Henry VIII: The Politics of Tyranny

Published: January 1, 1986 by Viking ISBN: 9780880640664 (ISBN-10: 0880640669) ASIN: 0880640669 Language: English "A man of ruthless cruelty to enemies and intimates alike, remembered mainly for his succession of wives and his personal excesses, Henry VIII stands as one of the most fascinating monarchs in English history. Yet while the public events of his reign are well known, Henry's political cunning and private command of these events has often been obscured or neglected. Now Jasper Ridley tells the full story of Henry's rule and, above all, of his genius for the exercise of power. A man of fundamentally conservative opinions, Henry's willfulness, his taste for revenge, and his unyielding desire for control would ultimately disrupt Europe and revolutionize England during his reign. He made himself the supreme head of the church in England and took over its property. He defied not only the Pope, but also the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Francois I of France, and by manipulating them, one against the other, made England the richest and most powerful country in Europe. He transformed government and society in England, using his ministers as the instruments of the decisions he made, and as these ministers were later cast aside or executed, he established a dictatorship more absolute than even he had envisioned. By the end of his reign, he had consilodated all power, temporal and spiritual, in his own hands. As Ridley brilliantly chronicles the changes in English political and social life during Henry's thirty-seven-year regin, he also offers a detailed and intriguing portrait of the man who evolved from a tall, charming young king, filled with a zest for life and eager for the company of women, to the most formaidable, coldly calculating ruler England has ever known."