likes.
Truth is so much stranger than fiction.
The characters in this history are hard to believe, and I am so glad that people of the time wrote so much. How would we be able to piece out all of the controversies, plots, loves, betrayals, and everyday life without the writing?
This book leaves me wanting to read still more history from this time. I read The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty a few years ago, and this book gives more life to the characters at the beginning of the Tudor dynasty.
Thomas Penn gives an highly insightful account of the reign on Henry Tudor. Masterfully written and well documented.
From the beginning of the reign on Henry Tudor, the new king had quite the fight against him. He had to establish his reign, and procure the funds needed for the running of a kingdom. While he works through the beginning of his kingship, he established his right to rule, not through his wife, Elizabeth of York, but by divine right of inheritance. He did not immediately marry her, so as to establish that the throne was his and that the power was not received through his wife.
Many historians gloss over the reign of Henry Tudor, as he ushered in a new era. But many refuse to look underneath the shiny surface that has been painted by apologists and some historians. Penn takes a look at the man himself, and the many shortcomings that he had. He was not the perfect king, or the perfect husband. He was a tyrannical ruler, who ruled through fear, not love. He put many of his nobility into such debt that they could not afford to do much of anything, especially rebel against him. He held power through mistrust and suspicion, not through openness and loyalty.
This was an interesting read. It was much different than anything else that has been put forth on Henry Tudor. I liked the fresh and blunt approach. I learned quite a bit from reading this history. One that I would recommend checking out.
A good biography of a king who is one of the less well-known of the Tudor monarchs. The writing style is engaging, rather than dry and academic, and makes for a quite a compelling narrative at times, although it doesn't always stick to chronological order, which can get frustrating at times (although, to be fair, not at all confusing).
It focuses primarily on the second half of Henry's reign, from the troubles with Perkin Warbeck up to the closing years when the regime became increasingly dictatorial. On the way, it naturally takes in the early life of the more famous Henry VIII and his protracted marriage arrangements with Katherine of Aragon; indeed, the final chapter covers the first year of the following reign, wrapping up what would otherwise be loose ends in the narrative.
I found it a fascinating read, and Penn manages to make a king that's generally regarded as a bit dull into anything but. It's hard not to interpret it as a prequel to the rather better known events that followed, but, while it may not be perfect, it's a good telling of this neglected period of history.
