Dauntless epic tells the tale of a charming Cromwell

In her extraordinary tenth novel, Hilary Mantel defamiliarises an extremely well documented period of Henry VIII’s fearsome, paranoia-filled reign and, in many ways, recasts Tudor history.

Wolf Hall

By Hilary Mantel

Fourth Estate, €14

In her extraordinary tenth novel, Hilary Mantel defamiliarises an extremely well documented period of Henry VIII’s fearsome, paranoia-filled reign and, in many ways, recasts Tudor history.

Traditionally, Thomas Cromwell (Oliver Cromwell’s great-great-granduncle and the novel’s hero) has been seen as villainous. In Robert Bolt’s 1960s play and screenplay, A Man For All Seasons, he preys upon the saintly (and later sainted) Thomas More.

But Mantel’s ...