Mantel, Hilary

Wolf Hall

ISBN: 9780805080681
New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2009. First American Edition. Hardcover. "England is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and Catholic Europe oppose him. The king's quest for freedom destroys his advisor, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and creates a years-long power struggle between the Church and the Crown. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell, a wholly original man, both a charmer and a bully, an idealist and an opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy..." (from front flap) The ultra-popular, prize-winning historical novel by Hilary Mantel, the first in an acclaimed trilogy that minutely chronicles the dangerous labyrinth that was the court of King Henry VIII & its larger-than-life characters, especially the volatile King & his chief right-hand advisor Thomas Cromwell. "In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political power." (front flap) Ultimately, Cromwell would fall victim to the King's disfavor- & his own Machiavellian Machinations. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first American edition as stated on copyright page, published later the same year as the first British edition (2009), first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon. The first volume in the "Wolf Hall Trilogy," followed by Bring Up the Bodies (2012) & The Mirror and the Light (2020). The trilogy is widely recognized as a supreme achievement of historical fiction that brings to life the great sixteenth-century British Tudor Monarch & his scheming court. An essential literary-historical collectible. Book in very fine condition with only a bit of wear to edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; a few short, faint scratches at upper edge of text block; several small, light spot-stains & one faint scratch to side edge of same; one large but light spot-stain at lower edge of same. Interior very fine with only miniscule penetration of one of the light stains noted above onto blank side-edges of a relatively few page leaves. Dust jacket very fine with only a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of front, back covers & flaps. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #4306]

Price: $80.00