How did Henry VIII transform the political, religious and social face of his realm? Did the older monarch live up to the golden promise of his youth or did his erratic mood swings, lavish lifestyle, taste for glory, and impatience with bureaucracy cause lasting damage to the national interest? The answers to these and many other questions can be found in the pages of this book, a biography of perhaps the most fascinating monarch of all time. It describes the king's tempestuous life, from his early childhood at Eltham to his role as one of the leading players on the international stage. It examines Henry's marital adventures and his abilities as a politician, reformer, military strategist, and man of culture and learning. Packed with historical details of life in Tudor England, the book chronicles Henry's military campaigns, the scheming and plotting of his courtiers, the acts of murderous brutality and the way in which sex and politics were sometimes fatally intertwined in the Tudor court. Book jacket.