‘This magnificent new book is Alison Weir's greatest achievement: a detailed biography of Henry VIII, set against the cultural, social and political background of his court - the most magnificent court ever seen in England - and the splendour of his many sumptuous palaces. Seen from this new perspective, Henry VIII emerges as a fully-rounded and realistic personality, not the two-dimensional caricature of popular misconception. This book is not just an entertaining narrative packed with colourful description and a wealth of anecdotal evidence, but a comprehensive analytical study of the development of both monarch and court during a crucial period in English history. As well as challenging some recent theories, it offers controversial new conclusions based on contemporary evidence that has until now been overlooked. This is a triumph of historical writing which will appeal equally to the general reader and the serious historian.' A glittering evocation of the Tudor Court, its splendour as well as its vulgarity-a responsive, rounded portrait'. - Daily Telegraph 'Weir has used colourful, fresh material (much of it from unpublished archives and letters), to recreate early sixteenth-century European life and thought, within which she sets the larger-than-life figure of the king-a compelling, readable account of the life and times of the king who put England firmly on the map of power politics'. - Lisa Jardine, Literary Review