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Title: Good prose not enough to overcome the tedium
Review: I wanted to recommend this work, but find I can't. The book is clearly directed at the English, with a supposition that places/names/dates are already part of the reader's cultural literacy. Without that grounding, this effort becomes a tedious read relying on someone spending inordinate time consulting outside resources.To her credit, Lady Fraser writes fine prose, and the level of detail would be engaging if it weren't for the issues I note above.Bottom line -- if you are from Britain and interesting in a deep dive, then this is probably a good buy. If you're from elsewhere, it would behoove you to do some pre-reading on English geography, English history between 1300 and 1700, and a healthy dose of ecclesiastical literature before tackling this. Otherwise, seek an overview if you want the 'high points' of Cromwell.
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