Young Henry: The Rise of Henry VIII, Robert Hutchinson (Phoenix, London, 2012, first published in hardback (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2011) xii, 356 pp., paperback, £9.99, ISBN 978 0 7538 2771 0

Robert Hutchinson, OBE, has a doctorate in archaeology and is an associate tutor in church history at the University of Sussex.  He was Defence Correspondent for the Press Association 1976-83 before launching Jane's Defence Weekly.  With a series of books on Tudor History, Hutchinson has established a reputation for offering accessible prose based on impressive scholarship.  Young Henry does not disappoint.

It reviews the first 35 years of Henry's life, discussing his unexpected succession as heir to the throne upon the death of his brother Arthur in 1502, his becoming King on Henry VII's death in 1509, and his early years as King given to feasting, fun and frolics.  Hutchinson demonstrates thecentrallity of the failure to have a legitimate male heir with Katherine of Aragon and his hopes for a son by Anne Boleyn, dashed by the birth of Elizabeth in 1533.  He identifies the qualities Henry VIII shared with his father but comments that Henry VII's caution was replaced by Henry VIII's impulsiveness.  Unusually in discussing the characteristics of Henry's children (Mary, Edward and Elizabeth) Hutchinson refers to them as Henry's siblings.

This lively account will appeal widely and it has been produced at a very modest price.  A chronology, dramatis personae, bibliography, full end-notes and index are provided as well as eight coloured illustrations particularly beautifully reproduced.