C. J. Sansom Livres

Angleterre, 1546. Rien ne va plus au royaume des Tudors : alors qu'il s'apprête à pousser son dernier soupir, Henri VIII tente un ultime rapprochement avec le catholicisme. La chasse aux hérétiques protestants est de nouveau ouverte. Matthew Shardlake, le célèbre avocat, est alors contacté par Catherine Parr, sixième épouse du souverain, terrifiée : fervente protestante, elle vient de se faire dérober son journal intime, la menaçant d'une mort certaine. Et toute la dynastie des Tudors risquerait de tomber dans sa chute. Pour Shardlake, le défi est de taille. Entre sombres machinations, passions dévastatrices et tensions religieuses, il est prêt à tout pour sauver sa fidèle protectrice... " Une formidable fresque humaine et historique. " Le Figaro Magazine

It is 1540, and Henry VIII has been on the throne for thirty-one years when Matthew Shardlake, the lawyer renowned as " the sharpest hunchback in the courts of England," is pressed to help a friend's young niece who is charged with murder. Despite threats of torture and death by the rack, the girl is inexplicably silent. Shardlake is about to lose her case when he is suddenly granted a reprieve - one that will ensnare him again in the dangerous schemes of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's feared vicar general. In exchange for two more weeks to investigate the murder, Shardlake accepts Cromwell's assignment to find a lost cache of Dark Fire , an ancient weapon of mass destruction. Cromwell, out of favor since Henry's disastrous marriage to Anne of Cleves, is relying on Shardlake's discovery to save his position at court, which is rife with conspiracy

York, 1541. Aux portes de la ville, quatre têtes coupées sur des piques, font le régal des corbeaux. C'est la réponse, royale et sanglante, à la conspiration papiste. Bientôt, le roi lui-même viendra mettre un ternie, par sa seule présence, aux troubles de la province. D'ici là, Matthew Shardlake, avocat à la Cour, assurera la protection du meneur catholique, le bouillant Broderick, jusqu'à son transfert à Londres où l'hérétique sera replis aux questionneurs de la Tour... Quel entêtement dans son silence ! Très vite, Shardlake devine que la rébellion du Yorkshire menace bien moins l'unité religieuse du pays que la légitimité de la Couronne. Connaissant Henri VIII, dont la cruauté proverbiale a souillé le nom des Tudor, l'avocat se sait lui-même en grand danger.

Angleterre, 1537. En butte aux menées du redoutable Thomas Cromwell, le clergé catholique jadis tout-puissant perd son pouvoir, voit ses biens confisqués et ses monastères sont menacés de dissolution. Partout, la révolte gronde. Après la décapitation d'un commissaire du roi à Scarnsea, l'ardent réformateur anglican Matthew Shardlake est envoyé sur les lieux. Dans le monastère glacial, son enquête se heurte au mutisme des moines. Chacun d'entre eux semble avoir quelque chose à cacher. Quels secrets pèsent sur ces lieux ? Qui veut-on protéger ? Alors que la mort frappe de nouveau, Shardlake doit percer au plus vite les mystères de cette étrange congrégation. Mais il ignore encore à quel point de terribles découvertes ébranleront ses plus profondes convictions...

'C. J. Sansom's books are arguably the best Tudor novels going' - The Sunday TimesFollowing on from Dissolution and Dark Fire, Sovereign is the third gripping historical novel in C. J. Sansom's number one bestselling Shardlake series, perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory.England, 1541. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission by his rebellious subjects in York.Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak, whom have reluctantly undertaken a special mission for Archbishop Thomas Cranmer - to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator who is to be returned to London for interrogation.But the murder of a York glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York castle but to the royal family itself. And when Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret documents which could threaten the Tudor throne, a chain of events unfolds that will lead Shardlake to face the most terrifying fate of the age . . .This is the third novel in C. J. Sansom's internationally bestselling Shardlake series. It is followed by Revelation, the fourth book in the series.

'C. J. Sansom's books are arguably the best Tudor novels going' - The Sunday TimesWinner of the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, Dark Fire is the second thrilling book in C. J. Sansom's number one bestselling Shardlake series, perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory.England, 1540. Out of favour with Thomas Cromwell, Matthew Shardlake is intent on keeping a low profile in the courts. But his involvement with a murder case, defending a girl accused of brutally killing her young cousin, brings him once again into contact with the King's chief minister - and a new assignment . . .The secret of Greek Fire, the legendary substance with which the Byzantines destroyed the Arab navies, has been lost for centuries. Now an official of the Court of Augmentations has discovered the formula in the library of a dissolved monastery. When Shardlake is sent to recover it, he finds the official and his alchemist brother brutally murdered - the formula gone.Now Shardlake must follow the trail of Greek Fire across Tudor London, while still trying to prove his young client's innocence. But very soon he discovers nothing is as it seems . . .This is the second novel in C. J. Sansom's gripping historical series. It is followed by Sovereign, the third book in the series.

The fourth book in the Shardlake mystery series takes place in 1543. When an old friend of Matthew Shardlake's is murdered, he vows to bring the killer to justice. His search leads him back to the dark prophecies of the Book of Revelation--and a series of horrific murders.

Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel. As the English fleet gathers at Portsmouth, the country raises the largest militia army it has ever seen. The King has debased the currency to pay for the war.

"Summer, 1549. Two years after the death of Henry VIII, England is sliding into chaos... the economy is in collapse, inflation rages and rebellion is stirring among the peasantry. Since the old King's death, Matthew Shardlake has been working as a lawyer in the service of Henry's younger daughter, the Lady Elizabeth. The gruesome murder of Edith Boleyn, the wife of John Boleyn - a distant Norfolk relation of Elizabeth's mother - which could have political implications for Elizabeth, brings Shardlake and his assistant Nicholas Overton to the summer Assizes at Norwich. There they are reunited with Shardlake's former assistant Jack Barak. The three find layers of mystery and danger surrounding Edith's death, as a second murder is committed. And then East Anglia explodes, as peasant rebellion breaks out across the country. The yeoman Robert Kett leads a force of thousands in overthrowing the landlords and establishing a vast camp outside Norwich. Soon the rebels have taken over the city, England's second largest. Barak throws in his lot with the rebels; Nicholas, opposed to them, becomes a prisoner in Norwich Castle; while Shardlake has to decide where his ultimate loyalties lie, as government forces in London prepare to march north and destroy the rebels. Meanwhile he discovers that the murder of Edith Boleyn may have connections reaching into both the heart of the rebel camp and of the Norfolk gentry..."--Publisher.

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