
Thomas Cromwell
A Revolutionary Life
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Narrated by:
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David Rintoul
The long-awaited biography of the genius who masterminded Henry VIII's bloody revolution in the English government, which reveals at last Cromwell's role in the downfall of Anne Boleyn.
"This a book that - and it's not often you can say this - we have been awaiting for 400 years." (Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall)
Since the 16th century we have been fascinated by Henry VIII and the man who stood beside him, guiding him, enriching him, and enduring the king's insatiable appetites and violent outbursts until Henry ordered his beheading in July 1540. After a decade of sleuthing in the royal archives, Diarmaid MacCulloch has emerged with a tantalizing new understanding of Henry's mercurial chief minister, the inscrutable and utterly compelling Thomas Cromwell.
History has not been kind to the son of a Putney brewer who became the architect of England's split with Rome. Where past biographies portrayed him as a scheming operator with blood on his hands, Hilary Mantel reimagined him as a far more sympathetic figure buffered by the whims of his master. So which was he - the villain of history or the victim of her creation? MacCulloch sifted through letters and court records for answers and found Cromwell's fingerprints on some of the most transformative decisions of Henry's turbulent reign. But he also found Cromwell the man, an administrative genius, rescuing him from myth and slander.
The real Cromwell was a deeply loving father who took his biggest risks to secure the future of his son, Gregory. He was also a man of faith and a quiet revolutionary. In the end, he could not appease or control the man whose humors were so violent and unpredictable. But he made his mark on England, setting her on the path to religious awakening and indelibly transforming the system of government of the English-speaking world.
©2018 Diarmaid MacCulloch (P)2018 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
“Thomas Cromwell is a wonderfully rich, detailed and demanding account of an extraordinary career....It’s a book to satisfy academic historians and the general reader alike. Nothing so dramatically and persuasively conveys the reality of life in these blood-soaked years.” (Wall Street Journal)
"MacCulloch threads Cromwell’s notes and other contemporary sources along with modern historians’ work to recreate his motivations. This comprehensive biography is ideal for passionate devotees of Hilary Mantel’s historical novels." (Publishers Weekly)
“Thomas Cromwell has famously defied his biographers, but no more. Diarmaid MacCulloch’s book is subtle, witty and precisely constructed. He has sifted the vast archive to clear away the accumulated error, muddle and propaganda of centuries, allowing us to see this clever and fascinating man better than ever before, and in the mirror of his times.” (Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies)
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Regrettabky, the narration is less compelling. Rintoul does his best, but his diction is both muddy and unclear in many places. At one point in listening I stopped and startef looking for another version of this account with a better narrator, to no avail. With patience, I did manage to get through the entire book, but stkill wish it had been with a much better speaker. I urge potential buyers to listen to the sample bevore proceding.
David Evan Glasser, Datca, Turkey
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Well this book has little to do with these events. In fact, the layout of the book is one that makes events hard to follow. At one point, the reader thinks Anne is surely executed. And then in the next chapter Henry is still married to her. An outline is desperately need to keep up.
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