The Life of Sir Thomas More

English statesman and writer Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) is best remembered as both a humanist scholar-as author of the classic 1516 political satire *Utopia*-and a religious martyr: he was beheaded by King Henry VIII for refusing to acknowledge the monarch as the head of the Church of England. Much of what we know about his life comes courtesy of this biography, by his son-in-law, English politician WILLIAM ROPER (1498-1578). Written in the mid 16th century but not published till 1626, this is history told from the perspective of a primary source-it is a riveting eyewitness account of the last days of one of the great figures of English history and literature. This reprint of an 1822 edition includes some family letters, including More's last written communication before his death.