A fascinating and in-depth study into what might have been.
Arthur, Prince of Wales, was born to be King of England, His life and education was dictated to the last detail, to create the perfect Tudor king who would succeed his father, continue the Tudor dynasty and take it to even greater heights. He made a great marriage with Catherine of Aragon, daughter of the great Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. But he was dead just months after the wedding, Dead before his 16th birthday. All that potential and the hopes of his parents lost to the effects of the Sweating Sickness.
Gareth B. Streeter has pursued a diligent investigation into the short life, the potential, and the consequences of Arthur's life and untimely death. Gareth has left no stone unturned and recreated the young mans' life and promise to show the reader the king that Tudor England might have had, were fate not so cruel.
What a thoroughly enjoyable, fascinating study of an often-overlooked character in Tudor England.
Cannot recommend it highly enough

There has never been a book that has told the story of Arthur with as much information as this one. The detailed research that has gone into writing this book is amazing and I now feel I know much more about him. He has always been in the background but in his lifetime he was the future King and was respected as such. This book explores his short life in great detail and is a must for fans of the royal Tudor dynasty

I regret I am not a fast enough reader at this time to have gotten this book finished before expiring. I was really looking forward to it too. I’ve never read about Arthur the prince of wales. Harry casts a shadow three times his own size. I shall put this on my t buy shelf

Arthur Prince of Wales, is a mysterious figure in history. We know he was Henry VIII's elder brother who would have ruled - had he not died at 15. He was married to Catherine of Aragon very briefly - we know little else.

Streeter's tries to fill in some of the gaps in his book Arthur Prince of Wales: Henry VIII's Lost Brother. We learn Arthur began his journey as a royal at aged 3. He was very popular, respected by those around him, which is quite different from his father. Arthur was also determined and always took a challenge head on.

He was also quite different from his younger brother. He was much less bold, and shyer. The UK would be quite different if Arthur had ruled.

Streeter also analyzes whether or not Arthur's marriage to Catherine of Aragon was consummated. There's also a lot of information about Arthur's health throughout his life.

Overall the book flows very well. There is a lot of new information someone might learn from the book. Furthermore, we learn what Arthur may have been like as King. However, Arthur still a very mysterious figure - even after the book.

If someone wanted to take a look into Arthur's short life I would recommend the book. You might not get all the answers you are looking for. Yet, you would still gain a lot of information from it. It's a very enlightening and easy read.

Overall, I'd give the book 4.5 stars.

So often, the life and death of Arthur, Prince of Wales, is reduced to the impact it had upon his bride, Katherine of Aragon, and her second husband, Arthur’s brother Henry VIII. However, Gareth Streeter succeeds in bringing Arthur to life in incredible detail.

The book starts with the most fascinating discussion about the context in which Henry VII’s first son was named, inevitably touching on the Wars of the Roses, and the mythology Henry VII was building around his claim to the throne. In the history of England that Henry VII commissioned, he and his heirs had been destined to rule England since Roman times - what other name could this king with Welsh roots give his son other than Arthur?

Every record relating to Arthur’s life is analysed minutely, revealing that a surprising amount is actually known about Arthur. From the influence of the boy’s household staff, to his apparent enjoyment of music, which was shared with and funded by his father. For anyone familiar with Henry VIII’s upbringing, it is surprising just how much autonomy Arthur was given as Prince of Wales, living in his own household and presiding over public events.

Steeter tackles the big question - whether Arthur and Katherine consummated their marriage - with finesse. Noting that most of the evidence comes from the ‘Great Matter’ some 30 years later from people who were hardly unbiased, Streeter turns his attention to the letters and reactions of the Spanish ambassador and the Spanish monarchs, Katherine’s parents.

This excellent biography helps fill in the details about the early Tudor period. The writing style is engaging and informative. Streeter is a very thorough historian who conveys his deep knowledge of the subject.

My thanks to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

#ArthurPrinceofWales #NetGalley

Every time I picked up, "Arthur, Prince of Wales", I learned something new about Arthur, and the life and times in which he lived.

I absolutely love learning about The Tudors, and as soon as I heard about this book about Henry VII and Elizabeth of York's elder son Arthur, I knew I simply must read it!

