Thomas More

A Life

Joanne Paul

The definitive biography of the man who dominated political and intellectual circles in England during the sixteenth century: Thomas More.

Born into the era of the Wars of the Roses, educated during the European Renaissance, rising to become Chancellor of England, and ultimately destroyed by Henry VIII, Thomas More was one of the most famous—and notorious—figures in English history.

Was he a saintly scholar, the visionary author of Utopia, and an inspiration for statesmen and intellectuals even today? Or was he the cruel zealot famously portrayed in Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall? Thomas More: A Life is a monumental biography of this hypnotic, flawed figure. Overturning prior interpretations of this titan of the sixteenth century, Joanne Paul shows Thomas More to have been intellectually and politically central to the making of modern Europe.

Based on new archival discoveries and drawing on more than a decade of research into More’s life and work, this is a richly told story of faith and politics that illuminates a man who, more than four hundred years after his execution, remains one of the most brilliant minds of the Renaissance.

Joanne Paul is Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Sussex. A BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker, her research focuses on the intellectual and cultural history of the Renaissance and Early Modern periods. She has written for the Cambridge University Press 'Ideas in Context' series and has been widely praised for her work on Thomas More, William Shakespeare, Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes. The House of Dudley is her first book. She lives in Sussex.

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Endorsements & Reviews

Praise for The House of Dudley:

“Visceral and illuminating. Paul has produced a painstakingly detailed first book with spirit and verve. Her style is cinematic.” The Wall Street Journal

“An enthralling read told with great verve and an eye for the telling detail.” The Literary Review

“Exciting and immersive. An immensely entertaining history, capturing in full Tudor brilliance the cut-throat glamour of the English throne and the most audacious family to play its game.” The Sunday Times (London)

“Breathes new life into an old and familiar Tudor story. It's delightful, a joy to read.” The Times (London)

“This is riveting stuff: death, desire, power and scandal. Game of Thrones looks tame compared with the real-life machinations of the Dudleys." The Spectator

“Rich and compelling. Conjures up the look and feel of Tudor life. You will find yourself drawn in, fascinated, and richly informed.” The Daily Telegraph

“A full-blooded affair, as good on the horrors of war as it is on the soft power of the Dudley women, and written in a lively, episodic style that presents each Dudley as a foil to the monarch they served.” Jessie Childs, author of God's Traitors and The Siege of Loyalty House

"The crowning jewel in its genre. I can't recommend this book enough. Unputdownable." Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The Facemaker and The Butchering Art

“When reading Joanne Paul's lively history of the house of Dudley, it is impossible not to be reminded of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy.” The Mail on Sunday