Winter King

The Dawn of Tudor England

By: Thomas Penn

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

A fresh look at the endlessly fascinating Tudors - the dramatic and overlooked story of Henry VII and his founding of the Tudor Dynasty - filled with spies, plots, counter-plots, and an uneasy royal succession to Henry VIII.

Near the turn of the sixteenth century, England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy and civil war. Henry Tudor clambered to the top of the heap, a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England’s crown who managed to win the throne and stay on it for 24 years. Although he built palaces, hosted magnificent jousts, and sent ambassadors across Europe, for many Henry VII remained a false king. But he had a crucial asset: his family - the queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. Now, in what would be the crowning glory of his reign, his elder son would marry a great Spanish princess.

Thomas Penn re-creates an England that is both familiar and very strange - a country medieval yet modern, in which honor and chivalry mingle with espionage, realpolitik, high finance, and corruption. It is the story of the transformation of a young, vulnerable boy, Prince Henry, into the aggressive teenager who would become Henry VIII, and of Catherine of Aragon, his future queen, as well as of Henry VII - controlling, avaricious, paranoid, with Machiavellian charm and will to power.

Rich with incident and drama, filled with wonderfully drawn characters, Winter King is an unforgettable account of pageantry, intrigue, the thirst for glory, and the fraught, unstable birth of Tudor England.

Thomas Penn has a PhD in early Tudor history from Clare College, Cambridge. Winter King is his first book.

©2011 Thomas Penn (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“I feel I’ve been waiting to read this book a long time. It’s a fluent and compelling account of the cost of founding the Tudor dynasty.” (Hilary Mantel, Man Booker Prize–winning author of Wolf Hall)

“An exceptionally stylish literary debut…[Penn’s] book should be the first port of call for anyone trying to understand England’s most flagrant usurper since William the Conqueror.” (Diarmaid MacCulloch, New York Times best-selling author)

“A definitive and accessible account of the reign of Henry VII.” ( Guardian (UK))

Competent But Not Compelling

Winter King is a detailed, clearly written and logical account of the life of Henry VII. I had previously read little about this English king, founder of the Tudor dynasty, so I appreciated the depth the author provided in this biography of the man. However, Henry wasn't a particularly admirable or charismatic person, so while learning this much about him was "good for my mind," it was not especially enjoyable or inspiring.

I recommend this book only for readers who are seriously interested in the Tudors and want a more complete understanding of the man who began their period of rule. The account explains much about the infamous Henry VIII who more than made up for his father's basic dullness with his own flamboyant, ostentatious reign. In many obvious ways he counter-scripted his father's style of kingship. However, both men were very aware of the tenuousness of their claim to the English throne and were therefore scrupulous in surrounding themselves and their court with a number of blatant outward symbols of royalty and wealth. They both could be extremely ruthless in holding onto power and obtaining what they wanted personally, showing little regard for the rights of their subjects or even those of their own family members.

Listening to Winter King was a worthwhile use of my time because the biography was well done, but mostly because I have a fascination with Elizabeth I and this book fills in an important piece of her family puzzle.

King Henry VII Founder of the Tudors

What made the experience of listening to Winter King the most enjoyable?

This was a great follow up book from the Plantagenets book I had just finished. Henry VII was an interesting man in his own right and I enjoyed learning about how he ruled.

Who was your favorite character and why?

His mother, Margaret was quite eccentric enough to enjoy seeing what she would do next.

Which scene was your favorite?

No particular scene but I enjoyed the family of Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York and how they really bonded and cared for each other.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Arthur died and both parents took it very hard. All their hopes and dreams had been with him and it was all shattered. Then Elizabeth died and Henry was alone in his grief. Very sad.

Any additional comments?

I love historical novels and this book reads a good deal like one. It is a history though and not a novel and the facts are quite interesting.

Interesting and Tight

I've been working my way backward and forward through British royalty, starting with Elizabeth 1. This is a nicely done history that is juicy enough to keep you going. More than anything, it reminded me how very unpleasant it has to be to be so public that all your quirks and warts are there for all to see.
All in all, a good read.

The Tudor Nonentity

You're probably wondering, how could the founder of a very successful dynasty be seen by anyone as a nonentity? But when your successors are a homicidal, womanizing king (Henry VIII), a religious zealot (Mary Tudor), and a "Virgin" queen who not only got every monarch in Europe to dance to her tune but also staunchly defended the realm against its biggest threat (Elizabeth I), it is hard to stand out. Indeed, Henry VII seems like such a smart, efficient bureaucrat, that it is hard for anyone to work up a lot of enthusiasm for him. Those very qualities (intelligence, efficiency) made him into a spectacularly successful king. Indeed, if you were a king around this time, Henry VII would be a good model to study to see how to accumulate a lot of money, avoid war, and ensure political stability.

All that being said, Henry VII is just not terribly interesting. I suppose that the biggest indictment to lay against him would be that he didn't really adequately prepare his eventual successor (his second son, Henry) for his role as monarch. Of course, he didn't think he would have to because he had groomed the eldest son, Arthur, for the job. Too, who can predict that Henry VIII's most infamous legacy was as a man who wrenched England away from the Roman Catholic church and married 6 women? I am sure that Henry would not have approved of his son (father was so frugal and grasping with money) but this can hardly be held to his account. What you get in this story is a solid grounding in how Henry VII came to power and used his power to accumulate wealth and prestige which he could pass to his successors. Penn writes a fluid narrative and Simon Vance is his usual brilliant self as narrator.

Brilliant

Highly recommended.

Get it if you have any interest in the period. Nothing startling and new but delivered in a clear way that others could do well to emulate.

Royally rich in detail, well-fleshed with analysis

I started with "Brothers York" by Thomas Penn, then continued with "Winter King." Both volumes were gloriously, "royally" rich in details. Clearly Mr. Penn spent much time and labor in the archives, bringing forth not only ample information pertaining directly to the royal family members, but also to important people of their day, both foreign and domestic; and the current events, trends of thought, and their physical surroundings. You get details about the wars, the politics both local and national, inventions and philosophies, fashions, customs, the crops, the rampant diseases that afflicted both individuals and the events and people around them, even the weather on important occasions. These details are not listed like assets in a column, but rendered in a story so real you almost smell the horse manure in the narrow, crooked streets. You can easily imagine Erasmus and other intellectuals grumbling and plotting against one another, their egos even greater than their wits, leading one philosopher to (allegedly?) poison another... You also get the author's canny assessment of the minutiae he observes "between the lines" of manuscripts. True, he's offering opinion as well as fact; but he's quite brief and offers it with the evidence still attached and "breathing," and he really tells a STORY whose characters and motivations you can still relate to (and learn from) today, which is what history is supposed to be like. One of our best history writers today, in my opinion. Well done!

not enough Bout the 7th

did not go into Henry's early life at all. cover henry the 8th more then the 7th. not bad just not want I wanted

through and interisty

pre formist and historical content good story line keeps your interest well written very compelling

Dry winds of winter

A thorough telling of the reign of Henry VII as dry as s pile of fallen leaves in January. All of the intrigue, machinations, scheming personages, beheadings, royal moves and countermoves are detailed but with no juice or passion. What's needed is a Philippa Gregory to stir the pot and make me care.

uses assumptions not based in fact

It was hard to listen to this book and know what was fact and what was fiction, since he starts off with some unsubstantiated facts. For instance, there is no record of the marriage of Catherine, widow of Henry V to the father of her subsequent children, but the author states it as fact. This calls into question the rest of the "facts" in this book. Although this is a period that interests me greatly, the authors biases are too strong to make his surmises acceptable.