`...by far the best overall history of the reign to date.'American Historical Review Within a chronological framework, David Loades adopts a thematic approach to the reign.

In this second edition, as well as incorporating the most recent research, Professor Loades has reworked his text to make it more accessible to a less specialist readership.

This book provides a political narrative of the rise and fall of the Tudor monarchy - key to understanding the history of the years 1450 to 1660.

The theme is the relationship between the Crown and the aristocracy and how a partnership was created partly by the actions of the Crown and partly by the changing composition and attitudes of the political nation. It begins with the chaos of factional quarrels which was the political life of England under Henry VI in the 1450s and then examines the rebuilding of the strength of royal government under Edward IV, Henry VII and Henry VIII. That government was tested in various ways under Edward VI and Mary, reached its peak under Elizabeth, and declined under James I. The partnership finally broke down in the civil war of the 1640s and the Tudor monarchy collapsed.

This is the life cycle of a political system created out of necessity and fashioned by a mixture of vision and circumstance. After its collapse the Republic failed to create a viable alternative, but the resurrection of the old system after 1660 was more apparent than real.

Now in paperback, this intimate study views the well-known tale of Henry VIII and his wives from a political perspective, showing how each one of them played an important and often conscious role both in his political and personal development.