Tower - Nigel Jones

Tower - An Epic History of the Tower of London wasn't quite what I expected. I thought it would primarily focus on the architectural history, when particular sections where added or removed, when different features were placed inside. There is some of that. The second chapter is about the history of the menagerie and the mint, and later there's some discussion of its becoming more of a tourist attraction.

However, mostly the book deals with people. People who are being thrown into the Tower, then probably tortured, and also probably executed. Some of these stories can be quite entertaining - the chapter on escapes was excellent - but it's mostly depressing. It's an endless parade of people being thrown in the Tower for stupid reasons. Monarchs fearful of rivals to the throne. Religious intolerance. Behind closed doors scheming and political maneuvering. People naming names - any names they can think of - under torture, and then those names getting tossed in the clink. The one thing I took away from the book above all else was that English nobility are a bunch of assholes.

The greatest disappointment was that Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (Anne Boleyn's uncle), didn't get executed. He was one of the ones leading the charge to get her marriage to Henry annulled to try and preserve his position, and he threw her brother under the carriage right along with her. Then he did it all again later. He's one of those annoying two-bit villains that somehow keeps escaping getting squashed.

I would have found the book a much easier read if nobility didn't keep using the same names and titles over and over again. But once you're on your 5th Edward, or your 6th Duke of Suffolk, it gets exhausting trying to keep them straight in relation to each other. Especially when people lose titles only to get them back later. Also, Jones opts to refer to people by their titles rather than their names. So he'd call Howard "Norfolk", even though he's listed in the index as Howard, Thomas. So why not just call him "Thomas" or "Howard"? Those are his names.

I think it would have helped the book to focus more on each ruler individually, and what they specifically did with regards to the Tower itself. There is some of that, Henry VIII fortifying the outer walls so he can place larger cannons there. Elizabeth choosing not to live there - likely because she already spent some time there as a prisoner. But again, most of it is about who is being tossed in. I guess I was expecting more of an outright discussion of how each ruler treated the Tower as a reflection of their policies. That's there to a certain extent, if you figure things like Elizabeth throwing Catholics in prison, or Mary doing the same to Protestants, Cromwell tossing royalists in there, or Charles locking up Roundheads. But all that really boils down to, "Imprison these people I fear," which isn't instructive.