"Dr Nicholls has proved to be a resourceful choice ... he delivers an accurate, sensitive and engaging account, never allowing the reader to be lost in the quagmires of scholarly debate." <i>History</i><br /> <p>"The book is fluently written and well produced." <i>English Historical Review</i><br /> </p> <p>"An impressive achievement ... well written: lucid, concise and stylistically unpretentious." <i>Irish Historical Studies</i></p>
Acknowledgements.
A Note on Conventions.
Introduction.
1. Sixteenth-century England.
2. Divorce, Schism and Statute: England 1529-36.
3. Pilgrimage, Dissolution and Reform: England 1536-40.
4. The Last Years of Henry VIII: England 1540-47.
5. Pre-Reformation Scotland, 1528-57.
6. The Reformation and the Reign of Queen Mary: Scotland 1557-67.
7. Protector Somerset: England 1547-49.
8. The Dudley Supremacy and the Reign of Jane Grey: England 1549-53.
9. Queen Mary's Regime: England 1553-58.
10. The Third Kingdom: Ireland, and Beyond, 1529-60.
11. The Elizabethan Settlement: England 1558-63.
12. Unelizabethan England: England 1560-72.
13. The Elizabethan State: England in the 1570s and Beyond.
14. England's Empire: Ireland, and Beyond, 1560-1603.
15. The Loss of Peace: England 1580-89.
16. A Nation at War: England in the 1590s.
17. The Jacobean Minority: Scotland 1568-85.
18. The Personal Rule of James VI: Scotland 1585-1603.
19. The Elizabethan Dusk: England 1599-1603.
Further Reading.
Chronology.
Index.
The book incorporates recent work on topics such as Reformation settlements in both countries; the destruction of Anne Boleyn and Mary Queen of Scots; the characters of Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I and James VI; French intervention in Scotland; and the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Common issues explored include the tensions between centre and periphery; the relationship between monarch and subject; the developemnt of bureaucracies and 'reformed religion'; and shifting attitudes towards Ireland. Throughout the narrative, the author reflects on the reliability of historical evidence, highlighting key interpretative issues for readers new to the period.