Peek into the lives of the Tudors and their connections throughout Europe. Author Mickey Mayhew sheds light on what makes the Tudors so fascinating by describing medicine of the time, plots and counterplots, power struggles, torture, past times, the splintering of Europe and England through the Reformation and subsequent split off of the Church of England, and so much more. Chapters are short and focus on a single character and their role in all the squabbles and drama. Connections and comparisons are made between actual history and many of the popular books, TV series, and movies that have centered around this family dynasty. Detailed without getting into gore, this felt akin to a historically accurate Grimm's Fairytales read to me (though, not always with a happy ending for those involved). Sources are carefully cited and speculation (whether of the author or other persons) is laid bare as purely that. A great read for those who need a quick read (thanks to the concentrated chapters) or those who have been pulled into one of the many series/movies and want to check the veracity of these renderings. Bibliography, index, and assortment of pictures and paintings are included at the end of this title.

While I was reading this book, I was thinking of my university years, when I was working as a tour guide in an imperial palace in Vienna, Austria. Back then, I would have killed for a book like this one (albeit on the Hapsburgs rather than the Tudors, of course), full of intriguing, sometimes touching, sometimes gruesome historical anecdotes with which to sprinkle my guided tours. That means, yes, this was an awesome read, both instructive AND entertaining. The author understands perfectly well that the way to captivate an audience is to treat history like a story, i.e. to “spin a good yarn”, the only (and biggest) difference being that here it’s a yarn based on historical data and facts insomuch as we have them.

If you are looking for a full-scale history of the riveting Tudor-saga, you might be disappointed. This is more a collection of details, but how satisfying it was! Compendiums like this one have the advantage to be readable by amateur Tudor-istas as well as by more enlightened Tudor-ologists, who already know the basic facts and just want to learn a few more tales of those characters and their times. Mickey Mayhew delivers, and he especially delivers those tasty morsels and juicy bits we all, let’s be honest, love to read.

Cherry on the cake, Mr Mayhew is a good writer, too. He knows how to construct his anecdotes, knows how to add atmosphere and paint a vivid picture of those times. He does so in a slightly tongue-in-cheek-y tone that I really appreciated—nothing is duller, I’m afraid, than historians who take themselves and their topics too seriously. Yes, history and historical research should be DONE with a high degree of seriousness; it’s just that that seriousness doesn’t necessarily need to be reflected in history books, in my humble opinion.

So, an interesting book, a perfect read (especially during these cold, windy November nights), which I recommend.

232 Pages

4 stars

I was surprised when this book started out mentioning Henry Tudor wresting the throne from King Richard II, but then failed to mention him again. Mr. Mayhew just skipped over Henry VII and moved right into Henry VIII. I was disappointed. He also skips over the short reign of Henry’s son, King Edward VI, going right on to Queen Mary.

This book covers the terrible treatment suffered by many, many people during all of the reigns of Henry, Mary and Elizabeth Tudor. It also includes various facts from regions of other sovereigns.

Mr. Mayhew does not spare the reader’s sensibilities in this book. He fully describes some absolutely horrific tortures and the final deaths of several individuals. In my 21 Century mind, I could not believe how bloodthirsty and cruel life was back then. They even allowed children to witness executions! Good grief! .I realize that times were different: no medicines, rampant disease, shorter life span and so on, but could not wrap my mind around the cruelty and fascination of which the average person was capable.

The author also includes a list of notes for those who would like to further explore this subject.

I want to thank NetGalley and Pen & Sword/Pen & Sword History for forwarding to me a copy of this, ahh simply awful, yet fascinating book for me to read and review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

House of Tudor by Mickey Mayhew

Gruesome but not gratuitous, this decidedly darker take on the Tudors, from 1485 to 1603, covers some forty-five ‘events’ from the Tudor reign, taking in everything from the death of Richard III to the botched execution of Mary Queen of Scots .
This book get a solid 5 star stars from me. If you like reading about the history of this time , you will enjoy reading the guts ( pun intended ) of the backstory to the ones you probably have already heard about .
Well researched via a plethora of well known Tudor loving authors , Hillary Mantel , Philippa Gregory etc.
A great read.