History Coursework

On 22 August 1485, Henry Tudor emerged from the Battle of Bosworth victorious, his disparate army vanquishing the forces of Richard III. Yet, all was not well early in the Tudor reign. Despite later attempts to portray Henry VII as single-handedly uniting a war-torn England after three decades of conflict, the kingdom was anything but settled. Nor could it be after a tumultuous two-year period that had witnessed the untimely death of one king, the mysterious disappearance of another, and the brutal slaughter of a third on the battlefield. For the first time in one compelling and comprehensive account, Nathen Amin looks at the myriad of shadowy conspiracies and murky plots which sought to depose the Tudor usurper early in his reign, with particular emphasis on the three pretenders whose causes were fervently advanced by Yorkist dissidents—Lambert Simnel, Perkin Warbeck, and Edward, Earl of Warwick.

Diarmaid MacCulloch (winner of the Whitbread Biography Prize) has collaborated with Anthony Fletcher to rewrite this important text which throws light on some of the main themes of Tudor history. Topics addressed the dynasty's attempt to bring the north and west under control, the progress of the English Reformation and the impact of inflation, taxation and enclosure on society. New for this edition is an analysis of the rebellions in England and Ireland in the 1590s.