Blanche Parry

Privy Council would she forfeit the succession. Therefore, it is not true that the succession was 'entailed upon the heirs of Henry's sister Mary Rose , rather than his own daughters Mary and Elizabeth'. On a later page the succession as set out in Edward VI's Will is described and this did exclude Mary and Elizabeth. There is no clarity in the text to explain the differences in these Wills and the result is apparent contradictory information confusing to a reader not conversant with the historical details.

There are useful references for each chapter, a bibliography and an adequate index. The coloured illustrations are a delight with short explanatory captions. However, what may be wrongly thought of as the niceties of accuracy are important because if facts are inaccurate how can readers be certain of the reliability of other details with which they are unfamiliar? This lack of editing is a very great pity for there are some excellent accounts in this book. A notable example concerns the changes in allowable legal devotion to shrines over the period. Therefore, this is a book that is informative, and fascinating, but is directed to those with historical knowledge of the period, or who wish to investigate, and search for, particular aspects of domestic life.