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Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry VIII's Most Faithful Servant | Tracy Borman
5 posts | 5 read | 8 to read
Thomas Cromwell has long been reviled as a Machiavellian schemer who stopped at nothing in his quest for power. As Henry VIIIs right-hand man, Cromwell was the architect of the English Reformation, secured Henrys divorce from Catherine of Aragon and plotted the downfall of Anne Boleyn, and upon his arrest, was accused of trying to usurp the King himself. But here Tracy Borman reveals a different side of one of the most notorious figures in history: that of a caring husband and father, a fiercely loyal servant and friend, and a revolutionary who helped make medieval England into a modern state. Born in the mid-1480s to a lowly blacksmith, Cromwell left home at eighteen to make his fortune abroad. After serving as a mercenary in the French army, working for a powerful merchant banker in Florence at the height of the Renaissance, and spending time as a cloth merchant in the commercial capital of the world, the Netherlands, Cromwell returned to England and built a flourishing legal practice. He soon became the protg of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and then worked his way into the Kings inner circle. As Henrys top aide, Cromwell was at the heart of the most momentous events of his time and wielded immense power over both church and state. His seismic political, religious, and social reforms had an impact that can still be felt today. Grounded in excellent primary source research, Thomas Cromwell gives an inside look at a monarchy that has captured the Western imagination for centuries, and tells the story of a controversial and enigmatic man who forever changed the shape of his country.
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tphil10283
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It‘s a very engaging biography about a very ambitious, intelligent and somewhat ruthless person. The biography uses many direct quotes from the historical sources and those quotes are somewhat difficult to understand sometimes. The author seems somewhat religious but it doesn‘t seem to affect the book too negatively and may explain the frequent use of exact quotations.

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Mitch
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I miss my city 😥.
Great article about how Cromwell experienced our streets.

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Denimchild

A woman with a good education was compared to a madman with a sword: she would be a danger to herself and to others.

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Libby1
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@Jess7
#AwesomeAutumnBooks
#TroubledRelationship

I have been remiss with the photo challenges recently.

Today's prompt made me think of Henry VIII, who had a #TroubledRelationship with EVERYBODY.

And yes, I do have a whole section of my bookcase dedicated to this era. 😃

TrishB And it looks lovely 😀 7y
Aleida I really like the illuminated-style spines. 7y
LeahBergen Love! ❤️ 7y
See All 10 Comments
andrew61 Love the shardlake series, im just debating when to start lamentation. 7y
Libby1 Thanks, @Aleida . They're from the Shardlake series by C. J. Sansom. It is historical fiction at its finest! 7y
Libby1 Thanks, @TrishB ! 7y
Libby1 @LeahBergen ❤️right back atcha! 7y
Libby1 @andrew61 - I still have 2 left in the series. My next one is Heartstone. So far Dark Fire has been my favourite. How about you? 7y
andrew61 @Libby1 from recollection libby i think it was sovereign when he has an unfortunate meeting with henry on the parade to york. 7y
Libby1 @andrew61 - Sovereign was excellent. I remember the description of Henry's corpulence and stench in that scene. 😖 7y
50 likes10 comments
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eiblhinghost
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eiblhinghost I just finished reading this book. I don't know much about this era of history, other than what the average person would know. It was quite fascinating to read about things from the perspective of this one person's life. 8y
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