The Burning Time

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Deeply researched and fascinating' SpectatorLondon's Smithfield was once a place of revelry, the location for the medieval celebrations of St Bartholomew's Day, of tournaments and, of course, the famous meat market. Yet in Tudor England, Smithfield had another, more sinister use: the public execution of heretics.The Burning Time tells the story of the first English martyrs, the Catholics who cleaved to Rome in defiance of Henry VIII's break with the papacy. But with the accession of Henry's daughter - soon to be nicknamed 'Bloody Mary' - the charge of heresy was instead levelled against staunch Protestants.At the centre of Virginia Rounding's vivid account of this extraordinary period are two very different men - Richard Rich, Thomas Cromwell's protégé, and John Deane, Rector of St Bartholomew's. Both were able to navigate the treacherous waters of changing dogma and survive three Tudor monarchs, but one would send hundreds to their deaths, while the other fought to save lives.This is their story, but it is also the story of the hundreds of men and women who were put to the fire for their faith. It is a gripping insight into a time when people were willing to die, and kill, in the name of religion.