Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England

Fascinating but selective. A  very enjoyable history of Henry VII and how he managed to size the English throne, and keep it,  in very unsure times.  The Battle of Bosworth is skated over very quickly, as is how Henry secured the throne.  But longer passages are devoted to more  obscure persons such as the  poet Skelton who became Henry VIII tutor.  It gives a good back ground to the early lives of Henry VIII and Catherine, and all the machinations around their eventually marriage. The final passages on the the death of Henry VII are some of the best, in showing what it was like to be around a dying king.   In the  end Henry VII still remains an  elusive character. A knowledge of the ins and outs of the period is useful, Wikipedia was very helpful.

I am an avid reader of all aspects of history, I have studied Henry V11's reign at A Level and read other material to supplement my interest. This is a well researched, intelligent and easy to listen/read book. I found the narrative on the many colouful characters of the Tudor court particularly interesting and Mr Penn succeeds in humanising them for good or ill in a way that I have not experienced before. A refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable read which avoids the current trend of authors to follow practically every sentence with 'they probably attended', 'probably thought'. I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in Tudor History. The audio version is one of the best i've listened to.

Not having been to school in the UK, I had never heard of Henry VII, and purchased this title on a whim, based on other reviewers' praise for this audiobook. I do not regret it.



On the one hand it is a perfect "prequel" to the life of Henry VIII and sheds much light into the context in which Henry VIII became king (in particular his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the immense wealth he found when acceding to the throne, and the wild popularity he enjoyed at the beginning of his reign).



On the other hand it depicts Henry VII, an immensely interesting king in his own right. At a time when all European monarchs were cash-strapped due to their incessant wars, Henry VII studiously avoided wars and became the only cash-rich king of Europe. His attention to details (micromanagement) was probably also a plus as compared to other kings who let councilors run amok.



The book is a bit frustrating at times as it often doubles-back to tell the story of a new protagonist, just at the time when we are getting to a crucial point (such as the wedding of Arthur to Catherine of Aragon).



One point I liked about the book is that it did not end abruptly with the death of Henry VII, and goes on for about 30 minutes with the aftermath of his reign. Having had other biographies (Jean Edward Smith's FDR and Eisenhower come to mind) stop within half a page of the death of the biography's subject, it was nice to have the author's take on the transition to come.



The reader is excellent and nicely emphasizes the quoted, old English, parts of the text, so that one always knows what is a quote and what is the author's text.

The reign of Henry VII is often seen as rather dull compared with the Wars of the Roses and the glories of the Tudor Court under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I but this book makes it very clear that the cautious Henry VII consolidated his victory at Bosworth by careful financial management as well as bringing together the houses of Lancaster and York by marrying the eldest daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. This is history at its best: strategy and politics as well as human tragedy. The narration makes it a real 'audio page turner'

I didn't know much about Henry VII so this was an excellent introduction. It was really well read and filled in so many gaps in my historical knowledge. I'm not sure I liked Henry but I really do admire his ability to govern and bring a measure of peace and stability. Being about Henry VIII's father it also details Henry VIII's childhood and early life including his courtship of Catherine which is very sad when you know how it ends. What a sad lonely life Catherine had.

I would highly recommend this audio book which once started is quite addictive!