London: Fourth Estate, 2009
8vo, first edition ("1" on imprint page), original pictorial wrappers (issued simultaneously with hardback edition), minor creases to spine
Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. His advisor Cardinal Wolsey is charged with securing the divorce the Pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.
Winner of the Man Booker Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award (USA) for fiction in 2009; and the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction in 2010. Shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2010. Bring up the Bodies, (Mantel’s sequel to Wolf Hall and the second book in a planned trilogy), won the Man Booker Prize in 2012.
Annotated on 123 pages. Approximately 2,650 words.
Torture was not legal in England except when a royal warrant permitted it. It may have been used off-the-record and informally... It does tell us TC was prepared to use torture; and I wish those who maintain I have softened his character would take note of this...
Torture was not legal in England except when a royal warrant permitted it. It may have been used off-the-record and informally... It does tell us TC was prepared to use torture; and I wish those who maintain I have softened his character would take note of this...