Gareth B. Streeter is a fantastic author! This book is incredibly well-researched, and he brings history to life in such a vibrant and detailed way.

This biography focuses a lot on the life of Arthur. In addition, this book also provides so much information about the events surrounding the beginning of the Tudor Dynasty. The author seamlessly weaves Arthur's story into everything, and explores how he affected many important historical events, as well as was effected by many. So many historical figures are mentioned, and their intertwining stories are prevalent too.

If you like biographies relating to anything dealing with The Tudor Era, I highly recommend this book! I so look forward to doing more research on on Arthur on my own time as well.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Pen & Sword History for the ARC of this book! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Not much is known about Arthur, but the author presents a great deal of research and includes hypotheses and extrapolations that make sense and possibly fill in some of the blanks about this young man's life. The author explores the Tudor family and how they came to the throne and how those circumstances influenced Arthur's life. A thorough discussion of the historical time period and norms for royal children, marriages, etc. were all well researched and presented. The author also presented information that contradicted the common belief that Arthur was a sickly child. I found all of this very interesting.
I have read much about the Tudors, both fact and fiction, but Arthur is little more than a footnote or a point for legal argument about consummation of his marriage to Katherine. This book makes him a real person whose life had depth and meaning beyond whether he had sex with his teenaged wife.
Recommend to British and Tudor history fans and anyone who has read piles of historical fiction about Henry VIII.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! I love anything to do with the Tudors and this didn’t disappoint! I did t really know much about Arthur before but I feel like I learnt so much from this book! Thank you!

I want to thank Netgalley and Pen & Sword Publishing for an uncorrected proof of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was drawn to this title for two reasons. The first is that the subject of this book is a member of the Tudor dynasty and the second is that it was highly recommended by several historians I follow on Instagram. After completing this book I was not disappointed by my decision to read it.

As Streeter argues throughout the work, Arthur is often overlooked by historians because he died so young. As a result of his early demise, many historians seem to see Arthur's major contribution to history as the role he played in the divorce proceedings between Katherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. However, Streeter's work completely negates the previous arguments about Arthur's insignificance. Over the course of this work, Streeter outlines Arthur's brief life and the extent to which he contributed to the dynasty and the King that England and Wales never had.

My favourite part of Streeter's work does not actually concern the main subject, but rather his wife, Katherine of Aragon. Often when Katherine's first marriage is mentioned in history books it does not go into the level of detail outlined in this work which examines the marital negotiations along with the role that Arthur came to play in them and the potential dynamics between Katherine and Arthur during their brief marriage. For instance, I never even thought about the fact that correspondence between Arthur and Spain must have occurred and may still exist. It was fascinating to learn about the letters Arthur wrote to Spain during their betrothal and how he may have been the deciding voice in having Katherine come to Ludlow with him after their marriage. This fact made it all the more interesting to me that Katherine was never taught English even though she was engaged to Arthur off and on from the age of three, nor did Arthur learn Spanish. They were able to communicate together in Latin, but it does seem interesting that neither tried to learn the language of the other and really demonstrated that this was a dynastic match. Furthermore, the fact that Katherine and Arthur's wedding is one of the only public marriage ceremonies to occur during this period helped to highlight that Katherine's popularity in her adoptive country began long before her Queenship.

Now, just because my favourite part of the book was about Katherine does not mean that I did not thoroughly enjoy the book's focus. Streeter did an excellent job of using historical evidence to lay out several valid arguments about Arthur's overall health throughout his life and his abilities as a ruler. There are several things I learned about Arthur's education as a future king that was for lack of a better word mindblowing. I had no idea that Henry VII had invested so many resources in helping Arthur to have a strong foundation as a ruler. Thinking back on the previous work that I have read concerning the Tudors the only thing that I can ever remember reading about Henry VII's relationship with his eldest son is that he was brokenhearted when he died. Upon reflection, the main argument given in these works was that the sadness was due in large part to Henry VII's hope for his dynasty. Streeter, however, does an excellent job of actually articulating the dynamics of the relationships that Arthur appears to have had within his family. Although some of this is reading between the lines of available evidence I walked away from this work believing that Arthur was a much more integral player within his family than I had previously realized. I in particular enjoyed the discussion of Arthur and his eldest sister Margaret's connection.

