The description of Wolf Hall from B&N says:
England in the 1520s 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 most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
While this description is certainly accurate, it does not get to the meat of what the book is about. It is really a biopic of the life of Thomas Cromwell, beginning with his adolescence and continuing through the death of Thomas More and the beginning of Henry's disenchantment with Anne Boleyn. Cromwell certainly lived an adventurous life, which prepared him for the political wrangling of Henry's court. I liked this book as it deals in one of my favorite historical periods. However, I can only give it 4 stars as Mantel's writing style can be difficult. This winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize is informative and sweeping, but not for fans of light reading.
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