The King's Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Wolsey

(Paperback)

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Description

The author examines every aspect of Wolsey's career: foreign policy, Church and State, law and order, social policy, relations with the Crown, with Parliament and the nobility. He gives the reader a very different Wolsey from the caricature of tradition. Peter Gwyn taught history at Winchester College, where he was also the archivist from 1965-76. He resigned when the College decided to sell one of its most valuable and historic possessions - the Malory MS. He was elected Bowra Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford for 1981-2.

Reviews

A masterpiece, a tour de force...Beautifully sculpted, it sustains its momentum to the last page...A magnificent and authoritative book. -- J. J. Scarisbrick * Sunday Telegraph *
Learned and controversial, it has all the elements of a detective story...His verdict is convincing...a fascinating book. -- Lord Blake * Country Life *
It is intelligently illuminating on both Wolsey and his world, and is especially good on the Church and foreign policy...It is indispensable -- Christopher Haigh * Times Educational Supplement *
A work of magisterial ambition and achievement...He has taken a great subject and transformed it. -- Blair Worden * London Review of Books *

Author Bio

Peter Gwyn taught history at Winchester College, where he was also the archivist from 1965 to 1976. He was elected Bowra Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford for 1981-2. He worked on this biography of Thomas Wolsey for eleven years.