Customer Reviews

New Worlds, Lost Worlds: The Rule of the Tudors, 1485-1603 (Penguin History of Britain)

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I was excited when I first picked up New Worlds, Lost Worlds, looking forward to reading about the Tudors, a dynasty I knew something but not a lot about. However, two pages into the author's prologue I began to have doubts. Brigdon provides a recitation of what her book is *not* about, without ever really telling us what the book *is* about - almost as if she is unsure herself. And the book itself seems aimless, endlessly wallowing in topics then meandering onto something else.

Brigdon's choices about what information to impart is also less than satisfying. For example, the book opens with Henry VII landing in South Wales. We are given precious little of Henry's background, however - pretty much nothing more than that he was born in Pembroke in 1457 and hid there thirteen years later. Nothing about what shaped him in exile, how he marshalled support for his return, what had brought Richard III to deposition. Instead, we are given a long-winded expose of the land Henry marched through on his way to Bosworth Field. Such is typical of the book, with such long meanderings that the reader feels as if he is wading through waist-high water, able to see the shore but unable to reach it. Far from being "vivid and stylish," as one reviewer has described it, Brigdon's prose seems all fluff and no substance.

"New Worlds, Lost Worlds" is part of the Penguin History of Britain series, meaning that it should stand alone as a history of the relevant period, the Tudor period, 1485-1603. I do not think it does this. It has some strong elements - Brigden's presentation is very good with regard to religious history, and at showing how each Tudor monarch related to key political actors, mainly the aristocratic class. But in terms of military, economic and some aspects of the political system, it is not what I hoped.

Readers who come to this book without a good sense of the narrative structure of the Tudor period will probably not leave it with one. It helped me that I had read a more general narrative history (Rebecca Fraser's `The Story of Britain'), and I would only recommend this book to someone who already understands the grand narrative. I think the problem is one of integration - there are scattered references to economic trends and discontents, hundreds of political actors appearing out of nowhere, lots of detail on religious schisms and struggles, but no integrated picture. Individuals are introduced as representing this faction or that, at times parliament pops up and does something, but one never understands who these people are, how these factions come to control parliament, and the like.

The lack of good maps may be part of the problem. There are only four: two related to Ireland, one of southwest England to illustrate Henry's march to Bosworth Field as he was to take his throne, and one related to the Spanish Armada. There isn't a single good map of England in the book. (I have the hardcover version.)

I am presuming that Brigden has some sort of subspecialty in Irish history, because there is a bewildering number of references to this clan or that, with nothing comparable for Wales or Scotland (granted the union hadn't happened yet, but this is a history of Britain, not England, and Ireland wasn't genuinely united with England yet either).

Susan Brigden, Reader in Modern History, Fellow, and Tutor at Oxford, has written New Worlds, Lost Worlds: The Rule of the Tudors 1485-1603. This book replaces the 1950 work Tudor England by S.T. Bindoff in the updated Penguin History of Britain series. The volume is suited for use as an introductory college textbook providing a strong narrative of the period.

Brigden's main goal is to show the Tudor period as one of transition between a series of 'old worlds' and outlooks as opposed to modern viewpoints and 'new worlds'. During this highly eventful period, according to the author, the Protestant Reformation, the conversion of the nobility to one of personal service to the monarch and the exploration of new lands across the Atlantic all were new worlds. The old worlds such as those of a strong independent feudal monarchy, the stability of the old religion and the certainty of an established landscape were all gone by the end of the period.

The text primarily concentrates on a political narrative of the times; it is laden with facts and events. Towards the start of the period, a chapter is spent on the social life of the common man and the social orders. Near the end of the book, there are diversions from the political narrative to cover the beginnings of colonization in North America and events in Ireland. A concluding chapter showcases Shakespeare and the literature at the close of Elizabeth's reign.

