Book Review: "Henry VII: Treason and Trust" by Sean Cunningham

As we know, I am reading one book about each and every king and queen of England from Edward the Confessor all the way up to our own monarch today. So far, I have read a book about: Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson, William the Conqueror, William II (William Rufus), Henry I, Stephen, Matilda, Henry II, Richard I, John, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III and now, as we move on we get to the man who is usually known as the one who brought the two houses of Lancaster and York together: Henry VII. During these Wars of the Roses monarchs, I don't think anyone can really resist in authorship referencing Shakespeare's Richard III in their introduction - even Sean Cunningham. I appreciate that - it is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays ever.

This book pays a great amount of attention to how and why Henry Tudor got the crown of England even though he wasn't really that close to the lineage to be king. In all aspects, if we look at the real lineage of England and its monarchs, Henry Tudor probably has less of the right to kingship than anyone else there. But he still got the crown on the Battle of Bosworth Field where Richard III was killed and Henry VII was made the King of England.

I think that my favourite part of this book was the whole deal of the imposters and people pretending to be other people. Perkin Warbeck was someone that I have read about quite a lot in history possibly because he was so well trained that he had fooled a lot of people. He had pretended to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York - the younger of the princes in the tower. Under interrogation, Warbeck eventually confessed to not being Richard, Duke of York. He was so convincing that people who actually knew the child once in real life went to confirm that Perkin Warbeck was actually Richard and, then said that he was. I think that this has always been the one thing that has scared me about how good he must have been to convince people who had known the young prince that he was also that same prince. This turned into support from other sides who didn't like Henry Tudor.

I think that the one thing this book teaches us is not only that Henry VII is sandwiched between two controversial kings: Richard III and Henry VIII. But it also teaches us that Henry VII was not really just looking for peace, he was also looking for power and the consolidation of it - that is why he married Elizabeth of York. He was very calculating and though he is seemed as a pretty calm and good king, we do have to remember he is a machiavellian, he technically committed treason and regicide before he was king, he had very little claim to the throne and that he allowed Henry VIII to be king after him after losing his eldest son.

All in all, I think that this is a great book to start your journey into the Tudor Courts and how power worked at a time where power basically meant everything and knowing the right people was currency. It is a brilliantly researched book with extensive amounts of information but seriously, I am really looking forward to the next few books now, we are moving into the early modern era and will eventually reach the court of Elizabeth I and of course, Shakespeare.