Hampton Court Palace The Official Illustrated History Book

David Souden and Lucy Worsley present a wonderfully vivid survey of Hampton Court Palace in their story of the famous home of Henry VIII. Their story covers the period from the property’s mention in the Doomsday Book through to the present day. It’s real history begins with Cardinal Wolsey, who eventually lost his house to his sovereign, Henry VIII. The survey then runs forwards through all Henry’s successors until Victoria opens the palace to the public in 1838. During those three centuries the palace experienced both neglect and renewal. Much of what we see today can be traced back to William and Mary’s revisioning of the palace as a rival palace to France’s Louis XIV’s famously transformed hunting lodge at Versailles. Fortunately, Sir Christopher Wren’s plans, which included demolishing most of the old Tudor palace, were not fully realized. Today we have a wonderful fusion of Tudor and Baroque architecture. The final third of the book relates to the history of the restoration challenges and achievements to the palace has experienced in the past two centuries. As the last line in the book notes quite correctly, with a minor notation: “Hampton Court Palace is [English] history made visible.”