Exemplary historical fiction - Wolf Hall

I don't read a lot of historical fiction (although I did spend several months reading War and Peace, which is the Prius/hybrid version of historical fiction, fictional characters living through world-historical events and sometimes interacting directly with historical characters, e.g., Napoleon). Most of the time I find that it's full of lengthy exposition, which often makes the novel seem like history-lite, a more palliative way to spoonfeed us the "facts" of history. One way to measure the success of historical fiction is: how well does it stand up as fiction? Would you be interested if the protagonist were not a real person? The slew of recent novels about modern artists, architects, robber barons, test pilots - how many of them are good works of fiction in and of themselves? I often feel that it's too easy a trick for the writer, and that the writers therefore get lazy in their craft. If the plot and character are already laid out for you, you should work with extra care and diligence at crafting the scenes, the dialogue, the peripheral characters. "Wolf Hall," by Hilary Mantel, so far seems to be an exemplary work of historical fiction. Set in the early 16th-century and telling the life story of Thomas Cromwell, focused on his relation (so far) with Cardinal Wolsey - these are themes that most Americans know about (esp the wives of Henry VIII), but we're not too familiar with the intricacies and personalities. Mantel does not bog us down with long expositions. She tells this story through scenes, sharply depicted, with smart dialogue. We learn about the history through extrapolation, through learning about the characters and seeing them in action. This book cries out to be made into a TV movie, and it probably will, in the inimitable British style. She has an odd tic of always referring to Cromwell as "he," making it difficult at times to follow the narrative - sometimes "he" seems to refer to Wolsey or other men. Good read, so far.