Mcgurk, The Tudor Monarchies 1485-1603

Abstract

John McGurk takes the monarchy, "the most important institution in political and constitutional change" in western Europe in the 1400s and 1500s, as his starting point for a succinct survey of British history during the Tudor age. Change is the key term here, as McGurk seeks to address the controversy on how much the Tudors transformed English medieval government. His fine book's traditional structure is largely chronological, with two introductory chapters on the monarchy (with a detailed tree for the York, Lancastrian, and Tudor families) and historical background followed by six more devoted to the monarchs.