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Historical In the Lion's Court: Power, Ambition, and Sudden Death in the Regin of Henry VIII by Derek Wilson $35.00 / St. Martain's Press / 2002 Derek Wilson, a Cambridge historian and author of several Tudor histories, explores the reign of Henry VIII in In the Lion's Court. In a counterpoint to the six wives of Henry VIII theme, he offers the biographies of six men named Thomas (Wolsey, More, Cromwell, Wriosthesley, Cranmer, and Howard), all of whom were attached to Henry's court. The personalities of the six men are vividly depicted here, from the blustering Howard to the arrogant Wolsey, the cool professionalism of Cromwell and the self-flagellating More. Wilson covers their lives from childhood on, giving family backgrounds where possible. Henry VIII's six wives are not ignored, either. For instance, it is interesting to discover that Anne Boleyn had an intellectual interest in religious reform, and that prospective brides were pushed in front of Henry like a meat market when an opening was created. Ambitions for personal political power and the problems of religious conscience are the two major themes of the book, much of which deals with the English Reformation that divided both court and nation. Wilson details the background and consequences of this struggle, starting with desires for religious and educational reform. Wilson then brings this subject through the Elizabethan Settlement, when Elizabeth restored the Protestant Church of England that her father Henry VIII had founded. Elizabeth seldom persecuted those who failed to swear allegiance to the Church of England. Rather, she encouraged a national Church that embodied her own preference for moderation with a certain amount of visual ceremony. Although the book is dense, it is written in a somewhat informal style and, therefore, is of value to both the scholar and the layman. Wilson usually does not assume knowledge on the reader's part, except for Henry's "well-known reaction" to meeting Anne of Cleves. In the Lion's Court is a must-have for any Henry VIII buff because it paints such a broad landscape of context. The court is depicted in nuanced detail, bringing in both the philosophical issues these men hotly debated as well as their intimate psychological states. —Amy Crider

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