Powerful, hopeful, and enlightening: the story of Sir Thomas More is one that everyone should hear.

Thomas More was a remarkable sixteenth-century lawyer who, out of his faith to the Catholic church, refused to swear an oath of spiritual obedience to King Henry the Eighth after the later took it upon himself to seize power from the Catholic Church and form The Church of England.

What was most interesting is that More brilliantly refused to give the reason 'why' he would not take the oath of spiritual obedience to the king. Everyone suspected that More was refusing out of his faith to the Catholic Church, but for More to say so specifically would make him vulnerable to accusation of treason under the king's self-imposed law.

The action of silent refusal by this influential lawyer was so powerful that it was said to be a 'Silence that bellowed up and down Europe.'

In the end, this silence cost him his life.

More was such a rare individual: he was perhaps the most talented intellectual of his day, yet he never let his abilities inflate his ego. The more he lived, the more he dedicated himself to understanding and teaching by example the passion of Christ.

Peter Ackroyd is the author in this great biography. He captures the most characteristic and interesting elements of More's life while still maintaining an objective point of view.

Five stars for a terrifically executed biography of a fascinating life story.