The Tudors

I have reserved appreciation for this book. At first, I struggled with the presentation format - a chapter in sequential-ish order following the Tudor history (and related) followed by a chapter of “Background”. About 1/3 of the way in, I resolved to pretend I was reading three books in parallel: one on the Tudors, one on shifting European powers of the 15th to 16th centuries, and one about the explosion of protestant religions. I understand, at some level, that the three stories are intertwined, but this was a particularly frustrating part of the book.

Given those challenges, this book is interesting and brings to life characters whose actions still reverberate today. The majority of the text focuses on Henry VIII, who we learn was a seriously messed up character with strong, albeit shifting, religious views. We can see in the shifts of Henry VIII's England the strong advocation for separation of church and state by the settlers in America; the tremendous shift from religious and community life to life controlled by government; and the impact different kinds of “right hand” men can have on the influence of councils and parliaments. The rest of the text briefly covers the beginning of the Tudor era with Henry VII - who really seems not so bad a leader, if somewhat greedy. The tumultuous time after the death of Henry VIII, through his children Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I.

The children all have their own brand of personally favored “Crown Religion” (I don't think this phrase is used in the text, but makes more sense than trying to call any of these leaders “Catholic” or “Protestant” when their views were individual). Each of the children, like Henry VIII before them, uses the power bestowed upon the crown to met out harsh punishments for “those who are not us.” That anyone had any true religious zeal after the Tudor era in England is surprising to me. The stories of the supporting cast: Chancellors, nobles, secretaries...are also woven in - these characters, even more than some of the Tudors, drive the nature of the government and the experience of everyday English people. I truly appreciated how this text brought them out of obscurity, where plausible, alongside the crown.

Much is still not known, I admire G.J. Meyer for frankness when we simply do not know what happened or what the origins were for a particular character or action. I'd recommend folks who are interested in English, Christian, or background for American history to read this book for another perspective to more popular (shorter) tales of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. However, I'd not strongly recommend it. Despite the author stating that this text was “for the masses” and not for scholars, the narrative is not written in simple language, and shifts between time and place are not easy to follow. In only one place (with two men of the same last name) did the author deign to come up with clear shorthand (using their houses, rather than names) to attempt to avoid confusion. However, the multitude of people with similar first names, ruling or heir to completely different lands, are not given equal clarity. This can be helped, a little, with notes. I would not recommend this book to budding historians less than maybe 10th grade, exceptions may be warranted for highly precocious AND extraordinarily interested middle grader. The book is certainly PG.

Really comprehensive study of the Tudor dynasty, complete with chapters on interesting Background notes.