The Tudors: A Very Short Introduction | 
pickGood reign by reign overview
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Jakarta dawn
Jakarta dawn
pickA very useful and informative refresher on Tudor history. It's not quite accurate to describe it as a "refresher"; there was a heck of a lot of information here that I didn't know before. I was most surprised to find out that Elizabeth I was actually not all that powerful and was largely controlled and manipulated by her male advisers.
This book, however accurate it might end up to be, certainly debunks the notion that Elizabeth I was all that powerful or all that in control of her henchmen.
After admiring this series of dozens and dozens of colorful, short little books in various bookstores, I finally took the plunge and picked up this one yesterday. I'm starting with this one because I'll read the second volume in Hilary Mantel's Henry VIII trilogy soon. Perhaps I won't need to Google every second page if I soak up this backgrounder first. At 5 pp./day, I can read this in a month; the first five pages were surprisingly gripping!
