This is a monumental novel, showing us Henry the man more vividly than he has ever been seen before and brilliantly combining magnificent storytelling with an extraordinary grasp of the pleasures and perils of power.

Margaret George approaches her subject from a new and original perspective: writing from the King’s point of view, but injecting irreverent comments from Will Somers – Henry VIII’s confidant and jester.

In a triumphant blend of historical fact and imagination the author brings to life this most colourful of kings … from the young man who married six times, longed for a son and neglected his daughters, to the disease-ridden and fat degenerate he later became. This towering novel will delight all lovers of historical fiction.