{"id":118014,"date":"2020-01-28T17:02:41","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T06:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=118014"},"modified":"2020-02-04T09:50:03","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T22:50:03","slug":"love-tudor-history-read-these-8-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2020\/01\/28\/love-tudor-history-read-these-8-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Tudor history? Read these 8 books!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Tudor<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From Wolf Hall<\/em> to Six: The Musical<\/em>, Tudor fever is well and truly alive in 2020 and I couldn\u2019t be happier about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I absolutely love reading books set during this period of history and today also happens to mark 473 years since the death of King Henry VIII, so I thought I\u2019d gather 8 of my favourite books that are either set in or about King Henry\u2019s court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wolf Hall<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Hilary Mantel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wolf<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

There’s a very good reason why Hilary Mantel won the Booker twice, first for Wolf Hall<\/em> and then for the follow up, Bring Up the Bodies<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. Her writing transports readers to Tudor England and immerses them in a world of ruthless political intrigue. Her trilogy about the rise of Thomas Cromwell will conclude this March with The Mirror and the Light<\/a><\/em><\/strong> and I. Cannot. Wait<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Six Wives Of Henry VIII<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Alison Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This book is a must read for anyone interested in Tudor England. Meticulously researched and richly detailed and yet (in case this makes it sound a bit dry) also deeply fascinating and highly entertaining!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Other Boleyn Girl<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Philippa Gregory<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Of course I had to include The Other Boleyn Girl<\/em>! This is probably the book that first sparked my interest in Tudor England and launched me into a long read-a-thon during which I exclusively read Philippa Gregory books. There are many of her books that probably would make more sense to include on this list, but I will always be emotionally attached to this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dissolution<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by C.J. Sansom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dissolution\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This is the first book in the Shardlake series, set in the reign of Henry VIII. It’s a rollicking good historical mystery following the adventures of Matthew Shardlake, a hunchbacked lawyer working in the court of Henry VIII. This is such a fun and addictive series for anyone who likes historical mysteries!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Sixth Wife<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Suzannah Dunn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Sixth Wife<\/em> is set in the time after the death of Henry VIII and follows the story of his last wife, Katherine Parr. Full of romance, betrayal and intrigue, this is a riveting read and while I’m not quite sure how historically accurate it is – I mean how accurate is any historical fiction, really? – I think this book is the reason why Katherine Parr is my second favourite of the six wives (my favourite is obviously Anne of Cleves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My Lady of Cleves<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Margaret Campbell Barnes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"My<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of Anne of Cleves, the reason she is my favourite is in large part because of this book! Margaret Campbell Barnes paints Anne as an intelligent, witty, brave and noble woman who is just so very \u2026 likeable! Whether it’s accurate or not, I choose to believe in this version of Anne!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Autobiography of Henry VIII: A Novel<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Margaret George<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At a glance, some may find the title of this book a little confusing – this is not, in fact, an autobiography! Instead, it is a highly engaging fictional account of Henry VIII written from the king’s own point of view (with some commentary from his jester). Margaret George brings the notorious king vividly to life in such a memorable way. It must be well over a decade since I read this book, but this is such a great depiction of Henry that it has remained stuck in my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Wives of Henry VIII<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Antonia Fraser<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This is another book which covers all six of Henry\u2019s wives. I read this one after reading Alison Weir\u2019s The Six Wives Of Henry VIII<\/em> and still felt as though I gained a whole new perspective on each of these fascinating women! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BONUS ROUND! The Mirror and the Light<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Hilary Mantel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"9780007480999\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As previously mentioned, I cannot wait to dive into this one! We all know where this story is going, and yet Mantel\u2019s writing is so rich and hypnotic and I truly feel as though her books are like time machines. It is also worth mentioning that if you are a big fan of the series, we will have limited signed copies available!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pre-order a signed copy here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Have any favourites yourself? Tell us below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tudor enthusiast Sarah McDuling gives us her book recommendations!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":118029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[465,10949,1074,10941,10940,2426,10945,10947,10944,4269,10943,10946,9921,5806,5958,10942,10948,10939,6585],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/TudorHistoryNovels-Social.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118014"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118014"}],"version-history":[{"count":73,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118567,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118014\/revisions\/118567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}