Pre-eminent as a courtier and a humanist, a friend to Henry VIII and the author of "Utopia", Thomas More is one of the great figures of England's history; his life and career epitomize the great transformation of the country in the space of 35 years. This biography investigates the paradox of this "man for all seasons": the man of the world who travelled across Europe to negotiate on behalf of his king, and the unworldly man whose careful silence on the matter of Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn would lead to his disgrace and execution. The book provides a portrait of the first English layman to be beatified as a martyr, and of the social and cultural world in which he lived.