In England, the 1520s, Henry VIII is on the throne but has no heir; Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor; Thomas Cromwell, Wolsey's clerk. Cromwell is a briber and a bully, an expert at manipulating people and events, and his ruthless ambition will affect politics far and wide. 'Mantel's ability to pick out vivid scenes from sources and give them life within her fiction is quite exceptional' "London Review Of Books"