The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers: A Novel

I love a good history book, and this one has it all — a huge king spanning a huge history, told through the clever eyes of his fool, Will Sommers. It’s witty, rich, and full of life, bringing the Tudor world roaring back with colour, appetite, and intrigue. You feel the weight of the crown, the pulse of the court, and the danger of every whispered secret. Will’s commentary adds both humour and heart, turning what could have been a dry royal chronicle into something deeply human. If you enjoy historical fiction that teaches, entertains, and surprises, this is an absolute banquet.

Getting to love you, ....Okay, sorry about that. But basically it does describe how this book made me feel about Henry VIII, well, almost. For all of my life I disliked Henry VIII by default. You know, the usual reasons...He had six wives, he beheaded two of them, he had mistresses, illegitemate children, etc. etc. But, being a great fan of Margaret George I felt I needed to read this book. I was not disappointed. Another great historical novel by Ms. George. An extraordinary amount of research appears to have gone into this book, and Ms. George actually accomplishes to almost, _almost_, make you feel sorry for poor Henry, and successfully paints him in a more "human" light. My opinion of him has definitely changed. Okay, so he should not have just thrown Katherine of Aragon away, simply because he fell for that whore Anne Boleyn, which resulted in a break with the Roman Catholic Church. But Katherine did start to become a real bore. I can understand why he beheaded Anne. His public reasons (adultry) may have been questionable, but the witch thing? Back then you could never be too sure about those witches and what they could do. Off with her head! And Jane, poor Jane, she truly loved him and he truly loved her. How tragic that she died so soon. And then that Anne of Cleves! Wow, she must really have been a bow-wow, but then, who the hell marries a woman sight unseen? I don't care how distraught you are over the beheading of the witch. At least he was very fair in his separation of Anne of Cleves, and I think she got the better end of the deal, because by this time, Henry himself was no longer an Adonis either. And then his foolish infatuation with that second hussy, Catherine Howard. How could he not have known? She also deserved to lose her head on the chopping block, no question about that. I mean, he's the KING for crying out loud! And then the surprise marriage to Katherine Parr, dear Kate. Finally he gets lucky and marries someone nice who manages to stay alive in the process. But then of course, he dies. Ah well, such is the comedy of life. The notes by Will Somers are great, although I almost wish there had been more of them. It would have been nice to see what Will and other subjects of the King were thinking about all these crazy goings on in Henry's head. To sum it up, this was a very very good book. I am glad I read it and I am sure I will read it again soon. The descriptions of the characters and places are vivid and colorful, and the description of Henry's life is thorough and memorable. Also, read Ms. George's other books, The Memoirs of Cleopatra and Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles. Both are just as good. Don't let their size intimidate you! In the end you'll be glad they lasted as long as they did.

Most people unfairly judge Henry the 8th due to his many marriages, being so overweight and bloodthirsty. May I remind you all he lived in a bloodthirsty era with lots of people trying to take over his throne? If you read books like this, you will understand he was an incredibly gifted man, good at everything he tried, whether it was playing musical instruments, composing songs, dancing (dances of the time were extremely complicated and long), jousting (a very dangerous sport indeed), speaking and writing 6 languages, creating lyrical poetry, being a fantastic politician, etc. He also was blessed with 6 ft 2 in height, when most men were 5 ft 7 or less and a charismatic personality. Henry was married to his first wife 20 years and was in love with her. When it became obvious his only child would be Princess Mary, he then decided he must divorce and remarry to ensure the succession of the Tudors. He had to wait 6 years to finally sleep with Anne Boleyn, wife #2. hardly the acts of a lecher! Beheading was also common to the times for perceived treason against a King, any king! Who is to say breaking away from the Catholic church was a bad idea? Many of the monks and monasteries were corrupt and dissolute. Henry then kept the money given to the Pope in England, where it belonged.He prayed many times a day.When his older brother Arthur was alive, henry had been slated for a carrer inthe Church. When wife # 3 died in childbirth, Henry grieved for years and was buried beside her. A sentimental act if I ever heard one. When Thomas Cromwell was beheaded for treason against the King, he had many chance sto swear allegiance to Henry. Cromwell basically died by his own choice. After a jousting accident curtailed his physical activity, Henry did become obese comfort eating, an extremely common practice. A leg ulcer kept him in pain until his death, excusing in my opinion, his irascibility. An untreated head injury from the fall could add to all of his unusual behavior later in life. Henry was above all, human and subject to the freaks and foibles of us all.He is probably the best remembered of all Kings in history. I only hope for more positive than negative reasons!

