Having not read volume 1 of this series, I was surprised that this begins with the coronation of Henry VIII, but the author has perhaps treated his father as being the last monarch of the medieval age. Certainly the reign of Henry VIII is when the huge changes and upheavals in religious life occurred, leading to a huge number of social consequences. The author concentrates more on this aspect in the earlier part of the book, and the various milestone events such as the king's courtship of Anne Boleyn are quite sketchily dealt with against this background.

I found the section on Elizabeth I's reign more interesting. I knew about her early life, plus the defeat of the Armada, and the problem of Mary Queen of Scots, but this filled out the reign more fully and put things more into context.

One problem I had early on slightly undermined my confidence in the book. There was a mention of Henry's jousting partner, without mentioning his name. I thought this must be Charles Brandon, and looked it up in the index to see if there was a mention to confirm this but instead the page I'd been reading and indeed all mention of this man was under the erroneous entry of Thomas Brandon. That did make me wonder if there were other such mistakes.

The book was a bit slow in places and on the whole I would give it a 3 star rating. ( )

For a beginner just getting their feet wet I do not believe you will find a more readable one volume history of the Tudors and that time in English history. ( )

I thought that volume 1 was a bit 'prosy' but I guess I got used to it as I found this volume better to read. It didn't fly past each monarch as the last volume did but got stuck into the details of the Reformation in each of the Tudor monarchs reigns. It also showed that very little has changed or at least come full circle. The book mentions religious intolerance and the pulling down of statues, (ring a bell?) There is also one sentence on page 397 that is very relevant to today's seemingly national shame of it history and culture, "It is not possible to judge the behaviour of one century by the values of another". Never a truer word said! ( )

I love the droning narration of Clive Chafer reading Peter Ackroyd's "Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I". It's the second book in five volumes--so far, of England's history. I might have read it before. I might have heard or seen a TV series built around it. It seemed so familiar. It came out in 2014, which means . . . . oh never mind. It was comforting to listen to such gruesome things that I knew already and just follow along. I guess it was like listening to a favorite musician. I could play SolitaireLite on my cell or put together jigsaw puzzles and relax.

I am going to get the next volume and see if it has the same effect. I am not as familiar with the period on the English side, so I don't think so. I was not relaxed at all prior to volume 1, which I found very interesting. I wouldn't mind listening to that again. ( )

This was a very well done book!
Peter Ackroyd does a really fantastic job at composing this story. He also kept it as simple to understand as possible while putting all that detail and work into the book.
I highly recommend this book, especially if you’re a fan of the Tudor dynasty. ( )