The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty

This book could also be called everything you ever wanted to know about the Tudors but we're afraid to ask. It is that complete Covering the entire Tudor dynasty from Henry the 7th through Elizabeth the 1st And everything between n You will learn about the real anne Boleyn and the maid up stories that caused her downfall and have been passed down through history for Nearly 500 years. There is Henry the 8th that is worst executing People in his government And his country On a whims... It's 6 wives are there also from Catherine of Aragon To Katharine parrThis is as good a book on the Tudors as I have found. I am using it as prep That I am teachThis fall. Kathleen smith

Some have complained of an anti-Protesant bias in this volume; I actually found the author's willingness to look at both sides fairly and see that the Pope and English Catholics weren't entirely evil, nor the English reformers entirely good, refreshing. Look at both sides and find the truth somewhere between them, as the saying goes. The author takes the Tudors and the friends and enemies to task and has produced an interesting, and very readable survey of this most notorious English dynasty. His chapter on Elizabeth is especially revealing, and while is not completely iconoclastic in his treatment of Elizabeth, he certainly doesn't fawn over her either. I had been aware of many of the facts regarding the rule of Elizabeth I, but firmly adhered the commonly held opinion that hers was a reign of a Golden Age, and while a good chunk of it was, the fact is, she left the country in almost as much division and disarray as her father did. The Legend of Elizabeth was born out of a desire to keep the Scottish upstart in his place, according to the author (and he does back his assertion here), but I'm not prepared to buy that notion entirely-- no doubt patriotism played a part, and the prosperity (for the rich at least) early on in her reign and the economic woes of the early 17th century also no doubt informed the legend of the Golden age of Good Queen Bess. And in that light, there is an interesting lesson about 'trickle down economics' here that is worth reading. I was surprised, given the even-handedness of his survey of Henry VIII and his children, that he seems to simply retell the story of Henry VII being an unapproachable cold and calculating miser with no interest in anything but the accumulation of wealth and maintenance of power. Certainly he was interested in those things but recent researches have also revealed that Henry VII was actually a pretty fair administrator and intelligent statesman.No biography is ever going to be flawless or as complete as one would hope, but this is an excellent survey-study of this famous and engaging train-wreck of a ruling family, and if you're interested in this court or this time period, this is a book worth reading.

I just received this book today but still feel confidant about writing a review because I have the audiobook and have listened to the entire book.I love the way G.J. Meyer structures his books. Specifically, he writes chapters, such as Chapter 1 “The Luck of Henry Tudor” (about Henry VIII), then at the end of the chapter, he writes a “Background” chapter – in this example, the Background chapter is “The Origin of the Tudors.”This structure enables an understandable and uncluttered narrative chapter about Henry VIII without going into the details of how Henry V won the battle of Agincourt in 1422. Those details are given in the Background chapter.This book includes the following: a good, readable map of “The World of the Tudors” – an excellent and understandable “Family Tree” – “A Tudor Timeline” – an “Introduction” – a “Prologue” – 21 colored portraits – “An Epilogue in Two Parts” – clear “Sources and Notes” for each chapter that are actually useful – a good index – “A Reader’s Guide” – and, “Questions and Topics for Discussion”.Bantam Books, trade paperback edition, 2011, 623 pages.I have one other book by G.J. Meyer that follows the same structure – “A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914-1918” – which is the best one-volume work on the WWI that I’ve ever read.Highly recommended! The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty

The Tudors is a well written, easy to follow history of the Tudor dynasty. Yet to be honest I would offer a word of caution at this point. This should NOT be the first Tudor history a person reads. The following is the reason why I say that.I had to take several breaks from the book not because of its ponderousness but rather its unremitting grimness. The Kirkus Review states that Meyer “. . .displays some flashy, fresh irreverence. . . [his] aim is to clear out some of the lace and tulle that Hollywood has wound around the Tudors.” I will say that he absolutely met that goal. The problem is the “irreverence” employed was humorless and heavy-handed. The clearing out was done with as much style as using a bulldozer to dig a flower bed. It didn’t take me long to figure out that Meyer has a heavy bias against anything remotely associated with the entire Tudor dynasty. Clearing the air of romantic tales and myths is one thing, closing the shutters, blowing out the candles and piling on the dirt and filth is another. Neither serves the reader well. In the end I can only give a three star rating for this book because of its heavy bias.If you made it this far, you are probably wondering, okay . . .so what should I read? I recommend as a start anything by Alison Weir or Antonia Fraser. They have both written well- received biographies and popular histories of the period.

Book in very good condition, very happy with my purchase.

Just the right balance of scholarship and readability as to make it both accessible and deeply informative. Meyer follows a coherent thesis that the Tudors (and the colourful cast of characters revolving around them) reshaped England in important ways that are not generally recognized. His technique of telling the main story chronologically, with periodic digression and expansion made this information-dense story much clearer

Good reading

Although the story of the Tudors is certainly passionate, I had trouble finding a valid history until I fell upon THE TUDORS, by G.J. Meyer. The first Tudor, Henry VII, seized and then passed on power to his son, an unbelievably lucky boy, lucky in his looks, over six-feet tall, Hollywood handsome, free to hunt and sport with wenches due to the, again, incredible luck he had, this time in advisors. He became the richest monarch in the world thanks to his taxation and destruction of the church, going so far as to order the saintly Thomas à Becket, dead for 370 years, to appear before the courts where he was charged with treason, a shame trial which allowed the king to rob Thomas' tomb where pilgrims had deposed donation of jewels, gold and silver to the tune of 24 wagons of loot. He then lost it all to gifts, fortifications and war, becoming, along the way, a psychopath without an ounce of empathy, what Meyer called ''a hardened killer ruling by terror.'' That he died fat, bald and ugly, suffering from open sores his physicians cauterized with red-hot irons, headaches and hemorrhoids, is still far less suffering than that he brought on thousands of his subjects. His son Edward VI, a bright boy, died young, having killed no one. His sister, Mary I, resumed the killings, her father's true daughter, and luckily died after 5 years on the throne. Meyer is not tender with Elizabeth: She lived 'to preserve her life and her rule and the status quo', and 'to make herself seem strong, invulnerable, indispensable.' Like Mary, Elizabeth was also her father's daughter: a totally worthless human being. The chapters of this wonderful book are interspersed with shorter chapters on informative themes such as England Then, Parliament, The Tower, Calvin, Schooling and the Schools, The Fall and Rise of English Theater, Torture, etc.

Honestly the only thing I disliked about this book was the cover it makes it look like you're reading a sex novel! Although ther was alot of scandalous moments in the time of the Tudors I felt history books should have a bit more class. Beyond that this book follows the Tudors from henry the 7th to Elisabeth. I found the book easy to follow and super informative.