Rigorous and compelling study of Henry VIII’s chief henchman
Diarmaid MacCulloch does not deny his subject’s ruthless side, but insists that it must be put in historical context
Biography: Thomas Cromwell: A Life, By Diarmaid MacCulloch, Allen Lane, €35
Thomas Cromwell seems to have had a soft spot for Ireland. As King Henry VIII’s most powerful henchman, he worked hard to extend English rule over this island, but according to an acquaintance quoted in Diarmaid MacCulloch’s monumental new biography, “he was so affectionate unto the same land because his ancestors were born there”.
If true, Thomas’s Irish blood adds an extra ...
