120,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Enjoy overnight delivery from our 100% NZ-owned independent bookstore 🚀

The Cardinal

from the Sunday Times bestseller, the gripping new novel about the man behind the Tudor crown
4.08 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 2,430 ratings, 466 reviews)
Brief Description
'Alison Weir has this astonishing ability to make history come alive and jump right off the pages' ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐'Thomas's story is incredible' ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐'A gripping tale of power and downfall, passion and principle, it is Alison Weir at her best' ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐'Accessible and... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of The Cardinal. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Step into the thrill and danger of Tudor England in the rich, compelling new novel from Sunday Times bestseller Alison Weir - and witness the rise and fall of Cardinal Wolsey.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
'Alison Weir has this astonishing ability to make history come alive and jump right off the pages' ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐

'Thomas's story is incredible' ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐

'A gripping tale of power and downfall, passion and principle, it is Alison Weir at her best' ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐

'Accessible and human' ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐

'Captivating and emotive...a must read for all lovers of Tudor history' ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐

Step into the thrill and intrigue of Tudor England and discover the secret life of Cardinal Wolsey in the rich, compelling new novel from Sunday Times bestseller Alison Weir.

'A rich and textured portrait of Cardinal Wolsey' THE TIMES

'Nobody brings historical characters to life like Alison Weir' TRACY BORMAN

AN EXTRAORDINARY RISE TO POWER. A TRAGIC FALL FROM GRACE.

It begins with young Tom Wolsey, the bright and brilliant son of a Suffolk tradesman, sent to study at Oxford at just eleven years old.

It ends with a disgraced cardinal, cast from the King's side and estranged from the woman he loves.

The years in between tell the story of a scholar and a lover, a father and a priest. From the court of Henry VIII, Tom builds a powerful empire of church and state. At home in London, away from prying eyes, he finds joy in a secret second life.

But when King Henry, his cherished friend, demands the ultimate sacrifice, what will Wolsey choose?

Alison Weir's riveting new Tudor novel reveals the two lives of Cardinal Wolsey, a tale of power, passion and ambition.

PRAISE FOR ALISON WEIR'S TUDOR FICTION

'This is where the story of the Tudors begins' TRACY BORMAN

'History has the best stories and they should all be told like this' CONN IGGULDEN

'As always, Alison Weir is ahead of the curve - and at the top of her game' SARAH GRISTWOOD

'Weir is excellent on the little details that bring a world to life' GUARDIAN

'Profoundly moving... lingers long after the last page' ELIZABETH FREMANTLE

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781035416233

Publisher: Headline Publishing Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 29 January 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Headline Review

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 34.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 330g

Pages: 480

About the Author

Alison Weir is a bestselling historical novelist of Tudor fiction, and the leading female historian in the United Kingdom. She has published more than thirty books, including many leading works of non-fiction, and has sold over three million copies worldwide.

Her novels include the Tudor Rose trilogy, which spans three generations of history's most iconic family - the Tudors, and the highly acclaimed Six Tudor Queens series about the wives of Henry VIII, all of which were Sunday Times bestsellers.

Alison is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an honorary life patron of Historic Royal Palaces.

Also by Alison Weir

View all
  • The Six Wives of Henry VIII
    Thoroughly researched and with a real understanding of the times these six fascinating women lived through, Alison Weir's book reveals a Tudor England where personal needs and private emotion could, and frequently did, override or influence national events. One of the most powerful monarchs in British history, Henry VIII ruled England in unprecedented splendour. In this remarkable composite biography, Alison...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    (1)
    Backorder
    Ships mid October
  • Queens of the Age of Chivalry
    The third volume in Alison Weir's magisterial history of the queens of medieval England. Queens of the Age of Chivalry is the third volume of Alison Weir's magisterial history of the queens of medieval England. 'Weir's history books are as gripping as novels' - The Times Medieval queens were seen as mere dynastic trophies, yet, as Alison Weir shows in...
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Queens of the Crusades
    The next volume in Alison Weir's magisterial history of the queens of Medieval England includes the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the subject of Alison's most successful book. Stunning... Weir has brought those five queens to life like never before. I just raced through it - it has all the drama and suspense of a novel - Tracy Borman Crusading...
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Queens of the Conquest
    Full of passion and betrayal, murder and war, the first volume of an epic new series from bestselling historian Alison Weir, bringing five of England's medieval queens to life. Queens of the Conquest is a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year. Love, murder, war, betrayal — this is the story of the five extraordinary queens who helped the Norman kings...
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Queens at War
    Triumph and tragedy, love and loss, murder and malice in the lives of five fifteenth-century queens. The fifteenth century was a turbulent age - the Hundred Years War between England and France, and the Wars of the Roses dominated the lives of people both inside and out of the royal courts. Joan of Navarre, Katherine of Valois, Margaret of Anjou,...
    Paperback
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Boleyn Secret
    From the bestselling author of Six Tudor Queens, a captivating new novel about two Boleyn cousins, close as sisters - and the truth that will change everything. 'Nobody brings historical characters to life like Alison Weir' TRACY BORMAN A BOLEYN WOMAN IS NO STRANGER TO SECRETS... At twelve years old, Kate Carey attends her aunt, Queen Anne Boleyn, to the...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Isabella
    The first full-length biography of a much maligned—but astonishingly colourful—Queen of England. Described by Christopher Marlowe as the 'She-Wolf of France', Isabella was one of the most notorious femme fatales in history. According to popular legend, her angry ghost can be glimpsed among church ruins, clutching the beating heart of her murdered husband. But how did Isabella acquire this reputation?...
    Paperback
    $4499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Lancaster And York
    A riveting account of the Wars of the Roses, focusing on the human side of the story. The war between the houses of Lancaster and York for the throne of England was characterised by treachery, deceit and—at St Albans, Blore Hill and Towton—some of the bloodiest and most dramatic battles on England's soil. Between 1455 and 1487 the royal coffers...
    Paperback
    $4499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Elizabeth of York
    Britain's foremost female historian reveals the true story of this key figure in the Wars of the Roses and the Tudor dynasty who began life a princess, spent her youth as a bastard fugitive, but who finally married the first Tudor king and was the mother of Henry VIII. Weir perfectly combines the dramatic colour and timing of an historical...
    Paperback
    $4499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Children of England
    A sequel to The Six Wives of Henry VIII, this vivid and compelling book tells the story of Henry's children and those of his sister Mary - popular history at its best. 'Recounted with her usual lively thoroughness by Alison Weir, my favourite Tudor historian' Philippa Gregory When Henry VIII died in 1547, he left three highly intelligent children to...
    Paperback
    $4500
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Katherine Swynford
    The first full-length biography of an extraordinary love affair between one of the most important men of English History and a thoroughly modern woman. Weir combines high drama with high passion while involving us in the domestic life of a most remarkable woman in an equally remarkable book - Scotland on Sunday The first full-length biography of an extraordinary love...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • Mary Boleyn
    The first full-scale biography of Mary Boleyn, one of the most misunderstood figures of the Tudor period, by the UK's bestselling female historian, Alison Weir. Sister to Anne Boleyn and seduced by two kings, Mary Boleyn has long been the subject of scandal and myth. Her affair with Henry VIII fuelled the shocking annulment of his marriage to Anne, and...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from Historical Fiction

