Bookies' favourite Hilary Mantel has won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction for her novel 'Wolf Hall'.
At last night's ceremony in London Mantel received a cheque for £50,000 for her win.
James Naughtie, Chair of the judges, said: "Hilary Mantel has given us a thoroughly modern novel set in the 16th century. 'Wolf Hall' has a vast narrative sweep that gleams on every page with luminous and mesmerising detail.
"It probes the mysteries of power by examining and describing the meticulous dealings in Henry VIII’s court, revealing in thrilling prose how politics and history is made by men and women.
"In the words of Mantel's Thomas Cromwell, whose story this is, "the fate of peoples is made like this, two men in small rooms. Forget the coronations, the conclaves of cardinals, the pomp and processions. This is how the world changes"."
Mantel spent five years writing 'Wolf Hall' and is working on a sequel.
