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Historical The House of Tudor by Alison Plowden $35.00 / Sutton Publ. / 1999 Rarely has the Tudor Dynasty been depicted and dissected with such humor, understanding, and depth. In spite of undertaking the monumental task of covering the entire dynasty, from Henry VII to Elizabeth I, Alison Plowden has managed not only to choose the most telling high points but revels the quirky, frequently comic-and even more frequently tragic-lives of a remarkable clan of royals. Plowden's explication of the complicated Wars of the Roses is a gem of erudition. Those who are confused by all the Edwards, Henrys, and Richards will find her outline easy to follow and a joy to navigate. She gives the often-maltreated Henry VII a fair shake, noting his frequently-overlooked compassion, his excellence as a family man (for a king, that is), his devotion to his wife, and his passionate desire to leave England a better land than the one he had seized. His son, Henry VIII, gets an equally judicious portrait as the contradictory fellow he was-intelligent, headstrong, passionate, loving, ruthless, vindictive, talented, and enigmatic. And Bluff King Hal, for all his faults, is allowed to show his mettle here as a theologian and musician, not just a rapacious womanizer or wife-abusing tyrant. Tragic little Edward VI and his brief moment in the sun, receive not only careful analysis for the impact Edward had on the Anglican church in England but also for his own pettinesses and innocence. Then before moving on to Mary, we meet and grow to admire Lady Jane Grey, hopeless tool of fanatical power-mongers and genuine martyr to her own staunch faith. Mary Tudor is next, and finally, Plowden shows us Elizabeth, a woman who was neither above dissembling nor opposed to chicanery-all in the cause of her beloved people. Like Elizabeth's reign, Plowden's achievemant in this all-too-brief tome is one of wit and insight. Any person with an interest in Tudo history must add this jewel to his collection even if only as a reference. It reads like a novel and enchants like a fairy tale, and deserves a place beside the works of Scarisbrick and Fraser. A lovely and lively book, this is the best of its type in many years. —Anjuli MacDonald of ClanRanald

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