'… essential reading … It is bold, even radical, in its determination not to be distracted by conventional narratives of politics, and it explains extremely well how previous narratives have been constructed and why they don't work. At the same time the book is sensitive to its competitors, and is skilfully positioned in the space between Diarmaid MacCulloch's Tudor Church Militant and Jennifer Loach's Edward VI.' John Guy, University of St Andrews

• List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations and conventions; Introduction; 1. Constructing the reign of Edward VI; 2. King and kingship; 3. The dynamics of power, 1547–9; 4. Reforming the kingdom; 5. An evolving polity, 1549–53; 6. Beyond 1553: the Edwardian legacy; Bibliography; Index.

'… essential reading … It is bold, even radical, in its determination not to be distracted by conventional narratives of politics, and it explains extremely well how previous narratives have been constructed and why they don't work. At the same time the book is sensitive to its competitors, and is skilfully positioned in the space between Diarmaid MacCulloch's Tudor Church Militant and Jennifer Loach's Edward VI.' John Guy, University of St Andrews

• List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations and conventions; Introduction; 1. Constructing the reign of Edward VI; 2. King and kingship; 3. The dynamics of power, 1547–9; 4. Reforming the kingdom; 5. An evolving polity, 1549–53; 6. Beyond 1553: the Edwardian legacy; Bibliography; Index.

'… essential reading … It is bold, even radical, in its determination not to be distracted by conventional narratives of politics, and it explains extremely well how previous narratives have been constructed and why they don't work. At the same time the book is sensitive to its competitors, and is skilfully positioned in the space between Diarmaid MacCulloch's Tudor Church Militant and Jennifer Loach's Edward VI.' John Guy, University of St Andrews

• List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations and conventions; Introduction; 1. Constructing the reign of Edward VI; 2. King and kingship; 3. The dynamics of power, 1547–9; 4. Reforming the kingdom; 5. An evolving polity, 1549–53; 6. Beyond 1553: the Edwardian legacy; Bibliography; Index.