This is a gripping account of Henry VII's reign and his struggle to assert the Tudors as the undisputed heirs to the throne of England. Penn has a suspense-novelist's gift for writing. The book is jammed full of cliff-hangers, whilst colourful facts and details, intriguing in themselves, complement rather than weigh down the plot. In essence, this is great story telling with drama and intrigue on just about every page: pretenders plot, courtiers scheme, rival monarchs cunningly press for any advantage they can squeeze, whilst all the while Henry tirelessly and meticulously prepares his dynasty. Oh, how stressful life as an early-Renaissance European monarch must have been, but, oh, how fascinating a tale it becomes in the hands of Thomas Penn.

This is more of a 3.5 star book, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt, and plumped for 4. It covers the reign of Henry VII, from just after his battle with Richard, to his successful passing of the crown to his son Henry VIII, and the creation of the Tudor dynasty. It is very comprehensive, covering all manner of details about the court of Henry VII, and the way he went about establishing his reign. It looks at the way he sidelined or eliminated his rivals, the way that he tried to build alignments with European monarchs. Henry tried to raise capital by illegal smuggling of alum into the UK and Europe, which had been a source of income for the Vatican. Penn writes with incredible detail of the plotting and intrigue of court life, and writes of the tragedy that befell him, losing his wife and eldest son Arthur. The rise of his second son, Henry, is well documented as well. Whilst it was well written, there is so much detail that you cannot always keep up with the characters in the narrative, and that is why I cannot give it 5 stars.