Thomas Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry VIII's Most Faithful Servant - Tracy Borman
Thomas Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry VIII's Most Faithful Servant - Tracy Borman
Non-Fiction
Pages: 480
Thomas Cromwell is hot property right now, with Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and the BBC adaptation of the same name, so it seemed like an opportune time to finally read this. The reign of Henry VIII is endlessly fascinating, not just because of Henry's marital history but because it was an era of great change for England, much of which can be laid at Cromwell's door.
Cromwell was an aberration at the Henrician court, a commoner, the son of a butcher from Putney, an entirely self-made man amongst blue-blooded nobles. He rose entirely through his own merits and strength of will to become the most powerful man at court, a man who spoke for his master and whose every word was obeyed. His influence not just on Henry VIII's court but on England itself was profound and lasting - Cromwell masterminded the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragorn; engineered the break with Rome; dissolved the monasteries; set England on the path of religious reform; championed the translation of the Bible in English and instructed that one be set up in every parish church; reformed the system of government and bureaucracy, and at his death left the kingdom wealthier and better governed.
Of course, no-one got ahead (excuse the pun) in Henry's court without making enemies; it was a place riven by faction, enmity, envy and political jostling. Cromwell both engineered Anne Boleyn's instalment as Queen and was instrumental in her downfall when her faction threatened his reforms and his life. He could be ruthless in his pragmatism and unflinching in removing obstacles from his path. In the end, of course, he overreached himself and those same enemies brought him down in his turn - although Henry VIII came to regret Cromwell's death and lament his loss.
My one criticism of this book is the inconsistency when quoting contemporary documents. Some have their spelling modernised, others do not; those quotes without modernisation slow the narrative down, and in some cases it is almost impossible to decipher what the word is meant to be. But that's a minor criticism - more of an editorial issue than an authorial one. Tracy Borman is an excellent writer, and this biography is as readable as Hilary Mantel's fiction. Mantel's Cromwell is infinitely more sympathetic than as portrayed here, but since all history is inevitably conjecture to a certain extent, who is to say which is closest to the real Cromwell?
Non-Fiction
Pages: 480
Thomas Cromwell is hot property right now, with Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and the BBC adaptation of the same name, so it seemed like an opportune time to finally read this. The reign of Henry VIII is endlessly fascinating, not just because of Henry's marital history but because it was an era of great change for England, much of which can be laid at Cromwell's door.
Cromwell was an aberration at the Henrician court, a commoner, the son of a butcher from Putney, an entirely self-made man amongst blue-blooded nobles. He rose entirely through his own merits and strength of will to become the most powerful man at court, a man who spoke for his master and whose every word was obeyed. His influence not just on Henry VIII's court but on England itself was profound and lasting - Cromwell masterminded the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragorn; engineered the break with Rome; dissolved the monasteries; set England on the path of religious reform; championed the translation of the Bible in English and instructed that one be set up in every parish church; reformed the system of government and bureaucracy, and at his death left the kingdom wealthier and better governed.
Of course, no-one got ahead (excuse the pun) in Henry's court without making enemies; it was a place riven by faction, enmity, envy and political jostling. Cromwell both engineered Anne Boleyn's instalment as Queen and was instrumental in her downfall when her faction threatened his reforms and his life. He could be ruthless in his pragmatism and unflinching in removing obstacles from his path. In the end, of course, he overreached himself and those same enemies brought him down in his turn - although Henry VIII came to regret Cromwell's death and lament his loss.
My one criticism of this book is the inconsistency when quoting contemporary documents. Some have their spelling modernised, others do not; those quotes without modernisation slow the narrative down, and in some cases it is almost impossible to decipher what the word is meant to be. But that's a minor criticism - more of an editorial issue than an authorial one. Tracy Borman is an excellent writer, and this biography is as readable as Hilary Mantel's fiction. Mantel's Cromwell is infinitely more sympathetic than as portrayed here, but since all history is inevitably conjecture to a certain extent, who is to say which is closest to the real Cromwell?