"He fought, and won, his battles."
January 8, 2018 9:23 PM   Subscribe

Henry VII's is possibly the most extraordinary story of them all. With a hunger for power, and an iron determination to hang on to the throne at all costs, he would rewrite history, seizing the crown and rebuilding the monarchy in his own image. He would become paranoid, described later as an "infinitely suspicious' ruler, a 'dark prince', his reign seen as a bleak and wintery landscape. For years I've explored his murky story of spies and informers, intrigue and extortion. And I've found that the deeper you go, the more you discover fascinating glimpses of this manipulative king who created one of the strangest regimes in history; magnificent, oppressive, and terrifying. This is the story of Henry VII, the first Tudor.

  • Thomas Penn, Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England

  • What's that, you want 13 hours of BBC costume drama about Henry VII? In The Shadow of the Tower got you covered.
  • posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey (15 comments total) 34 users marked this as a favorite
     
    Last time the crown was taken, not given.
    posted by MattD at 11:14 PM on January 8, 2018 [3 favorites]


    Alas, a favorite given, a favorite taken away, for no dual-link YT and book-link Amazon FPP shall have my alleigiance without the least link to in-browser text on the topic, lamely but acceptably found at Wikipedia, the Beeb, or Britannica, and more amusingly found further afield!

    A pox on time-based media and the theft of our lives they bring! Fie!

    (no actual disapproval intended, just bringing the links I was hoping for)
    posted by mwhybark at 11:33 PM on January 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


    very cool.
    pertinent, and a great book, The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
    posted by From Bklyn at 1:22 AM on January 9, 2018 [10 favorites]


    See also the TV Trope named after Henry's Lord Chancellor: Morton's Fork.
    posted by misteraitch at 5:22 AM on January 9, 2018


    I just started Winter King this week!
    posted by Chrysostom at 5:38 AM on January 9, 2018


    #TeamYork
    posted by tobascodagama at 6:17 AM on January 9, 2018 [4 favorites]


    Last time the crown was taken, not given.


    *cough*Glorious Revolution*cough*
    posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:59 AM on January 9, 2018 [10 favorites]


    Sounds familiar.
    posted by KleenexMakesaVeryGoodHat at 7:29 AM on January 9, 2018


    *cough*1649*cough*
    posted by praemunire at 9:11 AM on January 9, 2018 [2 favorites]


    Can I shoehorn some Richard III in here? The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman is a historical fiction novel about Richard III's life and ultimate death at Bosworth Field that gave Henry Tudor the English crown. Reading it put me firmly on the side of York, and I've never really liked the Tudors since.
    posted by twilightlost at 9:39 AM on January 9, 2018 [4 favorites]


    #TeamYork
    posted by tobascodagama at 6:17 AM on January 9


    That rattling sound you hear is my Lancastrian ancestors shaking their bony fists.
    posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:01 AM on January 9, 2018 [5 favorites]


    The Tudors had an incredible rise to power, going from lesser nobodies in Wales to a short ruling dynasty in a generation or two - all in part thanks to a fellow who caught a queen's eye.
    posted by Atreides at 11:42 AM on January 9, 2018 [1 favorite]



    #TeamYork
    posted by tobascodagama at 6:17 AM on January 9

    That rattling sound you hear is my Lancastrian ancestors shaking their bony fists.


    So which one of you rejected the other kid's application to Greenwich Country Day?
    posted by leotrotsky at 11:53 AM on January 9, 2018 [4 favorites]


    Any comment by Anne Neville in this thread will automatically be eponysterical.
    posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:20 PM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]


    So, I finished Winter King. It was okay - it's the author's first book, and I think it shows. Well researched, though.
    posted by Chrysostom at 4:35 PM on January 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


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