The book is both too much and too little to succeed in its goals. While presenting a strong narrative and displaying a wide knowledge of the facts, the work is short on context and analysis. Characters appear on the political stage with little introduction and the reader is left to his own devices to understand the motivations behind the actions. Personalities are often pithily described but without any additional background. Events are well chronicled but the need to cover so broad an area permits little depth. One bright spot is the coverage of Ireland, much more in-depth than is usually found in a British overview of the period.

New Worlds, Lost Worlds, leaves the reader understanding that there were many important events in during the Tudor years. What motivated the people, and how the events related to one another is less well presented. Readers who need to find out "Just the facts" will be very pleased with this book.

Not a page turner, but if you have an existing interest in the subject, worth the effort. Much of the book concerns the peripheral subjects... Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Holland, France, Spain, the Pope. The common people of England are also examined, as they struggled with famine, plague, loss of land, and the shifting tsunamis of the religious world. Thus the motives of the powerful people around the English throne in the 1500s are brightly illuminated. Those "common knowledge" high points of history are brought into sharper focus by the detail provided of occurrences between the landmark events.

The book is a wonderful read. Though required for my course in early modern European history, I still enjoyed it. Everything appears to be historically accurate and cited properly (citations are at the end of the book). However, it appears that Bridgen seems to have a habit of repeating the point from her book over and over again in each chapter, which gets a little tedious. Nevertheless, it's a good book for anyone interested in English royalty.

Others have written that this book is not a page-turner, but I respectfully disagree. Once started, I took this book with me everywhere I went so that I could continue reading every time a few spare minutes came along. Brigden's work is so carefully organized that my reading didn't seem to suffer at all from my piecemeal approach. I agree that there is a not a lot of heavy didacticism in Brigden's analysis, but I appreciate having the wealth of information she presents organized in such a way that I can readily see connections between people and events and draw my own conclusions.

Don't be put off by a couple of reviews that are critical. They may not have read this same book. It is fascinating and well written. I would strongly recommend it. If the standard for a great book is perfection, we will not find that in this world. This book gets as many stars as Amazon offers.

This book is great if you're a history major! If you're not, then it'll be a bit hard to understand (like me).

Wow! This is a great history of one of the most exciting periods of english history. Brigden does a fantastic job integrating politics, religion, popular culture, discoveries and exploration and so on. She has a natural talent for compelling narrative and detailed description. Buy this book, and you won't be sorry!

Dit boek vormt een deel uit de (herziene) Penguin-reeks over de geschiedenis van Engeland en vervangt de bijdrage van Bindoff (overigens een van de weinige echt succesvolle leerlingen van Geyl) uit de jaren vijftig van de vorige eeuw. Ter bijspijkering en voor het verschaffen van achtergrondinformatie bij het lezen van Wolf Hall voldoet het boek uitstekend. De geschiedenis van het beruchte geslacht Tudor wordt vanaf het einde van de Rozenoorlogen tot en met de dood van Elisabeth beschreven. Voor Bridgen is de eeuw van de Tudors een van meest formatieve periodes in de ontwikkeling van de Engelse natie. Door de breuk met het katholicisme en de daarmee gepaard gaande naasting van de bezittingen van de kerk, werd er een belangrijkste stap gezet naar een effectief centraal bestuur. Bovendien werd door aanscherping van de Treason-act de mogelijkheid geschapen zowel religieuze als politieke oppositie op een quasi-legale manier uit te schakelen. Het is verleidelijk de Tudor-periode als een onvermijdelijke stap te zien in de totstandkoming van de Engelse natie-staat die zich in de 18de eeuw van een wereldomspannend empire gaat voorzien. Na de dood van Elisabeth en met de komst van de Stuarts zal er opnieuw en hardnekkig getornd worden aan de 'verworvenheden' van Anglicanisme en de positie van de vorst als hoofd van die kerk. De terugkeer naar de moederkerk heeft nog lang op de agenda van de oppositie in Engeland gestaan. Het zou nogal a-historisch zijn om dat met de wetenschap van hoe de geschiedenis zich ontwikkeld heeft, te bagataliseren."