A review by lonesomereader
Thomas Cromwell: A Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch

1.0

I had a plan. It was a beautiful and logical plan that I was so excited to start. Having tried and failed to read Hilary Mantel’s “Wolf Hall” several years ago because I felt confounded by the politics of the Tudor period, I thought reading a biography about Thomas Cromwell would give me an informed background to start reading the novel again. “The Mirror and the Light”, the third part of Mantel’s much-lauded trilogy about Cromwell’s epic rise and fall is due to be published in March. So I want to catch up on the first two novels. Reading Mantel and MacCulloch side by side should be the perfect pairing because both authors compliment each other’s writing in their respective books. But wading through this biography was a big effort. MacCulloch conducted a lot of research using period documents and letters to piece together a narrative about Cromwell’s life detailing his instrumental role in the court of Henry VIII and the English Reformation. While this did give me a broad overview of the events surrounding his life and his political manoeuvres during this period of radical reform, it felt to me more like an academic book for people who have a specialist interest and knowledge about this historical period. As an amateur who wanted some basic understanding I felt alienated.

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