As we splashed through a puddle I saw a blob of mud fly out and hit the coat of Treasurer Rowland, who had pressed himself against the wall to avoid our rush. I felt a momentary stab of satisfaction.’ of serial killers. But in the Sixteenth Century, a time of intense religious fervour, some can only fathom it as demonic possession. Sansom brings Tutor England to life and makes us see what a difficult time it was in which to live. He doesn’t present the romanticized image, but gives us a look at the dangers of the time from social and religious reforms to poverty to mental illness being labeled possession, without ever slowing down the story or being preachy. Many believed then, exactly as Christian fundamentalists do today, that they lived in the 'last days' before Armageddon and, again just as now, saw signs all around the world that they took as certain proof that the Apocalypse was imminent. Again like fundamentalists today, they looked on the prospect of the violent destruction of mankind without turning a hair. The remarkable similarity between the first Tudor Puritans and the fanatics among today's Christian fundamentalists extends to their selective reading of the Bible, their emphasis on the Book of Revelation, their certainty of their rightness, even to their phraseology." The King did not look kindly on those who kept secrets from him. I realized I was involved again in something that could get me in bad odour with the King. Something dangerous. A second time, I might not survive. Yet I had sworn; there was nothing to do but go on.”

Revelation by C. J. Sansom - Pan Macmillan

The BBC have commissioned an adaptation of Dissolution with the actor Kenneth Branagh set to star as Shardlake. The rest of the Shardlake books are expected to follow. C. J. Sansom has been consulted on the series, which is in the final stages of negotiation.[citation needed]. Another element of this novel is Shardlake’s interaction with his client Adam Kite who is a patient at the Bedlam insane asylum. Although we do not know what these kind of facilities were like during the Tudor times, Sansom’s descriptions of mental illness and how people were treated is so believable that you forget that it is fiction. The way that Sansom blends religious radicalism, politics, mental illness, innovations in science, and murder in this novel is nothing short of ingenious. That is Sansom’s true strength as an author. He can create such a believable Tudor world that you never want to leave. There were points in this novel where I questioned whether Shardlake, Barak, and Guy would survive this entire ordeal. Sansom kept me on the edge of my seat throughout this entire novel. Another great instalment in one of my favourite series. It’s so sad I hear literally no one talk about these. Anyone who’s a fan of Tudor England and mysteries will adore them. There so well written and keep you interested throughout, despite the length of the novels. Shardlake takes on Elliard’s case. He promises his widow that he won’t stop until the killer is caught. Shardlake despises working closely with the Privy Council, though. He knows that anyone who is close to the king, in any capacity, is in constant danger because of the king’s mercurial, tyrannical temper. However, Shardlake works with Cranmer and the others because it is the only way to avenge Elliard.

Flood, Alison (10 March 2009). "Obama battles vampires for Galaxy prize". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 19 September 2010. With this installment in the Matthew Shardlake series, I think I can safely say that CJ Sansom has taken his place as my second favorite modern author (Sharon Kay Penman being my favorite). I have given this book some time to swirl around in my mind since I finished it, and I'm still not sure that I can do it justice. The plot centres around the challenges of Reformation England, [2] draws on the prophesies of the Book of Revelation and features Archbishop Cranmer. [1] Awards and nominations [ edit ] Shardlake takes on a case with political & religious connotations afoot which align to professional suicide so all warn him...... then the murders start! Are they linked.....? And then the guessing game begins Violent clashes of radical religious groups; tax increases to fund foreign wars; whales washed up in the Thames; scandalous public care of the mentally ill; even references to a man killing prostitutes in East Anglia. No, not a round-up of recent headlines, but some of the plot strands in Revelation, the fourth in CJ Sansom's superb Tudor detective series. The past is not so foreign after all.

Dissolution by C. J. Sansom - Pan Macmillan Dissolution by C. J. Sansom - Pan Macmillan

