Product Description

The first instalment of the highly anticipated biography of Henry VIII, written by one of the UK's most popular, established and exciting historians. 'Henry: Virtuous Prince' is a radical re-evaluation of the monarchy's most enduring icon. Henry VIII was Britain's most powerful monarch, yet he was not born to rule. Thrust into the limelight after the sudden death of his elder brother, Prince Arthur, Henry ascended the throne in 1509, marking the beginning of a reign that altered the course of English history. In his youth Henry was highly intelligent, athletic and musically talented. He excelled in Latin and Mathematics and was an accomplished musician. On his accession to the throne, aged just seventeen, after the tumultuous rule of his father, he provided England with hope of a new beginning. Nobody could have foreseen how radical Henry's rule would prove to be. Often overshadowed by the bloody saga of his six marriages, his reign has left a lasting legacy. An absolute monarch, Henry's quest for fame was as obsessive as any modern celebrity. His fierce battles against Papal authority mark one of the most dramatic and defining moments in the history of Britain.Yet his early life was insecure. The Tudor regime was viewed by many as rule by usurpers and the dark shadows of the Wars of the Roses often threatened to tear England apart once more. The culmination of a lifetime's research, David Starkey gives a radical and unforgettable portrait of the man behind the icon; the Renaissance prince turned tyrant, who continues to tower over history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10018 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
'Writing with a mixture of tabloid verve and original scholarship, peppering every page with pungent wit and yet never skimping on the detail!the best political history of the reign of Henry VII so far!Starkey shows more vividly than any previous historian!eye-catching detail!for its extraordinary insights into the smouldering embers of the Wars of the Roses, "Henry: Virtuous Prince" is masterly. As a biography of England's most celebrated king, it's an outstanding overture.' John Guy, Sunday Times (Editor's Choice) 'If you like Henry VIII, this is what you'll like.' Tim Martin, Daily Telegraph (Books of the Year) 'Starkey gives us an unexpectedly fresh-faced Henry VIII in his breezy biography.' Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph (Books of the Year) 'It is brilliant, beady-eyed history, and every page of it has an intimate fascination!Starkey has eschewed the easy wisdom of hindsight!his strength is that he questions everything!he seeks fresh evidence...his writing is uncluttered and conversational, and he cuts through the back-story!with grace, clarity and wit!accessible and entertaining.' Guardian 'This book!demonstrates his scholarship, supremely confident grasp of the period and authorial panache!fascinating.' Daily Mail 'It has an immense amount to offer the general reader...there are several little gems of brand new information!David Starkey has produced the most careful as well as the most colourful study of the young Henry for a long time, and perhaps of all time.' Independent on Sunday 'What Starkey has produced, considering his own unrivalled command of the subject, and its vast literature, is a miracle of condensation.' Sunday Telegraph 'The book is full of delicious detail.' Evening Standard 'Starkey is a wonderfully lucid writer.' Independent 'Starkey's picture of court life and the government machine is full and always interesting!the fascination of this learned but often light and coloquial biography rests in the hints it offers of the monster Henry would become.' Daily Telegraph 'Starkey writes throughout with the assurance of someone who knows the king better than anyone else!there are many parts of the book I relished!compelling.' Observer 'David Starkey's biography!does full justice to one of the most magnificent monarchs of them all. A marvellous book, filled with interesting detail, it succeeds both in informing the student and entertaining the more recreational reader!Starkey stands head and shoulders above historians. His prose is scholarly and his stories fascinating!This truly riveting book, masterfully written by Starkey is a must, not only for would-be historians but all who enjoy reading a great story.' Sunday Express 'Full of delicious details!and very good indeed on the reign of Henry VII.' Scotsman 'A breezy, riveting read!while loaded with enough anecdotes to make it a gripping read, this is also a masterful academic work.' Time Out 'This book...is brilliant...eminently readable...here are all the presentational skills familiar from seeing David Starkey on television: fluency, acuity, an eye for the memorable detail or the apt analogy...the book is quite simply unique...nothing as complete and authoritative has been seen before...powerful and persuasive.' BBC History magazine Praise for 'Monarchy': 'Starkey has the mind of an historian but the eye of a court painter.' Peter Ackroyd, The Times 'Starkey tours England's monarchical horizon with gusto.' Simon Jenkins, Sunday Times 'Vivid, lucid and engaging!a very enjoyable book.' Allan Massie, Daily Telegraph 'Starkey is a master of his trade!The best short history of England written since J. R. Green in the 1870s!the artistry of the writing conceals the efforts that have been made to ensure that this is both highly entertaining and remarkably accurate!an enterprise of surpassing excellence.' TLS 'Starkey is as eloquent and lucid as ever.' The Times 'Assessed with authority, wisdom and wit!This is Starkey at his fluent and entertaining best.' Sunday Telegraph 'Starkey, always an engaging writer, has a gift for bringing ideas as well as individuals to life.' Sunday Times 'Starkey is an energetic and authoritative guide.' Daily Express 'Combines compelling narrative and lucid analysis to guide us with a sure hand through two centuries of domestic turmoil unparalleled in any other period of English history.' Spectator 'Written with Starkey's customary authority and style, this is a radical reappraisal of British nationhood.' Belfast Telegraph 'Starkey's love for history is infectious!This book is proof that history can be fascinating.' Evening Echo 'More than just a biography of kings and queens but a reappraisal of British nationhood.' Ulster Tatler 'A breezy, riveting read -- while loaded with enough anecdotes to make it a gripping read, this is also a masterful academic work.' Time Out

