And so Joanne Paul’s biography Thomas More: A Life is a pleasant surprise. I was relieved to find that Thomas More: A Life is not, in fact, cinematic. In Thomas More: A Life, we stand alongside a teenage Thomas More and meet a young Henry, a scholarly second son. Throughout Thomas More: A Life, the question of More’s motivations remains hazy. Paul resists this temptation ably, showing us Thomas More’s character developing over time, documented in letters, anecdotes, journal entries, and specific historical situations.