Henry: Virtuous Prince

David Starkey unites an easy style with a mastery of the sources and with common sense. He is scrupulous in distinguishing between what we know, what we do not know and what we guess. An excellent and instructive read.

This is a stupendous biography of the most important Tudor king. We learn about his upbringing as the spare heir while his older brother Arthur was being groomed in how to administer the country. When he died, having married Katherine of Aragon, Henry had to step into his shoes. This book is mainl;y about the training he received in religion, languages, jousting and horsemanship. And politics, though he would have had that training seep hrough his pores simply by living in the court.

This is well worth reading to get all the intricacies of Tudor court politics well laid out. Normally this aspect of his biography is rather confusing. Not so here. OK. You have tio handle a few strange names, but Starkey always makes clear who he is talking show more about. Which is a refreshing change.

If you want to learn about Henry VIII's reign this is the book to lay the foundation of your knowledge with. show less

I like that the book concentrates in time before Henry became king or seeks divorce from Katherine.
But I find his writing style annoying. It also made me think that does he think he's Henry or his best fiend?

Probably about 2.5 stars for me.

It was interesting to read more about this period. I've mostly read about the older Henry VIII, so it was good to see where that Henry had come from and all the different forces that came into play to make him the ruler he started out to be, with the indications of the man he would become.

Easy Read. A good introduction to Henry and the Tudors.

Excellent. Lots of actual evidence not just the author claims.

A very readable history book about the young Henry VIII.