Henry VIII

First published in 1968, this biography examines Henry VIII as a political actor rather than as a mere figurehead of ministers. Scarisbrick follows the king from his accession through the divorce from Catherine of Aragon, the break with Rome, the dissolution of the monasteries, and the later marriages and factional crises of the 1540s. He gives close attention to Henry's religious opinions, the canon-law case for the divorce, and the king's use of parliament and council. Wolsey, Cromwell, and Cranmer appear as instruments and rivals, not as the sole authors of policy. The book is a scholarly life of the reign, not a court romance.

Bound in red buckram with a cover gilt medallion. Dark purple slipcase.