Henry VIII was so very human in this novel, very backward in direct self awareness but always haunted by an inner truth that absolute power tries to corrupt. Something in him refused to quit searching for Truth, and I felt this in MG's capable hands saved her Henry from becoming a monster. Meanwhile, the history, the changes, the Renaissance, were always present and delightful, like the music Henry, Mark Smeaton, and Anne Boleyn composed, playing in the background. A wonderful story!

After the royal wedding on April 29th, I decided that my summer reading list should have a decided English flavor. Having just finished this masterful MG outing, I was absolutely blown away. This was easily one of the best bios I've ever read, and worth every minute and every word on every page. While we can never know the true Henry, George has brilliantly re-created the tempestuous, turbulent times surrounding Henry's court and life in Renaisance England. Understood, we can never know the real Henry, but MG's scrupulous research, pacing and character development combine to create a non-stop, ribald, roller coaster of a read. You gotta love a guy who had the balls and the brass to step up and flip the royal bird to the Vatican and tell the pope to bugger off. Talk about right time, right place. I can't help but wonder what a meeting between him and Martin Luther would have wrought!Seems H8's only problem was the women he was such a sucker for. Aragon seemed perfect until she realized her failure to produce an heir was incurable and made her crazy. Not for nothing but any other guy would have seen that abusive, manipulative, social climbing whore Boleyn coming a mile away. Then there was plain vanilla Jane, gone too soon. If only Cleves had the looks and charm to match her brains...and then, there was that messy Howard business (see Boleyn...they never learn!). At long last "Waitey" Katie Parr. Would that their union had a longer life...too good, too little, too late. And then, there is Will, Henry's Rock of Gibraltar. I think I'll miss him as much. All in all, a great read and a credible, realistic portrait of a man high born and royal, exposing all the contradictions, inner conflicts and dichotomys that complicate his otherwise "party" personae, yet provided for England the king...and heirs...it needed for its time.

This book is so addicting, despite its length. I really could not tear myself away from it. I am a huge fan of Tudor England and this was really my "gateway" drug into a full addiction! It starts with Henry's childhood and goes into (with a HUGE amount of detail) his six marriages, his break from the Catholic Church and Rome, and all of the major triumphs and .tragedies of his reign. It is told from a first person account and while incredibly long, it was such a fast read for me considering I could not put it down. The research must have taken years, and I believe it did. I really cannot say enough about this book. I am considering rereading it for the 3rd time. The only complaint I would have is that it presents Henry in a way too sympathetic light and makes him out to be a victim way too many times. HOWEVER..this is told from HENRY'S point of view, so it is likely not be the author who is apologizing for Henry's actions but rather how she felt Henry justified his actions. He likely did view himself as a victim of the circumstances. From nonfiction accounts I've read, I also believe he had more mistresses than is presented here. According to this book, he never cheated on Anne Boleyn which is very likely not the case. But those are minor things in a truly excellent story. A must read for Tudor fans!

