The Life of Thomas More

Peter Ackroyd is the quintessential London writer. His wonderful biography of Dickens was lit not only by his love and understanding of the writer, but also of the city which Dickens made his own. Recent novels such as The House of Doctor Dee and Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem may have taken liberties with historical fact, but their London is a fascinating, pulsating place, more their true protagonist than their eponymous heroes.

Thomas More is a prime candidate for the London treatment. Born in the city, with a life of official city duties at a time when London was highly distinct from Westminster and the court, he imbued his writings (especially Richard III and his print debate with Tyndale) with a real sense of London's uniqueness. Ackroyd's treatment is thus both apposite and, of course, highly readable. He possesses a real gift for making dry history come alive with telling detail and vivid swathes of local colour. But while the new angle might imply a new understanding of the man, ultimately, the picture is overly familiar. Ackroyd's More comes out looking very much like Robert Bolt's Man for All Seasons More--a hinge between dark medievalism and modern secular conscience. Only this time he has an inner London postcode. --Alan Stewart

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A Biography, Not A Character Study - Rated
“The Life Of Thomas More” introduces the reader, not only to his life story, but also to the world of the Upper Class Englishman of his day. A life long Londoner, More earned his way into a rarefied world of legends. Henry VIII was his patron turned persecutor, Erasmus was his friend and St. John Fisher was his co-martyr.

In his early life, More lived a life of sanctity, but displayed traits which would not suggest a saintly temperament. Working his way into high office in what was then Catholic England, More was confronted by the early infiltration of the Protestant movement. A strong supporter of the Church of Rome, More aggressively worked to suppress the rising heresy.

More’s religious fervor, which initially put him in good stead, became a handicap when Henry VIII chose to divorce and remarry. His religious consistency then led his patrons to turn on him. His efforts to avoid taking a stand on the issues of the King’s divorce and remarriage and papal supremacy ultimately failed to save his life. Recognizing his fate, More made his last testimonies at his trial and in prison to supplement his prior writings such as “Utopia”.

Although this book does well at relating More’s outstanding life and public career it fails to give the reader a feel for the man. Upon completion of the book, I felt that I knew about Thomas More, but did not feel that I knew him. I am glad that I read it, but I had hoped for more.

Simply Amazing - Rated
How Ackroyd has managed to do this I don't know. He has written a wonderful biography on a man who lived 500 years ago as if it were happening today. His descriptions of More's early life really allow you to...well...smell the life in Tudor England. Ackroyd puts across a variety of More's characteristics which are not always evident in a typical history book. More is described as someone devout, but inherently down to earth; he interacts with the people of his time and he seems to play second fiddle almost to his father who commanded his respect. A fascinating insight into the social structure of Tudor London and at times very moving. Well worth buying a copy.

A splendid and moving recreation of a world we have lost. - Rated
Saints can be obstructive, difficult, dogmatic and even inherently unlikeable. In various degrees Thomas More is all of these and more. Yet in Ackroyd's sure hands he is revealed to be both a man of his time and perhaps even a "man for all seasons" with a steadfast focus on his God and what He demands.

Ackroyd patiently and sympathetically portrays More as essentially a medieval man, born into a world of obligation. It is this sense of the overwhelming obligation of the Christian man that is striking about More. He is not a natural saint - but he does have a very clear understanding of what the duties of a Christian man are. What is deeply depressing about his relationship with Henry VIII is that Henry tells him on more than one occasion that his duty to the King is, and has to be second, to his duty to God. Ironically it is this duty to God and its precedence over his earthly allegiance to Henry that becomes his undoing.

The other moving aspect of Ackroyd's vivid portrayal is the clarity with which Ackroyd explains More's notorious attitude to heresy. As he ages, More increasingly senses in the work of Luther and others the prospect of a world falling into decay and disorder - even a world where the Last Things are near. The prevention of that catastrophe and More's fear of its happening are central to his energetic campaign against heresy. Order is everything; chaos to be avoided at all costs. (It is extremely interesting to compare More's vision of what Protestantism might bring with the state of nature described by Thomas Hobbes a century later.)

For many it may appear that More's worst fears were realised and the great fracture in Christendom did indeed herald the end of the medieval world order and the birth of a world of individuals rather than a community united by the common faith of More and millions of our ancestors.

More was not the saint he appears in "A Man For All Seasons" - Rated
I much enjoyed Peter Ackroyd's biography which I read as background in preparation to directing a production of "A Man For All Seasons". I found the early chapters hard work and skipped on to the period of his life more relevant to the play. Ackroyd presents a man who was not, by present standards, wholly likeable. Though clearly much loved by his family and very human, there is also the bigotry of the zealot in him. He seemed to delight in sending heretics or "newe men" (as he called them) to be burned at the stake. During his long incarceration in the Tower, he became understandably obsessed with his fate and, it must be said, it was a dreadful prospect. Robert Bolt's More in "A Man For All Seasons" is a much more sanitised character than Ackroyd presents to us.

A scholarly, brilliantly written and very moving biography - Rated
Why is Thomas More such a heroic figure, even today? Is it entirely due to 'A Man for all Seasons'? This brilliantly written biography shows us a man who is both loveable and beloved, by his friends and family; a brilliant lawyer, trusted diplomat and public servant, skillful writer, both forward thinker and man of conscience. This being a book by Peter Ackroyd, More the Londoner is most vividly portrayed. I had wondered if my hero worship was really inspired by Paul Scofield rather than Thomas More himself, but this wonderful book reassured me that Thomas More himself merited all the admiration that he is still given today.