J.’s Reviews > The Reformation > Status Update

~67% through The Reformation — Scotland now, with John Knox emerging, and the bloodletting of the age feels relentless. One of Durant’s strengths is his refusal to flatten historical villains into cartoons; Henry VIII remains brutal, but also recognizably human—fearful, dynastic, trapped by succession anxiety, ego, desire, and power. Catherine becomes deeply sympathetic, Mary tragic before monstrous. The period feels less like ideological debate and more like civilization convulsing under theology, monarchy, legitimacy crises, and survival panic. Scotland’s story is also helping explain why Scottish and Irish historical attitudes toward England diverged so sharply.