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Thomas Cromwell

By: Diarmaid MacCulloch
Narrated by: David Rintoul
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Publisher's Summary

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Thomas Cromwell by Diarmaid MacCulloch, read by David Rintoul. 

Thomas Cromwell is one of the most famous - or notorious - figures in English history. Born in obscurity in Putney, he became a fixer for Cardinal Wolsey in the 1520s. After Wolsey's fall, Henry VIII promoted him to a series of ever greater offices, and by the end of the 1530s he was effectively running the country for the King. That decade was one of the most momentous in English history: it saw a religious break with the Pope, unprecedented use of parliament, the dissolution of all monasteries. Cromwell was central to all this, but establishing his role with precision, at a distance of nearly five centuries and after the destruction of many of his papers at his own fall, has been notoriously difficult. 

Diarmaid MacCulloch's biography is much the most complete and persuasive life ever written of this elusive figure, a masterclass in historical detective work, making connections not previously seen. It overturns many received interpretations, for example that Cromwell was a cynical, 'secular' politician without deep-felt religious commitment, or that he and Anne Boleyn were allies because of their common religious sympathies - in fact he destroyed her. It introduces the many different personalities of these foundational years, all conscious of the 'terrifyingly unpredictable' Henry VIII. MacCulloch allows listeners to feel that they are immersed in all this, that it is going on around them. 

For a time, the self-made 'ruffian' (as he described himself) - ruthless, adept in the exercise of power, quietly determined in religious revolution - was master of events. MacCulloch's biography for the first time reveals his true place in the making of modern England and Ireland, for good and ill.

©2018 Diarmaid MacCulloch (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"This is the biography we have been awaiting for 400 years." (Hilary Mantel) 

What listeners say about Thomas Cromwell

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Amazing narration

Rintoul reads this challenging academic text with unfaltering verve. I was hooked from the start. Although the story jumps around a little in terms of chronology, this is an exciting and beautifully read book. A must for all Tudor history lovers.

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Excellent new biography of Thomas Cromwell

Undoubtedly the best biography of this reformer with human flaws. Objectively written Cromwell would have inevitably been destroyed by an insane an cruel monarch. Anne of Cleves was the catalyst, but Cromwell was in decline because of mistakes and the envy of the English Aristocracy. A more balanced view of this great reformer of the establishment church.

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Love Thomas Cromwell

It was great to read this comprehensive account of Cromwell's life. Beautifully written with humour.

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Beautiful read and researched

A daunting historical read made wonderfully engrossing and powerful through its writing and voice actor

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