In July of 1535, the English statesman and writer Thomas More was brought to trial, found guilty of malicious treason against King Henry VIII, and beheaded. "I die the King's good servant," he declared in his final words, "and God's first." But in the course of his fifteen-month imprisonment in the Tower of London, this "man for all seasons"--now facing a final riddle of how "a man may lose his head and have no harm"--wrote a collection of letters, instructions, and prayers to family and friends. In this exquisitely written book, More scholar Stephen Smith guides readers through these powerful meditations on duty, virtue, friendship, conscience, and the ultimate questions of life and death.