Synopses & Reviews
No period in British history has more resonance and mystery today than the sixteenth century.
New Worlds, Lost Worlds brings the atmosphere and events of this great epoch to life. Exploring the underlying religious motivations for the savage violence and turbulence of the period-from Henry VIII's break with Rome to the overwhelming threat of the Spanish Armada-Susan Brigden investigates the actions and influences of such near-mythical figures as Elizabeth I, Thomas More, Bloody Mary, and Sir Walter Raleigh. Authoritative and accessible,
New Worlds, Lost Worlds, the latest in the Penguin History of Britain series, provides a superb introduction to one of the most important, compelling, and intriguing periods in the history of the Western world.
Review
"A fine survey of the Tudor century. Brigden aims to tell the story "to those who don't know it already," and she succeeds brilliantly. She's very strong on politics and religion, but also has fascinating discursions of the intellectual life, from More's
Utopia to Marlowe's
Faustus."
—David Underdown, Yale University "Susan Brigden has done a brilliant job of giving us a fresh approach to the Tudor period. Although accessible to students, it will also interest established scholars." —Stanford Lehmberg, University of Minnesota, Emeritus
About the Author
Susan Brigden, Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at Lincoln College, Oxford, is the author of London and the Reformation.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
About Dates and Names
Prologue: New Worlds, Lost Worlds
1. Rather Feared than Loved: Henry VII and His Dominions, 1485-1509
2. Family and Friends: Religion and Society in Early Tudor England
3. Ways to Reform: The Challenge to the Church
4. Imperium: Henry VIII and the Reformation in England, 1509-47
5. Bearing Rule: The Governors and the Governed
6. Rebuilding the Temple: The Reigns of Edward VI (1547-53) and Mary I (1553-8)
7. "Perils many, great and imminent": The Challenge of Securing Peace, 1558-70
8. Wars of Religion: Churches Militant in England, Ireland and Europe, 1570-84
9. The Enterprise of England: New World Ventures and the Coming of War with Spain in the 1580s
10. The Theatre of God's Judgements: Elizabethan World Views
11. Court and Camp: The Last Years of Elizabeth's Reign
Epilogue: Lost Worlds, New Worlds
Bibliographical Essay
Index