Author: David Loades & Mei Trow
Title: The Tudors For Dummies
Genre: History
Year: 2010
Pages: 360
Origin: read on the Kindle
Nod Rating: 2 nods out of 5
The Dummies series of books is seemingly everywhere. The
trademark and standout yellow of its covers can be found in all good – and bad
– bookshops, from high cost to the bargain basement. They have found success is
taking dense subject matter and breaking it down for the unwashed masses in the
hope of enlightening us all. There are around two-thousand (yes,
two-thousand!!) titles in the series. It is a surprise to the Worm, then, that
he has not gotten his mitts on one of them.
This all changes with The Tudors For Dummies title in the
series. At the helm of this book is a duo authorship of David Loades and Mei
Trow. Loades is well known in Tudor-reading circles as a man who has researched
and written heavily on the Tudor monarchs Henry VIII and Mary. Less well known
to the Worm is Mei Trow: a historian and novelist who has appeared on
documentaries as both expert and presenter. A dream-team of Tudor history? Let
us find out.
The Tudors For Dummies devotes sections to the “Big Tudors”
(Henry VII, Henry VIII, and Elizabeth), as well as one on the “Little Tudors”
(the ill-fated Edward VI and Mary – deemed by the authors as the ‘Forgotten
Tudors’). Furthermore, the book – like others in the Dummies series – devotes a
section to ‘The Part of Tens’. This is a countdown list of ‘Tudor people’, of
architecture, events, and other ‘Tudor firsts’.
The proceedings are all as to be expected: the Battle of
Bosworth, the troubles of Henry VII’s reign with imposters and pretenders, the
passing of the baton to the next generation, and his son’s desire to become a
king feared by all. The section on Edward and Mary are of interest, with the
author duo feeling enabled to go off the script and pick out some intriguing
snippets of detail. But the main action is resumed with the section ‘Ending
with Elizabeth.’
The reader is treated to her battles with religion and then the greater threat
of the Spanish and their Armada fleet. The book is neatly wrapped up, with a
short examination of the Tudors’ lasting legacy to Britain.
Although there is minimal detail, luckily the book is
spruced up with anecdotes and appealing facts; all of which makes the reading
experience a pleasurable one. Furthermore, Loades is unshackled from his usual
academic sphere, adding a sense of personality to the chief Tudor protagonists.
For example, how about this on Henry VIII: ‘Henry began his reign promisingly
enough as a handsome, talented Renaissance prince with a 19-inch waist, but he
became a bloated monster who terrified his subjects and whose soul the pope
sent to hell’. Furthermore, we are also treated to the humour behind the
relationship of Henry and Anne Boleyn: ‘Henry certainly fell for Anne, the
daughter of a Kentish knight, longing, in his own words, to “kiss her pretty
dukkys”. Dukkies meaning – of course – her breasts.
This is the first For Dummies read for the Worm. Although it
failed to deliver the dizzy highs of inventive and authoritative history
writing, it entertained and filled in gaps of knowledge. It is not
comprehensive, but serves as a solid introduction to the Tudors of the
sixteenth century. Therefore, the Worm will be back for more reads in the
For Dummies series.
Buy it here!
