But much less attention has been paid to his monarchy, especially the closing years of his reign.Rich with information including details from new archival material and written with the nail-biting suspense of a modern thriller, The Last Days of Henry VIII offers a superb fresh look at this fascinating figure and new insight into an intriguing chapter in history.Robert Hutchinson paints a brilliant portrait of this egotistical tyrant who governed with a ruthlessness that rivals that of modern dictators; a monarch who had "no respect or fear of anyone in this world," according to the Spanish ambassador to his court. Henry VIII pioneered the modern "show trial": cynical propaganda exercises in which the victims were condemned before the proceedings even opened, proving the most powerful men in the land could be brought down overnight.After thirty-five years in power, Henry was a bloated, hideously obese, black-humored old recluse. And despite his having had six wives, the Tudor dynasty rested on the slight shoulders of his only male heir, the nine-year-old Prince Edward -- a situation that spurred rival factions into a deadly conflict to control the throne.The Last Days of Henry VIII is a gripping and compelling history as fascinating and remarkable as its subject.

    Tells the compelling story of one of the finest palaces in Europe, situated on the banks of the River Thames southwest of London and a centre of court life in England from 1529 to 1737Celebrates one of the most visited and intriguing architectural ensembles in Britain, including the palace's original sixteenth-century buildings of Henry VIII's reign to the late seventeenth-century Baroque additions by Sir Christopher WrenIncludes full coverage of Hampton Court's famous and everpopular formal gardens, a precious survival of gardening three hundred years agoReveals the lifestyles of monarchs, mistresses and courtiers as well as life 'below stairs'In the same series as Merrell's highly popular official illustrated histories of the Tower of London and Kensington Palace

    This book is the first to explore the full range of the artist’s English body of work as well as the relation of this work to the visual and material culture of Tudor England. Providing a detailed account of the paintings, drawings, and woodcuts that Holbein produced in England, the book demonstrates convincingly that that country was not as remote from a common European culture as is often assumed. Rather, it was an unmistakable part of that culture.Susan Foister discusses not only Holbein's well-known portraits but also his decorative paintings and murals, now lost, his designs for goldsmiths, and the works that can be associated with the English Reformation. In addition, she considers Holbein's religious and secular images, his techniques and practices, his status as an official court painter, and a variety of other intriguing topics.

    Set within 2,000 acres of parkland and bounded on its south and east sides by the River Thames, the historic landscape possesses a rich overlay of garden improvements from the early 16th to the 21st centuries. This book explores the history of this landscape. Among the many themes it addresses are the role and impact of patrons, designers and estate workers; planting and horticultural techniques; statuary, fountains and other garden ornaments; and maintenance and conservation. The photographs by Vivian Russell that accompany the text constitute the most comprehensive topographical survey of the palace's gardens since the late 18th century.

    Mary's brief reign has often been treated as an aberrant interruption of England's march to triumphant Protestantism, a period of political sterility, foreign influence and religious repression rightly eclipsed by the happier reign of her more sympathetic half-sister, Elizabeth. In pursuit of a more balanced assessment of Mary's religious policies, this volume explores the theology, pastoral practice and ecclesiastical administration of the Church in England during her reign. Focusing on the neglected Catholic renaissance which she ushered in, the book traces its influences and emphases, its methods and its rationales - together the role of Philip's Spanish clergy and native English Catholics - in relation to the wider influence of the continental Counter Reformation and Mary's humanist learning. Measuring these issues against the reintroduction of papal authority into England, and the balance between persuasion and coercion used by the authorities to restore Catholic worship, the volume offers a more nuanced and balanced view of Mary's religious policies. Addressing such intriguing and under-researched matters from a variety of literary, political and theological perspectives, the essays in this volume cast new light, not only on Marian Catholicism, but also on the wider European religious picture.