No English king is more famous or infamous than Henry VIII, popularly celebrated as the formidable and arrogant figure portrayed by Hans Holbein the Younger, the early Tudor stud who clocked up no fewer than six wives and the proto-nationalist/imperialist ruler who sent the pope packing and inaugurated the English Reformation. As befits such a colossus, masses has been written about the king, not only by contemporary and near-contemporary commentators, even William Shakespeare, but also professional and amateur historians ever since. Hence this richly illustrated survey of the evolution of Henry VIII s reputation over half a millennium."