The Burning Time: Henry VIII, Bloody Mary, and the Protestant Martyrs of London

British biographer and critic Rounding (Alix and Nicky) delves into the tumultuous Tudor era, ably recounting the hunt for heretics who failed to change their beliefs in accordance with the change of monarch. Numerous innocents were killed and there were cases of powerful persecutors becoming the persecuted. Rounding complements her gift for storytelling with letters and official records to flesh out stories of specific victims (such as Protestant martyr Anne Askew), noting how many underwent a process of first trying to avoid self-incrimination but then gained a near fearlessness once they realized the futility of resistance. Descriptions of executioners’ preparations and the physical process of burning human flesh prevent the long list of lives lost from becoming mundane; instead, the burned victims serve as examples of how the Tudors feared religious dissent could devolve into treason. Rounding shows that Henry VIII’s actions kept Catholics and Protestant reformers off balance, while “Bloody” Mary I channeled her grandmother Isabella’s inquisitorial passions into her own constant—if ineffective—persecutions. Edward VI’s truncated reign receives less attention, comparatively. Rounding closes with an extended—some readers might say misguided—consideration of 21st-century terrorism and religiosity. The end aside, it’s an excellent account of 16th-century religious persecution and martyrdom. Illus. Agent: Clare Alexander, Aitken Alexander Associates. (Nov.)