As Anne Boleyn's blood is sluiced from the scaffold, Thomas Cromwell picks his way through the wreckage of her passing to take his place as principal councillor to King Henry VIII.

As the dissolution of the monasteries gathers speed, Cromwell makes a personal pilgrimage to Shaftesbury Abbey to speak with a young nun, who profoundly shakes his view of himself.

A rising in the north destabilises Henry's kingdom. Despite the risks to his own life, Cromwell moves to protect Lady Mary from becoming the rebels' greatest prize.

The birth of a prince gives England the heir that Henry longs for, but at a terrible price. As the court grieves for Jane, it falls to Cromwell to find a fourth bride for the king.

Cromwell's marital diplomacy brings Princess Anne of Cleves to Henry's court. Will the alliance create a Protestant superpower in northern Europe, or has Cromwell's luck run out?

Cromwell is stripped of his titles and brought to the Tower of London on a charge of treason. He has no friends to speak for him but plenty of enemies among his prosecutors.