Thomas Cromwell

August 20, 2018
This meticulously researched biography of Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII of England, from professor and historian MacCulloch (Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years) highlights Cromwell’s legal abilities and the complicated—and often fatal—relationship between Tudor advisers and king. These advisers toiled away as Henry gained notoriety for his numerous wives, removing legal and societal obstacles from Henry’s path to a legitimate male heir. An astute protégé of his predecessor Thomas Wolsey, Cromwell earned royal trust by contributing to the redefinition of his monarch’s religious role—ushering in the English Reformation—and helping Anne Boleyn become Henry’s second wife. MacCulloch’s densely packed narrative argues for a more sympathetic view of Cromwell; in his portrayal, Cromwell’s personal religious views dovetail sincerely with the Reformation, and crafting legal arguments around the mercurial Henry’s whims was difficult. But this characterization is undercut by Cromwell’s central role in the dissolution of monasteries, the execution of dissenters, and the destruction of Anne Boleyn despite their shared theological views. Cromwell’s personal thoughts are largely lost to history due to a shortage of surviving letters, but MacCulloch threads Cromwell’s notes and other contemporary sources along with modern historians’ work to recreate his motivations. This comprehensive biography is ideal for passionate devotees of Hilary Mantel’s historical novels, which also paint Cromwell in a forgiving light, and Tudor history buffs. Agent: Felicity Bryan, Felicity Bryan Associates (U.K.).

September 1, 2018
One of the leading historians of the English church offers a nuanced and appreciative but not hagiographic portrait of the Tudor politician and religious reformer who served--and then was sent to execution by--Henry VIII.In this significant biography of Thomas Cromwell (c. 1485-1540), MacCulloch (History of the Church/Oxford Univ.; All Things Made New: The Reformation and Its Legacy, 2016, etc.), the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Wolfson Prize, among other awards, explores every aspect of his subject's life, including his thoughts about his son Gregory's education, his relationships with Thomas Wolsey and Anne Boleyn, his hope that the government would formulate a systematic strategy for alleviating poverty, and the sometimes-risky expenditures he made to promote his career. But the book is most notable for the author's insistence that Cromwell's motives were not, as some have sketched them, coldly Machiavellian but rather deeply religious. MacCulloch argues that Cromwell craftily promoted an evangelical religious agenda while giving outward appearances of support for a more traditional form of Christianity. The author discusses Cromwell's role in the dissolution of the monasteries, his secret lending of support for the publication of an English Bible, and his pressing of the clergy to preach on the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments and make the texts available in English so that children could learn them. He also intriguingly connects Cromwell's religious instincts to reformers in Italy. The biography culminates in a sensitive treatment of Cromwell's downfall, a moving reading of his last speech, and the suggestion that he is key to understanding English Protestantism and the English empire into the 18th century. The few false notes--the prose sometimes has the feel of an awkward fairy tale ("A time there was when a son was born to humble parents..."), and the penultimate sentence's foreshadowing of the decline of the United States is out of place--can be forgiven.A deeply researched, important biography that will set the standard for future Cromwell studies.

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Starred review from September 15, 2018
If Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540) had never met Henry VIII, he might have lived the serene life of a wealthy, cultured Englishman. He had a talent for making money, a head for languages, an immoderate love of books, and many friends. But Cromwell was talent-spotted by Cardinal Wolsey, and after his loyalty to Wolsey was noted by Henry, the king pulled Cromwell into the maelstrom of Tudor politics. He survived for only a decade, but England would never be the same. Readers of MacCulloch's (Christianity?, 2010) exhaustively researched account may conclude that if anything, Hilary Mantel's mesmerizing novels about Cromwell understate the drama of this story, from the king's fits of murderous rage to the horrifying torture and executions of believers both Catholic and Protestant, and the greed that fueled the dissolution of the monasteries. MacCulloch makes the case that Cromwell's moves were more than Machiavellian. He burned with a desire to spread his Protestant faith and destroy the Catholic Church. Cromwell's essence remains elusive, and MacCulloch's challenge is that most of Cromwell's correspondence to others was destroyed after his execution, leaving historians to sift for clues in letters that others wrote to him. Still, this is a landmark portrait of a complex, confounding man.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

October 1, 2018

Multi-award-winning historian MacCulloch (Thomas Cranmer: A Life) spent a decade digging through the royal archives to arrive at a refreshed view of Henry VIII's right-hand man, scorned by history and presented more sympathetically in Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. MacCulloch's Cromwell is a brilliant administrator and loving father whose carefully crafted decisions changed the course of British politics and religion.

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Starred review from October 1, 2018

MacCulloch's (Silence: A Christian History) monumental biography brings Henry VIII's notorious minister to vivid, detailed life, revealing a brilliantly innovative statesman whose accomplishments significantly altered the course of English history. MacCulloch reveals Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540) as a man of contradictions: fiercely loyal to his first patron, the Catholic Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, yet dedicated to the principles of the Protestant Reformation. Indeed, MacCulloch contests the long-held picture of Cromwell as a Machiavellian schemer whose primary motivation was personal gain, presenting instead a man of sincere faith who used the turmoil of Henry's marital woes to push forward the Reformation in England, sometimes under the very nose of his volatile, less committed monarch. Combing through correspondence, memoranda, and draft legislation, the author finds ample evidence of Cromwell's improvisatory skill in seizing opportunities, streamlining administrative processes, and revolutionizing the use of Parliament to accomplish the king's business. Yet, MacCulloch makes a convincing argument that it was Cromwell's single-minded advocacy of religious change, more so than his consolidation of power or accumulation of personal wealth, that led to his violent downfall. VERDICT A must-read biography of a man whose role in shaping English and Protestant history has long been misunderstood. [See Prepub Alert, 4/23/18.]--Sara Shreve, Newton, KS

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