Henry VIII In 100 Objects: The Tyrant King Who Had Six Wives

From the buildings and ships we may expect such as Hampton Court Palace and the Mary Rose, the book also covers items that help to fill in our visualisation of the era. There are the homes of the key courtiers, such as Hever Castle of the Boleyns, and the tester bed in which Henry VIII very possibly slept on his visits there. There are also items such as a copy of a love letter from Henry to Anne Boleyn, and a photograph of his beautifully painted walnut and oak writing desk. For fans of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, it’s both enjoyable and evocative to see pictures of such items and places, which she mentions in passing in her novels. There are items that go beyond the great and the (not so) good, such as the embroidered velvet banner, stitched with a design of the five wounds of Christ, and carried on the Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536, by people (our Yorkshire ancestors) wishing to protect the old ways, and fearful of what the future held.

• Published by Frontline Books in hardback, RRP £30) www.frontline-books.com ISBN: 1526731282 HT