A lot has been written about the powerful and selfish Henry VIII: he quarreled with the Pope and created his own church, married six women and sent two wives to the scaffold, executed his friend, plundered monasteries, dreamed of a son, neglecting his daughters, indulged his Gluttony and finally went to his grave, overcome by a serious illness. But in her magnificent and monumental novel, Margaret George gives us the story of Henry VIII as he himself might have told it in his memoirs, complete with the cheeky comments of his jester and confidant, Will Somers. Brilliantly combining historical facts and artistic storytelling, with a keen understanding of the advantages and dangers of power, the author shows us the famous monarch in all his human manifestations - formidable and pitiful, loving and cruel, generous and unjust.