Review
'Starkey has the mind of an historian but the eye of a court painter.'

Review
'This book is Starkey's masterpiece. It combines the populist touch with deep insights of scholarship.'

Customer Reviews

A real disappointment
This book is a real disappointment. Although it has apparently been highly praised by professional reviewers, it seems to me a carelessly written and patchy book which displays little historical judgement in relation to certain aspects of the story.

First, Starkey is not as helpful to the reader as a biographer should be. To keep track of the main characters and how old they are, it is necessary to do the slog yourself, going backwards and forwards in the text to check.

This carelessness is at its worst in the treatment of Catherine of Aragon, whose age is never mentioned at any stage. Starkey does not even note how much older she was than Henry, though this seems to me interesting. Nor does he note how well educated she was, though again this is probably important for understanding how well she got on with Henry in the early stages of their relationship.

Starkey's treatment of the setting is patchy too. He tells us about Elizabeth of York, Henry's mother, in quite a lot of detail but the book never tells us that her uncle, Richard III, had Elizabeth and her brothers and sisters declared illegitimate except in a picture caption. Nor is it even acknowledged that the `princes in the tower' may have been still alive when Henry VII succeeded to the throne. I do understand that Starkey probably didn't want to get caught up in this controversy, but the reader needs some background to understand the `Perkin Warbeck' episode a little later. Did Henry VII know that the real Richard Duke of York (one of the princes in the tower) was dead, so Perkin had to be a fraud? Or was he afraid that this Yorkist pretender was the real thing? Starkey never even acknowledges that this is an interesting question, even though the episode is given extensive coverage.

On the positive side, Starkey's persuasive argument that Henry behaved consciously as a `Yorkist' in the early years of his reign and was greatly influenced by his mother is the best thing about the book. Perhaps the worst thing about it is the way it just stops - no conclusion, summing up, nothing.

Definitive and superb
It seems as though there is a never-ending flow of books around the Tudor dynasty, including both the fiction of Phillipa Gregory and Alison Weir to the fiction of David Starkey and others.
This book, the first of two (the latter edition will cover the later and more well know part of his life) is superb. Historical biographies can sometimes be "heavy" reading. Starkey's passion for his subject is obvious and his often anecdotal style of writing makes this an immensely pleasurable read.
If Henry VIII life is of interest to you, there is no better book out there. Simply excellent.

Dissapointing
I was really looking forwards to this book, I am an avid reader of anything to do with Tudor history and the wars of the roses and as there is relatively little written on the early years of Henry VIII I was keen to discover more about his personality, his friendships, his marriage, his life and what made him into the tyrant most people recognise him as. Starkey's introduction was promising, I was chomping at the bit to get into this book, but it never really got going for me. Maybe I have read too much on the subject and it was all old news to me, there were little nuggets but no real meaty information.
It is possible, of course, that there is no documented evidence other than what Starkey bought to his book, or that he did not want to make any inferences - he is an historian after all and not a novelist - but I just cannot help feeling that the reader doesn't really get an insight into the boy or the young man.
There is very little on his relationships with More or Catherine of Aragon, which I would consider pretty fundemental considering the parts they both played in his life and it would have been good to have had more of a background on this in order to appreciate the enormity his actions had on his own personality, not just the consequences for the country and the church.
Assuming that you are familiar with the backgound into which Henry VIII was born; the wars of the roses, Edward IV, Richard III, Henry VII and the other main players then you can cut out two thirds of the book. I wanted to know about the man, what made him tick, his passions, his personality, his friendships, his enemies, his lifestyle and just as Starkey got going the book ended. The reader gets little more than a glimpse of 'The Virtuous Prince'.
On the plus side it is an easy read, if you know little or nothing about Henry VIII's early life then go for it.