“Chronicles of the Tudor Kings. The Tudor dynasty from 1485 to 1553: Henry VII, Henry VIII and Edward VI in the words of their contemporaries”, edited by David Loades

256 pages, Continental Enterprises Group, ISBN-13: 978-1858335780

Sooooo…it turns out that Chronicles of the Tudor Kings – KINGS, mind you; for Bloody Mary and Gloriana ya gotta go elsewhere – is, in fact, the final book in a series profiling the Plantagenet and Tudor Kings of England…of which I have none. Oh, well, I’ll just roll with it and review what I’ve got. ‘Kay? ‘Kay. A little background first: as I’m sure you know, the House of Tudor was the royal dynasty that ruled England from 1485 to 1603…that’s including Mary I and Elizabeth I, mind you. They were of Welsh and English origins and gave five rulers to the land: the aforementioned queens, along with their predecessors on the throne, Henry VII, Henry VIII and Edward VI. The first monarch, Henry VII, came to power by defeating Richard III of the House of York in the Battle of Bosworth and was the last instance when a transfer of power was done in England through the battlefield. The editor of Chronicles is one David Loades, a professor of History at University College of North Wales and a leading authority on the Tudor Kings who was kind enough to assemble a team of leading authorities to write a series of short essays on the Tudor Kings and the people, politics, manners, mores and customs of Tudor England…but again, only between the years 1485 to 1553 when the only three Tudor kings to reign did so; as to why the chicks were left out – especially Elizabeth, who was the most consequential of the Tudors, her dad Hank the eighth notwithstanding – is, I confess, one hell of a puzzle. This collection is also filled out with contemporary chroniclers who describe the key events in each monarch’s reign in vivid detail…but only the dudes; babes need not apply. This book is beautifully illustrated with several color and black-and-white illustrations and is accompanied by a detailed genealogical table covering the Tudor succession, along with maps, a guide to the peers of the realm, a glossary and a bibliography of late 20^th Century books on the period…for the kings – no queens, mind you; kings only. A very interesting encyclopedic-style work, and very good for what it is…but, one last time, what not ALL of the Tudors? If you’re going to go through all the trouble of writing a history of one of the most consequential ruling dynasties in the world, why stop with just three of the five? I dunno…