About this title: In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man, Thomas Cromwell, dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political power.
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Binding: Hardback
Publisher: HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780007230181ISBN:0007230184
Description: BRAND NEW HARDBACK. 672 pages. 'lock cromwell in a deep dungeon in the morning, ' says thomas more, 'and when you come back that night he'll be sitting on a plush cushion eating larks' tongues, and all the gaolers will owe him money. ' (Hardback) read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE: All books are promptly shipped from our UK warehouse using Royal Mail International Priority mail. Heavier or more expensive books are shipped with a TRACKING NUMBER. Professional and reliable bookseller (est.1987). read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780805080681ISBN:0805080686
Description: New. Items ship once payments have cleared. Media mail 5-8 days Priority 2-3 days and international orders may be subject to customs clearance procedures which can cause delays. Seasonal delays can occur in postal system. International Orders which cannot ship first class or in priority flat rate will be charged additional postage. All items ship within 24 hours of receiving payment. read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780805080681ISBN:0805080686
Description: New. In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man, Thomas Cromwell, dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political power. read more
Description: New. Please note that deliveries to addresses in the UK and Europe will be in 4-14 business days. Other countries should refer to Alibris standard times. ISBN10: 0007237235. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
Date Published: 2009-10-13
ISBN-13:9780805080681ISBN:0805080686
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780805080681. read more
Edition: 11th Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: 4th Estate, UK
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780007230181ISBN:0007230184
Description: New in New jacket. A super brand NEW & UNUSED hardcover edition, eleventh printing, which is pristine throughout. The priced jacket is also pristine and looks super in a brand new Brodart clear archive removable cover. Will be wrapped in three layers of polyfoam prior to shipping in a secure box. read more
Description: New. `Lock Cromwell in a deep dungeon in the morning, ` says Thomas More, `and when you come back that night he`ll be sitting on a plush cushion eating larks` tongues, and all the gaolers will owe him money. ` England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey`s clerk, and later his successor. Cromwell ... read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780805080681ISBN:0805080686
Description: New in New jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. First printing, brand new book, never been read, complete number line, no sticker on dustjacket, ships immediately. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover.
Publisher: Fourth Estate, London
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780007230181ISBN:0007230184
Description: Very fine in like dj. A Novel. Signed by Mantel on the title-page. Winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize. Historical novel about Thomas Cromwell. Author of BEYOND BLACK and others. 8vo boards. read more
"33. Mantel, Hilary. WOLF HALL. (2009). ***. Although very well written, I could not really get into this book, a historical novel of, ultimately, Henry VIII's court. All the usual suspects are there, but, as an English friend of mine once said about English history: "There's too much of it." This book is the most recent winner of the Man Booker Prize, and has been critically acclaimed throughout the former Commonwealth nations. After reading through about 200 pages of it, I had to give up. It simply didn't grab my attention and I had to put it down. This has rarely happened with my reading of Booker Prize winners. They have usually been most compelling. I'm afraid that this one left me cold in the dust."
"This novel is a literary novel, a historical novel about King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and a biographical novel about Thomas Cromwell.
I normally don't read literary novels. Mostly they bore me to tears. This one didn't in part because it is about things I'm interested in: history and the Tudor period and people. Literary novelists tend to play games with their books; it is what makes the book a literary novel. This one is written in present tense. It follows its POV character and lets us into what is going on in his head. What he is seeing. What he is thinking about. It does all of this without the POV character narrating the story. And it does it very, very well.
The novel mainly covers 8 years. It starts at the point when Henry VIII starts to seriously work on getting himself divorced from his first wife Katherine and ends with the death of Thomas Moore. At that point, Katherine is on house arrest, the Lady Mary is living in her sister's household, Princess Elizabeth is still a very young child and Queen Anne has lost her second child. But it certainly is not the point where most people would have ended a book about Anne Boleyn. Which is interesting in itself.
The book is a biographical novel that follows Thomas Cromwell. There is one chapter about his early teens and about his leaving England because his father's abuse has become killing abuse. He either leaves or he is going to die and he knows it. There are bits and pieces about earlier in his childhood as situations during the 8 years the book is mainly about bring things up in Cromwell's mind. A lot of those things involve Thomas Moore.
Moore is a bit older than Cromwell. Possibly 7 years older, but since no one noticed when Cromwell was born and since he might never have been baptized, no one is really sure. They bumped into one another as children. Moore the young gentleman in training; Cromwell the kitchen boy. And they are rubbing each other a bit raw by the beginning of the book. Moore the great man working for the king and the friend of Erasmus; Cromwell the lowborn secretary of the equally lowborn Cardinal Wolsey. Moore at the top of his career; Cromwell steadily moving up and already a self-made man with a household of his own.
The book is from Cromwell's point of view and not Moore's, so we see a very different Cromwell, and also a very different Moore. We see the Moore who burned people at the stake for reading the bible in English, or reading at all when they didn't have enough status to be "allowed" to know how to read. We see a Cromwell who keeps trying to avoid sending people to the stake, or mitigating their deaths whenever possible. And we see the people Cromwell sees and how he sees them.
Loved the book. Going to see if there are others by the same author I would like."
"Wolf Hall is a fantastic historical novel, as good as Graves's I, Claudius and Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur. The characterization is stunning; Mantel's portrayal of the pragmatic, scheming, yet goodhearted Cromwell is more lively and convincing than almost anything I've read in contemporary fiction. The book does present some challenges to the reader: you'll want to avail yourself of the wikipedia pages on the Tudor dynasty, or maybe watch Simon Schama's corresponding HISTORY OF BRITAIN episode. And I have to admit that even with the character list at the beginning of the novel, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of all the minor characters. Despite these minor flaws, the novel is a tremendously rewarding read. Highest recommendation, especially for you squidheads that think Ken Follet writes good historical fiction."
"This book won the 2009 Man Booker Prize. I haven't completed my reading of the short list yet, but having just finished Wolf Hall, I would never dispute the committee's decision. Hilary Mantel tells a good story from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell, a man of many parts possessed of a complex and subtle mind: so subtle, in fact, that I am not sure he is always aware of his own motivations. From the very cinematic beginning, young Tom regaining consciousness as he suffers yet another beating from his father, to the end, Cromwell's bittersweet triumph over Sir Thomas More, we live, temporize, manipulate and motivate with Cromwell as he moves toward Wolf Hall and his future. Totally involving, beautifully written, scrupulously researched."
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