Edward VI came to the throne aged nine and died only six years later, yet those six years were crucial in completing Henry VIII's break with Rome. Despite the influence of his ambitious uncle and Lord Protector - the Duke of Somerset - the young king soon proved adept at manipulating his image, developed his own theological agenda and openly confronted his Catholic half-sister Mary. His key religious innovations, most notably Cranmer's two different versions of the Book of Common Prayer, were taken up by Queen Elizabeth as foundation stones for her Reformation church settlement, the basis of later Anglicanism. Edward's reign has often been treated as a minor interlude in the great dramas of the Tudor era; this book restores it to its true complexity and significance.