Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #122625 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

David Starkey
'Youth triumphant: one of our brightest young historian's impressive debut biography of England's boy-King, Edward VI'

Review
'Skidmore leaves his reader convinced that Edward's reign is crucial in English history... he writes with clarity and verve' (Hilary Mantel THE GUARDIAN (Book of the Week) )

'In his last year, after the death of Somerset, Edward... showed signs of emerging into a real king.' (THE SPECTATOR )

'This is an accomplished debut: measured, insightful and meticulously researched.' (DAILY TELEGRAPH )

'lively and engaging... his life makes a wonderful story, and this retelling is accomplished thoughtfully and with zest.' (LITERARY REVIEW )

'Skidmore weaves the densely packed dramas of his subject's reign into a thoroughly absorbing narrative.' (SUNDAY TIMES )

'a clear and compelling case for the crucial part played by this forgotten Tudor monarch in the history of England.' (TRIBUNE )

'A fascinating account of the least well known of Tudor monarchs' (MILITARY ILLUSTRATED )

'fresh and lively style... Skidmore's evident literary flair is never allowed to get in the way of sound historical judgements.' (TLS )

'We have long needed a biography of Edward VI which is both reliable and readable, and Skidmore's book now admirably fills the gap.' (Diarmaid Macculloch )

'This is an engaging and evocative portrait of Edward VI, which paints a fully rounded picture of the young King, filled with vivid detail.' (Alison Weir )

'Youth triumphant: one of our brightest young historian's impressive debut biography of England's boy-King, Edward VI' (David Starkey )

DAILY TELEGRAPH
'This is an accomplished debut: measured, insightful and meticulously researched.'

Customer Reviews

this whole realm's most precious jewel - England's first protestant King


Edward VI seems to many just the boy king in between the great Henry VIII and is famous half isters "Bloody Mary" and legendary Queen Elizabeth I., the King who wanted to deprive us of Queen Elizabeth by passing his throne to the Lady Jane Grey. The main thing seems to be the story of his birth, him being a male and the quest by Henry VIII for a male heir.

What he really did and whether his rule of merely six years had any impact seems to have been overlooked or ignored. How could a king who died at the age of 15 have an impact at all? His regents - the Dukes of Somerset and Northumberland - are of more importance.

Christopher Skidmore in his biography of Edward VI tries to establish for the first time his significant personal impact on the history of his country. He was the first real protestant king of England!! Edward VI is not the constant sick boy-king of no will of his own, but a healthy, vigorous, precocious, like all Tudor princes and princesses highly educated, and decisive. Here emerges a new perspective to his personality and his reign which did not lack drama.

I like the style and the new look on Edward and his reign. He has a point of not dismissing him as a mere tool in the hands of ambious politicians. However, I feel she pushes it maybe a bit too far. I see more potential, a boy-king who starts to exercise his powers before the final illness caught up with him. He has definitely the "power gene" of the Tudor kings and queens. Where one would have ended up with him, is mere speculation. The extremely protestant streak - like in Lady Jane Grey, his chosen successor - is more worrying than encouraging. I am not sure that he would have the genius of his half-sister Elizabeth. I could easily seem him going down the route of his catholic half-sister Mary. Whatever you personally think of him and his reign, this book is worthwhile a read as it encourage you to re-think this period of the English history.

Forgotten King? Not any longer after having read this book: Edward VI restored to his rightful place in history
Popular views of the Tudor history seem to regard the 5 years reign of Edward VI as a mere transitional period between the monumental rule of his father Henry VIII, the disastrous rule of his elder half-sister (Bloody) Queen Mary and the Golden Age of his younger half-sister Elisabeth. Edward seems to be disappearing - in so far is the subtitle the lost King of England justified - and dismissed as the sickly boy king for whose birth the kingdom was turned upside down. Some might remember Mark Twain's novel, The Prince and the Pauper, in which the young Edward VI and a pauper boy of identical appearance accidentally replace each other.

Was that really the case? Here Chris Skidmore wants us to rethink and see Edward as an educated, quite brilliant, very serious young man who had all the Tudor tracts and had the qualities to be a great king. A bit one is dealing with the big "if-question".... if he would have lived, what would have been....Well, that is usually the question asked about the heirs to the throne who died before their accession. But Edward was king. That is a crucial difference. So there is more to judge Edward upon.

Our thinking about this child-king is corrupted by hindsight. Because he died young one seems to believe he was always sick, and a mere pawn of his advisers. But this is very wrong. Before his final illness there is no serious history of illness.

His reign marked the final transition to Protestantism. While Henry VIII had left the country in a religious limbo, Edward became the first protestant king, a development that the reign of Queen Mary could not revise and was finalized by Elisabeth. Edward was fully behind this. He was a "hard-core" protestant. Even his sombre, highly developed sense of duty and what seems like an impersonal coolness in his dealings with other people proves this. Of course his regents - the Dukes of Somerset and Northumberland - were the driving actual forces, but the king backed and supported this. Too young to assume the day-to-day work of government, did not mean for Edward to delegate the workings of his conscience. Therefore, the famous Device for the Succession which left the crown not to his half sisters but to his very protestant Cousin Lady Jane Grey is not that surprising. While the debate is not yet solved whether the Device originated with the Duke of Northumberland or the king himself, there is a huge possibility that the king was all behind it. At least he signed it and that meant something.

Chris Skidmore's book is a balanced and lively account of Edward's reign and personality. He guides the reader through the web of Tudor court politics and the serious religious disputes of the time. After having read this book one can not dismiss this king any longer as the sickly boy king, but sees indeed a man of much conviction and determination. He was after all a Tudor. His determination is however equally dangerous as the one of his half-sister Mary - him for Protestantism, she for Catholicism. Both do not have the greatness of their half-sister Elisabeth. In my assessment both would have never said a line like Elisabeth: There is only one God. The rest is trifle. Religious tolerance would not have been a trademark of Edward's reign had he lived as it was not a sign of Bloody Mary's rule.

All in all, after having read Skidmore's book one will never talk about a "lost king". It is great read - lively and engaging, painting a fully rounded picture of Edward VI.

very well written and balanced coverage of the different aspects of the life and reign
A very well written biography of the young king that gives one as good a feel as the evidence allows of Edward as a person, as well as covering the events of his reign. Indeed a good balance throughout between his personal life, religious developments, domestic and foreign policy. A joy to read and the author is clearly a major new young talent in Tudor historiography (and nearly young enough to be my son!).