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A biography of the poet and courtier, Henry Howard, earl of Surrey.
The heir to the powerful duke of Norfolk, Surrey witnessed and was inextricably caught up in all the major events of Henry VIII’s reign: the Break with Rome, the Pilgrimage of Grace, the Reformation, the executions of his two cousins, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, the king’s French wars and the deadly power struggle at the end of Henry VIII’s reign to which Surrey fell victim. Beginning his career as the tutor to Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, Surrey became Lieutenant General of the king’s army while still only twenty-eight.
A pioneering poet, he introduced new verse forms to English, including blank verse and the English (or Shakespearean) sonnet.
But Surrey was a loose cannon at the court of Henry VIII and landed himself in prison on four separate occasions. He was recklessly outspoken at a time when it was said that ‘for fear no man durst either speak or wink’. His life – replete with drunken escapades, battlefield heroics, conspiracy and courtroom drama – offers a new perspective to the reign and personality of Henry VIII.
The book won the 2007 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography.
book reviews
- Books Quarterly
“Jessie Childs’ riveting biography paints a remarkable portrait of the maverick Tudor poet and politician...”
- Independent
“...Jessie Childs’s elegant biography...In the process of debunking this romantic hero, Child also offers plenty of empathetic insights into the 16h-century mind.”
- Sunday Telegraph
“Well-connected (son of the Duke of Norfolk), a favourite at court, a ridiculously rich dandy, a great rip-roarer and a notable poet, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, had everything, and Jessie Childs does him more than justice.”
- BBC History Magazine
"tell[s] the story of Surrey's life...stylishly and movingly."
- Mail on Sunday
“Childs’s riveting biography highlights the sheer ruthlessness of life at the top in Tudor England.”
- The Independent
"The snake-pit of Henrician politics is exposed in Jessie Childs's elegant biography of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey...In the process of debunking this romantic hero, Childs also offers plenty of empathetic insights into the 16th-century mind."
- Daily Telegraph
'Jessie Childs’ elegant biography re-examines a poetic icon, and presents Howard’s faults sympathetically.'
- Alison Weir, Good Book Guide
'Quality historical biography, a lively and vivid evocation of a character and a period.'
- The Guardian
'A deservedly award-winning debut...Among its virtues are the skill with which she introduces absorbing essayettes on aspects of aristocratic life in Tudor England, ranging from marriage to what Surrey had for breakfast.'
- Tribune
'This dazzling biography of a flawed but facinating man living in a dangerous age is her first book. Let’s hope it’s not her last.' - Derek Wilson, History Today
‘This is a rumbustious tale and well worth the retelling but what makes this biography special is the quality of the writing. It is as fluid and engaging as the research is careful and penetrating....This is narrative history at its best and it is heartening to be able to recognize a fresh talent among the new generation of history writers.'
- Good Book Guide
"...authoritative but accessible biography sheds light on the life and times of this fascinating but relatively little-known figure."
- Lucy Moore, Mail on Sunday
"....Jessie Childs' compelling new biography...beautifully written and researched book...an insightful portrait of an extraordinary man..."
- Literary Review
"...a very readable and diligently researched book...Surrey ought to be much better known by the modern world. This book has taken some steps in that direction."
- Daily Express
"...such is the wealth of her material and the brilliance of her research...that this book clatters along like an epic gangster movie....Childs is excellent at depicting the background details..."
- Alison Weir
"Rarely have I felt so utterly captivated by a history book. It is stunning! Jessie Childs is a major new talent. She brings her characters to life so vividly, and the narrative just flows, packed with amazing detail. This, for me, is a surprisingly fresh view on a period with which I am very
familiar."
- Desmond Seward
"Judging from her début with this riveting life of the brilliant, doomed Earl of Surrey, Jessie Childs is a rising star among historians. Just when we thought everything had been said about Henry VIII she makes us see him from a completely new angle - through the eyes of a poet aristocrat. Her scholarship is inspired and her prose sparkles."
- Guardian
"Childs's description of these complex manoeuvrings [at Henry's court], as of the French wars, is excellent.....a fascinating window on the mid-Tudor world."
- Scotland on Sunday
"a detailed and vivid picture of the daily and seasonal life of the landed aristocracy of the time, as well as of the political scheming and backbiting which in Henry's last years were all too often fatal."
- A. N. Wilson, The Daily Telegraph
"A truly superb biography…Jessie Childs is a true scholar. She has been through a vast number of manuscript archives to recreate these 30 terrible years of English history…A poignant, vivid narrative."
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