After reading this book I have been spending a great deal of time thinking about the dynamics of the Tudor dynasty in a way that I had never done before. In particular, I was reflecting on the final chapter of this book which focused on the kind of King Arthur might have been. Streeter does a nice job of discussing that Arthur may not have been a less tyrannical king than his brother, but does highlight that the events that resulted in the break with Rome would not have occurred. It also made me consider if Katherine and Arthur would have been better matched as King and Queen since they both seem to have been well prepared for these roles and it has always been my opinion that Katherine was far more qualified for the role of ruler than Henry VIII. Why exactly Henry VIII's education was not as rigorous in nature as his brother's education is another thing Streeter's work left me pondering. I understand that Arthur and Henry VIII were destined for different roles, King and (likely) a career in the church respectively, it does seem odd that Henry VIII was not given any responsibilities in his youth, especially since Arthur became Prince of Wales at three years old.

My only real complaint with this book is that I felt that at various times throughout the book Streeter was repeating himself with facts that he had presented earlier in the book. I understand that he was attempting to link ideas together, but there were a few times that I did have a sense of deja vu that I had read a sentence before. This however did not distract from the overall strength of the work. I did wish that there was more evidence to discuss throughout the book, but that is a. a fault of things being lost to history and b. not everything can go into a book and have the narrative make sense, but given what Streeter had at his disposal this was an excellent piece of work.

Any lover of history or the Tudors needs to get their hands on a copy of this book.

One of the few biographies to tell the story of the Prince who was at the center of Henry VIII’s ‘Great Matter’. Arthur is an interesting historical figure in his own right and it is great to see his story come to life in BBC a well written biography.

Prince Arthur is mostly remembered for two things: his boasting about 'having spent the night in Spain' after his first night in the marital bed with Catherine of Aragon, and his early untimely death. This is extremely unfortunate, and Streeter brings the young and handsome prince to life in this book. Apparently, Arthur formed a regional government on the Welsh borders by the age of six (although he was not old enough to be in charge, of course). While his younger brother Henry spent a relatively carefree life, Arthur had to grow up quickly, studying the men in his charge, trying to assert himself against his councillors as he grew older, and 'even dispatching men to put down armed rebellion'. He also took an interest in the tortuous negotiations concerning his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, arguing against delays, and when they were married, he insisted on her joining him at Ludlow.

Streeter examines the negotiations concerning the marriage forensically, and has an extremely interesting and convincing theory about whether it was consummated. He also studies the possible reasons for Arthur's early death. I also found the chapter on how Arthur may have reigned as King very well-done.

This is a must-read for anyone interested in Tudor history, or Royal history.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Love the cover first off. I really enjoyed this book a lot. The author did a great job with he research and there was a lot of historical events that happened with Arthur that I didn't know about. I love everything to do with the Tudor history and there are not a lot of books out there that is directly focuses on Arthur alone. I honestly didn't really know a lot about him just the basic facts. So perfect read for all those Tudor history buffs out there.

enjoyed this informative insight into the 1st tudor prince of the united houses of york and lancaster and how things could of been and how history has many changes and outcomes. interesting book as little is said about Arthur Tudor and more about his younger brother Henry.

I have always viewed Arthur as a footnote in the Tudor dynasty story and this book changed that completely. He was a boy meant to be a king. He was active in his court and social groups. He also played a role in his engagement with the Spanish princess. Arthur is so much more than his impact on his brother’s marriage and I loved the way everything was explored. This is a fantastic book for a Tudor fan!

I received an arc via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

This was a solid, interesting read with some new perspectives. Arthur’s story has always seemed to be that of outsider - born & raised to be King then sent to Ludlow before dying. There’s more focus on consummation of his marriage than anything else & he’s always persuaded as someone who was continually sick, in much the same way as his father was portrayed as continually miserly and his brother as a womanising, warmongering spendthrift. This book gives a new view, bringing Arthur to life much more & raising new thoughts to challenge the standard world view. This book is easy to read & uses some well known historical sources/quotes from famous historians.

