The Tudors / Josephine Ross.

THE TUDORS is the story of one exceptional family — three kings, two queens — whose personal qualities of mind and spirit shaped the glorious age of Tudor England. The Tudor dynasty was founded by Henry vii who by the grace of God and force of arms became King of England in 1485 on the defeat of the last Plantagenet king, Richard iii. It was made awesome by Henry's flamboyant son 'Great Harry', who became heir to the throne following the death of his brother Arthur and who, as King Henry VIII, raised the monarchy to a peak of absolute power when he broke with the authority of the Pope in order to marry his beloved Anne Boleyn. Henry's longed—for heir became Edward VI, the boy—king who might in time have become a great and wise ruler had it not been for his untimely death in 1535 which left the kingdom threatened with turmoil and rebellion. There was popular rejoicing when Mary Tudor came to the throne but this quiet, religious woman's devotion to her mother's memory soon unleashed the terrors of the Inquisition into England. Last but not least was the matchless, triumphant Virgin Queen Elizabeth I, who inspired her subjects to such magnificent feats that her reign became a byword for heroism, talent and achievement.