Based on the voluminous records of the period, the story of Henry's life covers his troubled youth, his triumphant early reign, and his agonizing old age.

Against the lively backdrop of the Tudor world, with all its splendors and squalors, Carolly Erickson gives us an unforgettable and human portrait of Henry VIII.

This historical biography reads like the liveliest fiction. Carolly Erickson's portraits of Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon, Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell and Anne Boleyn are carefully drawn -- and utterly fascinating". -- Chicago Tribune

"An adorable biography, graphic, judicious, carefully researched, skillfully constructed and full of those telling setaiks that are an essential ingredient of the narrator's art". -- Christopher Hibbert, The Mew York Times Book Review

"A book of considerable literary distinction.Erickson's training as a professional historian keeps the main structure of the story firmly tied to the evidence. The result commands belief as well as respect". -- John Kenyon, Washington Post Book World.