View all
  • The Parisian Chapter
    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library and The Librarians of Rue de Picardie comes a charming and cinematic novel following a young woman from Montana who lands a job in the American Library in Paris, where she discovers the power of storytelling and writes her own Parisian chapter.'Stirring and rich with detail' New York Times...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Inferno
    AD 60. Nero Claudius Caesar is Emperor. He is feared for his temper. He is known to be intoxicated by the power he wields. And why not? The Roman Empire stretches from the wilds of Britain to the deserts of Parthia. Nero is god of all he surveys. Yet dangerous traitors lie close at hand. Generals commanding legions. Senators whispering...
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Circle of Days
    From the master of epic fiction comes the deeply human story of one of the world's greatest mysteries: the building of Stonehenge. A FLINT MINER WITH A GIFT Seft, a talented flint miner, walks the Great Plain in the high summer heat, to witness the rituals that signal the start of a new year. He is there to trade his...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Soldier's Daughter
    The heart-stopping new blockbuster by the bestselling author of The Fallen Woman. Violet Nash has grown up in the shadows of her father Charlie's shattered dreams. It's been years since he walked away from the battlefields of France, a WWI hero but his heart in tatters, only to see it broken all over again in the worst way possible. In...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Girl with the Suitcase
    The enthralling new novel from the 10-million-copy, No. 1 bestselling author. London 1941 When Mary meets a glamorous stranger named Elizabeth, she realises their lives couldn't be more different. But when an air raid forces them to take shelter underground, Mary's life is set to change forever. After waking up in hospital, injured but alive, the nurse mistakes her for...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Lost Bookshop
    Evie Woods' stunning new novel The Story Collector is available now. The Echo of Old Books meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets. ‘The thing about books,’ she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.’ On a quiet street in...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2500
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Atmosphere
    The new novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six. An epic novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle programme and the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits. In the summer of 1980, astrophysics professor Joan Goodwin begins...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    Backorder
    Ships late September
  • All the Diamonds in Paris
    Kristin Harmel is firmly in the top echelon of WW2 storytellers - HEATHER MORRIS A master storyteller - SANTA MONTEFIORE The best at sweeping historical drama - KELLY HARMS A dazzling diamond of a novel - HAZEL GAYNOR * Paris, 1942: Anabel Martinet is a jewel thief, descended from a family that has spent centuries stealing from the unkind and...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Listeners
    ‘By turns a beautiful love story, a fascinating glimpse into the horrors of history and a haunting tale of loyalty and courage. A marvel of storytelling’ CHRIS WHITAKER, bestselling author of All the Colours of the Dark The Avallon Hotel offers unrivalled luxury in the wild Appalachian Mountains, its curative sweetwater washing away the troubles of high society. June 'Hoss'...
    Paperback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Song of Achilles
    The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is a brilliantly crafted retelling of the ancient Greek epic of Achilles and Patroclus, transforming the classical myth into a profoundly moving love story. Set against the richly depicted backdrop of Greece during the heroically tumultuous age, the narrative follows Patroclus, an awkward and exiled young prince, who is taken to the court...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Mythos
    Mythos by Stephen Fry is a compelling retelling of the classic Greek myths, reimagined with a wit and elegance that only Fry can deliver. This volume transports the reader to a world where mortals intertwine with the divine, and the timeless tales unfold in a spellbinding narrative that captures the imagination. From the cosmogony—the birth of the cosmos—to the exploits...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Four Winds
    Kristin Hannah is a classic storyteller and The Four Winds sees her at the top of her game - Matt Haig Powerful and compelling - Delia Owens, number one international bestselling author of Where the Crawdads Sing A story of love, family, unbreakable bonds, bravery and hope. I loved this book so much! - Christy Lefteri, bestselling author of The...
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

Historical Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!