From Henry VIII's cataclysmic break with Rome to the
epic rule of Elizabeth I, the age of the Tudors comes to vivid life on the page.

Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain's most acclaimed
writers, brings the age of the Tudors to vivid life in this monumental book in
his History of England series, charting the course of English history from
Henry VIII's cataclysmic break with Rome to the epic rule of Elizabeth I.

Rich in detail and atmosphere, Tudors is the
story of Henry VIII's relentless pursuit of both the perfect wife and the
perfect heir, of how the brief royal reign of the teenage king, Edward VI, gave
way to the violent reimposition of Catholicism and the stench of bonfires under
"Bloody Mary." It tells, too, of the long reign of Elizabeth I, which, though
marked by civil strife, plots against her, and even an invasion force, finally
brought stability.

Above all, it is the story of the English
Reformation and the making of the Anglican Church. At the beginning of the
sixteenth century, England was still largely feudal and looked to Rome for direction;
at its end, it was a country where good governance was the duty of the state,
not the church, and where men and women began to look to themselves for answers
rather than to those who ruled them.