Thomas Cranmer, by Diarmuid MacCulloch (Yale, £12.50 in UK)

Cranmer, this book claims, is virtually the architect of the Reformation in England, though he is remembered mainly for his Book of Common Prayer and his eventual martyrdom at the stake. At well over 600 pages long, this biography is densely detailed and the intricate, shifting religious politics of Tudor times are not easy to follow. As Archbishop of Canterbury Cranmer threw himself behind Henry VIII's break with Rome and his doctrine of Royal Supremacy, but he backed Lady Jane Grey's abortive rebellion against the accession of Mary Tudor and was branded a traitor. Though he was a skilful manoeuvrer and politician, his sincerity at the end seems proven and his death created a prestigious Protestant martyr. A sober, scholarly book which needs more than a quick reading to do it justice.B.F.Reviewers: Brian Fallon, Arminta Wallace, Eileen Battersby, Vincent Banville