After thirty-five years as an absolute monarch, King Henry VIII was a hideously obese, black-hearted old man, rarely seen in public. He ruled through terror and pioneered many of the methods made familiar by twentieth-century dictators. Henry invented the modern 'show trial' and manipulated the rival factions at his court with cynical brilliance. Robert Hutchinson's account of Henry's final years includes many startling revelations. He has unearthed death warrants, confessions, desperate pleas for clemency as well as evidence of blackmail. There are even the lost love letters between Henry's last queen and the Lord High Admiral.