Henry VIII: The Life and Rule of England's Nero (2025)

Tudorphiles seemingly know everything about the life and actions of Henry VIII. With nothing new to discover (apparently); the question that remains is “why” was Henry the way he was? What psychological childhood events left a mark on the man as an adult? This topic is precisely John Matusiak’s thesis in, “Henry VIII: The Life and Rule of England’s Nero”.

Trepidation instantly trickled in as Matusiak thanked such fluff authors as Carolly Erickson (!!!) and flowed into text containing inaccurate ‘facts’ within the first few pages. This is definitely an ‘uh oh’ moment for staunch history lovers. “Henry VIII” continues in a summary style rehashing the life of Henry in a popular history way (meaning no notations, few quotes, etc). What does this mean for those readers familiar with Henry VIII? Boredom.

Matusiak’s writing is overly flowery and descriptive being much better suited for a historical fiction novel. Lines describing Henry’s locks being “preened with utmost care” while he “sprinkled himself with musk, amberghs, lavender, rosewater, and orange flower…” are both tiresome and unnecessary. The entire text feels like a narration to a Tudor documentary on television with the visuals missing. Again, this is all better formatted for a HF novel.

The biggest negative factor of “Henry VIII” is Matusiak’s failure to prove his thesis. Although he sets out to pursue the psychological impacts on and of Henry; there is an absence of argument or debate and instead the pages are filled with “would have”, “must have”, and “possibly” speculation. This results in a “What is the point of this?” mentality while reading. Due to the fact that the author is

Another issue arises with Matusiak’s tone which displays an underlying contempt and disgust towards the Tudors. Although not blatant to the point where “Henry VIII” feels anti-Tudor; the writing is still negative in connotation and very passive-aggressive. In time, “Henry VIII” does improve somewhat by providing some interesting facts and thought-provoking ideas. Sadly, a follow-through is still absent and the writing is too arrogant and lacking complexity. Bottom line is that “Henry VIII” is not what Matusiak claims it to be. Although the work markedly improves, the name-calling, biases, and opinions increase making the book wholly subjective and somewhat pointless, in essence.

Naturally, a large chunk of “Henry VIII” focuses on Henry’s “Great Matter”, his break from Rome, and the dissolution of monasteries. This is the strongest portion of Matusiak’s work, as he emphasizes fact more than gossip. However, even this is diseased with inaccuracies plus issues with chronology; topped off with name-calling and ridicule. This pours into the conclusion which lacks depth and is degrading to Henry’s memory; although this shouldn’t come as a surprise in comparison to the rest of “Henry VIII”.

“Henry VIII” does include a source/notes section, however, it is jumbled, unclear, and is not referenced in the text; therefore leaving much to be desired for history buffs. Also present are color plates (in black and white) which are a tiny morsel of pleasure.

“Henry VIII” is overall nothing more than an opinion piece filled with gossip and slander (although the language is well-written). The reader will not get to know Henry except in a false light. The work is not recommended, as those new to the topic will believe the gibberish and Tudorphiles would just be offended (plus no new information is revealed). There isn’t much to compliment with “Henry VIII” and it can be stamped with a big: SKIP!

This book is a ‘must-read’ for anyone willing and able to think outside the box. Its approach is both unconventional and challenging – and all the more thought-provoking and entertaining for that very reason. Matusiak sets out deliberately, I suspect, to rattle some academic cages and succeeds admirably in the process. More importantly still, he also manages to capture the essence of Henry VIII’s personality and style of rule in a way that no number of arid monographs ever can. Is his book consistently ‘scientific’? Thankfully not. The early chapters on Henry’s childhood and youth are necessarily speculative in places, but the alternative is a ‘biography’ which largely neglects key aspects of the first seventeen years of Henry’s life – just as so many of the standard works have done to date. And the rest of the book is packed, in any case, with well-corroborated close argument and dense detail, which remains not only easy to understand, but a pleasure to read. Steve Donoghue described Matusiak’s book in Open Letters Monthly as ‘excellent throughout – acid-etched and bracingly caustic’. He was right.

2.5 stars.

Left me wishing they had history books like this when I was at school - great pace and makes the people feel real not cardboard cutouts.

Actually 3.5 stars. The book is well written and interesting and Matusiak makes his case for Henry VIII as England’s Nero thoroughly; however, there were a few basic errors in historical chronology and in people that wouldn’t have taken much time to verify and correct. In addition, it seemed to me that on a couple of occasions, Matusiak reported hearsay as fact instead of giving it a little less credence, or at least putting some quotation marks around it so we know there is some question as to its veracity. A long way round of saying he wasn’t as careful as he should have been for someone who has spent his life teaching history.

Nevertheless, he pursued his premise that Henry was an English Nero well. So many books are written and so many documentaries are made about Henry, all of them going over the same old ground: his 6 wives, his break with the Church, he pathological desire/need for a son, his wars with France. Matusiak found a new angle by approaching Henry’s motivations, attitudes, and behaviours from an almost psychological perspective. What made him the man he was? Why did he do the things he did? What was he hoping to achieve? How did he respond to setbacks and why did he respond that way? I recently watched a documentary about Nero and the premise there was that based on his childhood and adolescence, Nero never really grew up emotionally, that he was forever about 15. What I took away from Matusiak’s book was that the same could really be said of Henry. Because of how his father won the throne, because of the early death of his brother, Arthur, and his mother soon after that, and his own necessary ascension to Prince of Wales, because of his father’s treatment of him following Arthur’s death, and because he was never expected to accept the consequences of his behaviours, Henry never truly grew up (he just grew out - haha). Matusiak also does a pretty good job of concealing his own opinions of the religious wars, the characters of the men and women that surrounded Henry, and the general chaos that stemmed from Henry’s capricious behaviours. I must say, I think no better of Henry now than I did when I started. If possible, I actually think worse of him.

Excellent.

Thorough, easy to read and clearly written. This work brings the protagonists engagingly to life, and records a very creditable history of events, thoughts and even feelings.

Well researched and eloquently written. I found this account a well balanced narrative of Henry's personality and histrionics.

This is the author's 2nd. book after WOLSEY. Both are a definitive history and fluid delivery. I hope he continues to publish.

this book confirmed that im more interested im his wives

It's near impossible to read this in 2020 and not be blown over by the parallels with a certain narcissistic, self-absorbed current leader. The tantrums, the self-delusion, the utter absence of any loyalty whatsoever (despite expecting a blind 100+% in return), to say nothing of the treatment of ex-wives and children, are all far too familiar to today's American reader.

It's a densely-packed text I found intimidating to start, but ended up gobbling up almost effortlessly as the drama increasingly resonated with today's situation.

This is a superb book, not only for the fresh take on the reign of Henry VIII, but the writing style makes it easy to read and hard to put down.

The narrative guides you through Henry's life, building stories around the key characters and getting across the key information and arguments in a delightfully easy-to-understand way. As someone who has studied this period extensively, it gave a new perspective and challenged my thinking, whilst being thoroughly enjoyable to read at the same time.

I agree with the reviewer below - I do think that Matusiak sets out deliberately to rattle some academic cages, which make it even more of an entertaining read, challenging a period which is broadly thought to be understood.

Review - An interesting take on Henry VIII - it focuses very much on Henry himself, and less on the six wives and advisors. It only focuses on the latter when they exerted influence on Henry himself. The title itself is also interesting - was Henry VIII a Nero who would let Rome burn? An interesting conundrum given that he broke with Rome ...

General Subject/s? - Tudors / History / Biography / Henry VIII

Recommend? – Yes

Rating - 15/20