The Mirror and the Light by hilary mantel henry holt, 784 pages, $30 The arrival of this final installment of the Thomas Cromwell trilogy, penned by “one of our most important living writers,” has precipitated an avalanche of adulation for its author and her great work, already decorated with . . . . Continue Reading »
The Republic of Virtue: How We Tried to Ban Corruption, Failed, and What We Can Do About It by f. h. buckley encounter, 296 pages, $25.99 Something is rotten in the states of America. F. H. Buckley, law professor at George Mason University, believes patronage networks and crony capitalism . . . . Continue Reading »
Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life by diarmaid macculloch viking, 752 pages, $40 They said it could not be done. At least Sir Geoffrey Elton, to whose memory his former doctoral student has dedicated this book, said it could not be done. According to him, as Diarmaid MacCulloch reminds us, . . . . Continue Reading »
Peter Hitchens is invariably witty and provocative. His recent essay (“Latimer and Ridley Are Forgotten,” June/July) is no exception. Although diverting, it errs in at least one crucial respect: its assertion that the “judicial murders of Thomas More and John Fisher were political in origin, . . . . Continue Reading »
John Matusiak's Henry VIII: The Life and Rule of England's Nero is perceptive, but Christ's heart is missing from the narrative. Continue Reading »
Hidden in the northern suburbs of Oxford are the last traces of a path first trodden by multitudes of country folk hurrying to see the burning of the Protestant martyrs Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley on October 16, 1555, and trudging home afterward. For some years I lived very close to this track, . . . . Continue Reading »
Gunpowdera miniseries created by ronan bennett, kit harrington, and daniel westbbc one Though its preeminence has been challenged in recent years, the Gunpowder Plot remains the most famous terrorist conspiracy in England’s history. A group of English Catholics, disillusioned by years of punitive . . . . Continue Reading »
By now, everyone who reads contemporary fiction will have heard of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel’s acclaimed historical novels about Thomas Cromwell, the powerful advisor to Henry VIII who all but single-handedly disestablished the Catholic Church in England. Anathema to many . . . . Continue Reading »
Few would deny that the Anglican Communion is in crisis. The nature of that crisis, however, remains a question. Is it about sexuality? Is it a crisis of authority who has it and who doesn’t? Have Anglicans lost their commitment to the via media , epitomized by the Elizabethan Settlement, which . . . . Continue Reading »
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