Historian and broadcaster, Dr David Starkey, follows his acclaimed series Monarchy with this gripping portrait of England’s best-known king. In 1509, Henry VIII’s accession to the throne was greeted with wild rejoicing. Tall, athletic and handsome, he filled the nation with hope. Yet, by his death 38 years later, Henry VIII had earned the reputation of a tyrannical and ruthless monarch.

Dr David Starkey reveals how this glamorous prince became the nation’s most notorious tyrant. From the young man who became heir to the throne at the sudden death of his brother to his establishment of the Church of England and the bellicose quest to become a major player in Europe.

The series reveals the truth of the King’s relationships: the beautiful Anne Boleyn; the machiavellian Cardinal Wolsey; Thomas More, the lifelong friend he beheaded and, of course, the bloody cycle of marriage, divorce and execution. It tells of a ruthless King, infatuated with power, who released an orgy of iconoclasm and sadistic revenge on those who rebelled against him.

This compelling series brings this fascinating monarch to vivid life, shows how he influence our very sense of identity and nationhood and tells one of the strangest and most dramatic stories in history.

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