I do have two small critiques:

1) in places it feels like the text isn’t linear & jumps around from Arthur’s young life to his parents marriage & even back to when his grandmother was young giving birth to his father. This wasn’t completely jarring but it did take me a second to re-focus on where I was in the story when it happened.

2) there are lines in different chapters which are really similar. Not the same but similar enough which meant I had to go back & check I’d not read it before or lost my place.

As I say, these are small critiques & did not spoil my enjoyment of the book. If you are interested in reading about one of the lesser known Tudors I would recommend coming to this book to learn.

The tales of the Tudor kings are unique in how they became kings of England. We all know the story of how Prince Henry became King Henry VIII. His eldest brother, Prince Arthur, died shortly after he married the Spanish Princess Katherine of Aragon. Much has been discussed about Arthur's wedding night and death, but not much has been written about his time as the Prince of Wales. In his debut book, "Arthur, Prince of Wales: Henry VIII's Lost Brother" Gareth Russell explores the life of the first Tudor prince.

I want to thank Pen and Sword Books and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. Prince Arthur has been mentioned in numerous accounts of the Tudors, but it is very rare for a book to focus on the young prince. I wanted to see what new information Streeter would bring to the story of the crown prince who would never become king.

Streeter begins his book by exploring the origins of the Tudor line and the significance of King Arthur and ancient Briton kings like Brutus and Cadwaladr. He then dives into the birth and baptism of Prince Arthur, which shows a lot of symbolism that the Tudors wanted to employ to establish their young dynasty. During the part about the baptism of the young prince, Streeter gives his audience a bit of background on those in attendance and the Wars of the Roses.

Most of this book focuses on Arthur's life as the crown prince and the Prince of Wales, including the duties he was expected to take on. As the heir to the young Tudor dynasty and the son of King Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth of York, he was the hope of the entire country. Unfortunately, the pretenders Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel threatened the fragile peace that Henry VII established. Amid the pretender drama, we see the young prince's education and the arduous marriage negotiations between Spain and England. Finally, Streeter discusses the relationship between Arthur, Katherine of Aragon, and his family, until his untimely death, which left England with Henry VIII as the only heir to the Tudor dynasty.

For a debut, Streeter has done a great job presenting how he views Prince Arthur's life and showing new information that Tudor fans alike will find fascinating. As Streeter has said in this book, Prince Arthur was more than just a prince who died. He did live, and his life as the first Tudor prince set the standard for King Henry VIII and Edward VI after him. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Prince Arthur and look forward to reading the next book Gareth Streeter writes. If you want to learn more about the Tudor prince who never became king, I recommend reading "Arthur, Prince of Wales: Henry VIII's Lost Brother" by Gareth Streeter.

A fascinating biography of the king-who-never-was. Streeter admits to how difficult it is to find information on the prince before his marriage, but does manage to show a lot of possibilities of how young Arthur's life probably played out, as well as reminding us how close he was to big events of his father's reign.

Arthur's young death was a loss of so much potential - but he played a part as well in Tudor politics and Streeter shows how he deserves to be more than just as a footnote.

Thank you Netgalley and Pen & Sword for access to this arc.

Most of what I know about this Tudor prince, who was the heir to both sides of the War of the Roses and was the hope of his nation, is in regards to how he did die young, six months after his marriage to Katherine of Aragon, and how this led to his brother Henry inheriting the crown that should have been Arthur's and the bride who swore that the marriage had never been consummated. When I saw this title, I decided to find out about Arthur himself.

The book begins as a quick and dirty run down of the dynastic upheavals of the various claimants to the throne of England in the fifteenth century. The crosses and double crosses and double-double crosses and marriages and turn-coating and intrigues are laid out about as clearly as possible.

There are a lot of descriptions of things in Arthur's life that begin with phrases such as "He might have thought this ..." or "He was probably ..." as there are records of events in his life but little of what he thought either because he was too young to comment or it was never written down. So yes, there's lots of restrained conjecture but it appears to be based on other known facts (such as his younger brother's investment ceremonies) or parsed out of the sparse records.


