Winter King : Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England

In 1501 England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy and civil war. Through a combination of luck and ruthlessness, Henry VII clambered to the top of the heap--a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's crown who managed to win the throne and become the first of the Tudor kings.

Although he built palaces, hosted magnificent jousts, and sent ambassadors across Europe, for many Henry VII remained a false king. But he had a crucial asset: his family--the queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. However, it would not be his favored son, Arthur, who would succeed him, but the younger Prince Henry, who was never intended to be king. "Winter King "portrays the transformation of the vulnerable Prince Henry into the aggressive teenager who would become Henry VIII, and of Catherine of Aragon, his future queen, as well as Henry VII--controlling, avaricious, paranoid, with Machiavellian charm and the desire for power.

Rich with incident and drama, filled with wonderfully drawn characters, "Winter King" is an unforgettable tale of pageantry, intrigue, the thirst for glory--and the fraught, unstable birth of Tudor England. Less