He has created a hugely detailed and wonderfully plausible picture of life in 16th Century London as religious schisms threaten to tear the country apart but he sweetens the pot in this tale of a Tudor serial killer by having his characters talking in modern English. A very superior entertainment., Mail on Sunday Publishing his first book in 2003 titled ‘Dissolution’, he leaped onto the literary scene with the first in his ‘Matthew Shardlake’ series of novels. Set within the historical mystery genre, he started to gain attention thanks to his keen eye for detail and accuracy. With that he started to gain more prominence within his field as his career began to take off. A serial killer is using the Book of Revelation for his murders in this outstanding whodunit featuring the bestselling Tudor lawyer Matthew Shardlake., Sunday Times Culture - Your 100 Best Holiday Reads The family of one such man, Adam Kite, has sought help from lawyer Matthew Shardlake. Adam is suffering from religious mania, and is being held in Bedlam for his own safety. But Shardlake is distracted from the case when his friend Roger Elliard is found brutally murdered – the victim of a serial killer inspired by the Book of Revelation. So Shardlake begins his investigation, and as he does, he realises that these grisly murders are linked, and have a pattern that brings a chill to his heart. The race is on to find this murderer, before he kills again, but he is always one step ahead and is following Shardlake and his assistant Barak.He does – ghastly, macabre, horrifying trophies. I’m not generally a fan of serial killer stories, but for some reason, I can read these – perhaps because they take place so long ago, I can escape. The other great appeal of these books, apart from the cast of regular characters, is the richness of Sansom's historical research. He has a doctorate in history and a previous career as a lawyer, but wears his considerable expertise lightly. He also achieves the rare alchemy of combining characters who are sympathetically modern in their psychology with a setting that is authentically historical. He leads us through 16th-century London as confidently as if he lived there himself and even without the helpful endpaper maps, the reader can immediately visualise the muddy streets, the marshes along the South Bank and the ancient City walls. Meanwhile, the political landscape of Tudor England is slowly changing. In 1543, King Henry VIII has recently executed his fifth wife, the young Catherine Howard. He is already on the lookout for his sixth wife, and he has set his sights on Lady Catherine Parr. Catherine has no interest in the king. He is ill and obese, covered in ulcers from lying around all the time. However, Catherine’s own supporters want her to marry him. She is a Reformer, supporting the growing Protestant religion. Her supporters know that she can further the Protestant religion if she is in power. The Bedlam Hospital that appears in Revelation is no figment of the author’s imagination. It is fashioned after what is perhaps the oldest hospital for the mentally ill in the Western world, Bethlem Hospital in London. Bethlem has also gone by the name Bedlam, the root of the modern English word bedlam, meaning "uproarious confusion." Open at first to small groups of patients in the 1300s, Bethlem hospital was long the only hospital in Britain for the mentally ill. The wealthy families who could afford to have patients confined and "treated" unwittingly (or wittingly) subjected their loved ones to cruel and inhumane conditions.

Revelation Summary | SuperSummary Revelation Summary | SuperSummary

The other great appeal of these books, apart from the cast of regular characters, is the richness of Sansom's historical research... He also achieves the rare alchemy of combining characters who are sympathetically modern in their psychology with a setting that is authentically historical. He has also written Winter in Madrid, a thriller set in Spain in 1940 in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Intriga histórica de 10, cómo nos tiene acostumbrados. Ambientación excepcional en los últimos años del reinado de Enrique VIII, 1543. El rey parece que está dando sus últimos coletazos, a nivel personal cortejando a la que será su sexta esposa, Catalina Parr y a nivel político religioso intentando limitar la proliferación del protestantismo radical y volviendo en cierta medida a los usos católicos tradicionales, una vez desligado de Roma y con las riquezas de la iglesia en la buchaca.This story is much darker than the previous volumes, with a serial killer stalking victims and torturing them according to his interpretation of verses in the book of Revelation. Sansom takes this opportunity to evaluate the religious war taking place in England at the time along with Matthew's personal doubts. Terror stalks Tudor London in this latest pungently atmospheric novel from the master of the historical murder mystery., Sunday Times Culture Schoolboy rivalries in the Spanish civil war A review of Winter in Madrid, in Telegraph, 26 February 2006

C. J. Sansom Books | Waterstones C. J. Sansom Books | Waterstones

En este ambiente nuestro abogado Shardlake se enfrenta a una serie de brutales asesinatos con un fuerte tinte religioso en una sociedad fuertemente tensionada y dividida entre las distintas tendencias religiosas, cada vez más polarizadas.Shardlake is a busy London lawyer who used to work for Thomas Cromwell, but with Cromwell gone (executed), he has been leading a more ordinary life and trying to stay out of King Henry VIII’s line of fire. When an old friend is horrifically murdered Shardlake promises his widow, for whom he has long had complicated feelings, to bring the killer to justice. His search leads him to both Cranmer and Catherine Parr – and to the dark prophecies of the Book of Revelation.