I've always been very interested in the Tudor period, but generally I'm more interested in the women of the period. While I've read countless fiction and a handful of nonfiction about Henry's wives, I've never cared much to read about Henry himself. This was an exception, though. I've read a couple other of George's epic historical fictions (Helen of Troy and Memoirs of Cleopatra) and loved them, so I decided to give this a chance. The first time I tried to read it, I got about a third of the way in before feeling bored and moving on to something else... but I picked it up a year later, and I really did love it. The great thing about this book is that it's from Henry's perspective. George is clearly trying to get the reader to see MORE of Henry. So many people see him as this fat, womanizing tyrant who killed all his wives. But he was human, and that's what George wants you to see. Of course, first person perspective is somewhat limiting... but George lets his voice come through, she doesn't limit him. He sometimes goes off on strange rants.. he has very strong opinions about EVERYTHING. He loves deeply and hates with a passion. And not once did I think "this sounds like the author talking, not Henry"... for example, you, as the reader, believe that he REALLY thinks Anne is a witch. In order to combat some of this very limited first person perspective, there are the notes by Henry's fool, Will Somers. The notes let the reader see events that Henry wasn't present at, and they also offer a little more insight (and sometimes humor) into Henry's account. I only wish there were more notes from Will. Sometimes his insight was like a breath of fresh air (for example, when Henry is smitten with Katherine Howard, Will often interjects saying how much of an idiot Henry was being), and I found myself wanting more of it. It is a very large book, and it definitely isn't particularly fast paced. Because it's more of a journal/autobiography, there isn't much of a buildup or climax or central plot. It's just his life as he lived it. Some parts are skipped over fairly quickly (his long marriage to Katherine of Aragon, for example), and others described in great detail. Overall, that wasn't a problem, but the end did seem kind of strangely paced to me, especially after he married Catherine Parr. She was married to him for 4 years, but this time in the book went by very quickly. They got married, and then, what seemed like a few pages later, it was their 2 year anniversary. A valid excuse for this is the fact that by this time, Henry wasn't a healthy man (his hallucinations near the end become somewhat weary and overdone), and if we were to say that he really DID keep a journal, he probably would have been slacking on it around this time... but it almost felt like George kinda got tired of writing near the end and just decided to speed things up. Another strange thing about the end was that there was no mention of Mary Boleyn's daughter Catherine. The book starts off as Will sending her the journal, and telling her that Henry was her true father. She responds saying that can't be true, but he sends her the journal anyway, and as we read, we are to assume that she is the reader alongside us. Some of Will's notes are even specifically addressed TO HER. But by the second half of the book, Will doesn't mention her in his notes at all. I was expecting another exchange of letters from her at the end, but there aren't any. Again, this made it feel like George wanted to wrap things up quickly, and kind of forgot how the book STARTED. The characters were moderately well defined, or as well defined as they can be with a first person perspective. All his wives are fairly fleshed out (except for Catherine Parr, which I already mentioned). The male advisors and friends in his life (More, Brandon, Wolsey, Comwell, Cranmer) are slightly less defined, but you get the feeling that this is definitely a "Henry and his Wives" book, rather than a "Henry and his Politics" book. Nearly all the other minor characters are just glanced over... but I don't find this to be a particular fault. There were so many people at court and so many people involved in Henry's life that it would be tedious to define each and every one of them. In the end, I definitely recommend this, especially if you're already a fan of the Tudor era, Henry VIII, or just Margaret George's work. If you're not a fan of any of those, you might still like it, but it'd probably be better to get it from the library.

I've been reading my law textbooks for so long that I feel guilty to read anything "fun." With this book, I liked that I was actually learning while enjoying the story - and the story was amazing. Henry VIII had such an amazing and interesting life, and the author is very talented. I've been reading quite a bit of the history now that I've finished with the book, and I'm very happy to find that there were no liberties taken with the history from what I can tell. I'm no Tudor historian, but the hours I've spent studying the period since finishing the book haven't turned up any differences (except perhaps with the nature of his relationship with his last wife, but that seems to be up for debate anyway). I can't say enough good things about this book. If you're like me and have a hard time enjoying a novel guilt free, then this may be a good book for you - justification through education!

Une fois qu’on a ouvert ce livre est impossible de le poser. L’écriture et fluide et très agréable, l’histoire racontée colle parfaitement à l’histoire véritable

Fantastic book. Very well written and extremely entertaining.

The Autobiography Of Henry VIII - Margaret George .... A walk into the realms of the 16th Century. Well written in the words of Henry the Eighth and comments from Will the Jester. Though Henry VIII was portrayed as the worst ruler in England, this books gives in a different perspective... Yes he was not that bad - of course he indulged but had reasons for every thing he did bad. The change of belief in Christianity, between Catholicism and evolution of protestantism has always been blamed on him, but he had been a catholic till the end, only the power centre was changed by him from Rome to his own domain. The tales of his 6 wife's and seeking a male heir were impressively narrated... Since the book contains a intricate plot with details it takes a lot of time to read... The slowest read of my life... But impressive.

Excellent

I have read this book more than once, and been gripped by it every time. The Author brings the period, the history, and the man to life. You can laugh with hm, share his joys, depise his weaknesses, but ultimately, weep for his death. A remarkable man in a remarkable time.