What I did learn is that Arthur began his public life at age three (!) when he was made a member of the Order of the Bath and invested as Prince of Wales. He appears to have been viewed as intelligent, well educated, well spoken in public, and was beloved by the nation (unlike his father who never was). He was thought handsome and tall (as a youth) for his age, liked music, and had many good friends from childhood including one who arranged for his own burial to be near Arthur's in Worcester Cathedral.


But what about his health before, during, and after his marriage? Did Arthur and Katherine consummate their marriage? Well, there are arguments either way and based on the evidence presented, some of it based on recently translated letters in Spain, I'm pretty sure of how I feel. It's also probable that Arthur's health wasn't the best and a reason that he succumbed so quickly to whatever killed him.

Given the spotty records of the time and the fact that Arthur didn't leave a lot of first hand information, the book explores his life and times as well as possible. There is conjecture but, aside from the "what could have been" last chapter, it is based on reasonable evidence. Having finished it, to me poor Arthur is now more a person in his own right rather than just a footnote of his brother's life. B

216 pages

4 stars

I haven’t read much about the life of Prince Arthur, so I was excited to receive this book.

Mr. Streeter writes a detailed biography of the short life of Arthur. He includes a brief synopsis of the end of the War of the Roses, as it is now called. He briefly touches on Edward IV and Richard III. With Henry VII’s accession to the throne of England, and his marriage to Edward IV’s eldest daughter, the stage is set for the Tudor dynasty to commence.

The author also details the extensive negotiations between Henry VII and King Ferdinand and his wife, Queen Isabella for the hand for Katherine of Aragon.

Mr. Streeter begins Arthur’s story at his birth. He describes his early years and his education. Even though he thoroughly researched Arthur’s life, the historical record is thin. When it came to Arthur’s marriage, the focus was on Katherine of Aragon. There is sadly very little about Arthur.

I found the book interesting and informative. Although the literature is scant, the author was able to impart some new tidbits for me to consider.

The book is well written in a casual, conversational style. It is not at all dry or preachy. It also contains footnotes and a bibliography for those who would like to further explore Arthur’s life.

I want to thank NetGalley and Pen & Sword/Pen & Sword History for forwarding to me a copy of this good book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

With interest in the monarchy running high, especially after the pomp of King Charles III's coronation, this book is a great read for fans of the Tudor era. Streeter begins with a serviceable review of the War of the Roses, essential for understanding the reign of Henry VII and the political dynamics of his dynastic marriage to Elizabeth of York. Henry VIII, his father's successor, is still the central figure of the Tudor dynasty, the larger than life ruler who combined the houses of Lancaster and York and changed history.

What many people forget or underestimate was that this was not supposed to be Henry VIII. It was supposed to be King Arthur I, who would also remind all his subjects that this is the first rightful dynasty on the throne since Cadwallader. The Tudors saw themselves as the very real descendants of King Arthur, and the first-born son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York was named Arthur and born on the site of Camelot. He was raised for 15 years with the finest education. He may not have been frequently living with his parents, but Henry VII and Elizabeth's hopes were focused on Arthur. He was raised to rule. He was married to a Spanish princess. His father had to overcome many threats to his rule to ensure the stability to make the Spanish marriage happen. With Arthur's sudden death a mere 5 months after the marriage that his father had thought would secure his reign and that of Arthur as well, many more "what if"s arise than did Arthur do the deed with Catherine before he died. What if Arthur hadn't died? What kind of king would he be? Streeter details much of how Arthur was groomed to rule and beginning to assume responsibilities in his own right. You don't realize how much Henry VIII was not prepared for his role as heir presumptive and king until you contrast that with how well Arthur was. How much of a difference did that make in Henry VIII's reign? Henry spent much more time in the presence of his family, forming emotional bonds and preparing for a career in the church. Streeter also looks at Arthur's health, the perception of which has tended to swing from his always being a sickly child to a strong youth shockingly succumbing to a plague-like illness. Streeter suspects the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but he does effectively contextualize this death, makiing it again the shattering event that it was. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the nuances of the Tudor reigns and put Henry VIII in a more detailed tapestry. My only complaint is that so much of the book is speculative, but when primary sources are 500+ years old and very scant, Streeter can do little more than a best guess in some instances.