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Why it matters
Mantel shows how institutions convert rumor into fatal certainty.
Opening the archive
A celebrated work
Bring Up the Bodies
Hilary Mantel2012 selection · Literary fiction
Bring Up the Bodies
Thomas Cromwell manages Henry VIII’s turn against Anne Boleyn and the swift legal machinery that follows. Old injuries and present ambitions converge as accusations become instruments of power.
02
Read this if…
You want tense political historical fiction with a formidable central intelligence.
03
Ideas inside
powerjusticeTudor Englandrevenge
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