The Six Wives of Henry VIII

I was really excited to read this book to find out more about all of the wives because there were a lot of blanks in my knowledge but this book definitely filled those gaps plus confirmed things I was unsure about and dismissed some off the stereotypes there were about the wives which I was happy with. Firstly the book talks about Catherine Of Aragon and I was happy that it didnt start with her as queen of England because her story before becoming queen is a very interesting and gripping one and I was keen to find out more about it because my only knowledge about that part of her life was from "The Constant Princess" by Phillipa Gregory which turned out to be quite accurate but still I was still able to be very interested in it and learned many new things about her upbringing and her marriage to Prince Arthur and learned more about the extremes of the suffering she was subjected to in England before being betrothed to the Prince Harry and becoming queen of England. I already had a lot of knowledge about her reign as queen but again I was able to learn many more things about her and the King Henry during the period which was good. I thought that the description of Catherine's life after the annulment of her marriage was excellent and it was very gripping learning about the cruelty that she was subjected too by the King and his new mistress Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn's section was again very gripping as she played a big part in history and it followed excellently from Catherine's section as her cruelty was obviously on going until her death. I loved how the contrast of the opinion of the public between the two queens was shown and it was shocking how the public opinion changed so quickly from love of Catherine to hate for Anne and this was portrayed very well by Weir throughout Anne's section. I had little knowledge of how Anne Boleyn contributed to history and again her story was told with excellent clarity and it was even more gripping learning about how this queen acted around the king and how daring she was. I was very interested by how Weir portrayed her downfall and the many reasons behind it which had inspired me to read her book dedicated to those four months named "The lady in the tower, the fall of Anne Boleyn". Weir also exceptionally explained many of the stereotypes linked with Anne and was shocked to find out how inaccurate they were such as the rumor that she has six fingers when in fact she only has a very small deformity where she had a double nail on one of her fingers. During Anne's story, the next queen - Jane Seymour was introduced serving Anne Boleyn and her household and later to becoming Henry's mistress and it was extremely interesting to learn that there were similarities between Anne and Jane when I thought they would be very opposite in personalities. The only small thing that I was hoping there would be more of, is more information about the accusations made by Lady Rochford again Anne. Jane Seymour's upbringing was obviously not as interesting as the past two wives because Catherine's parents were the rulers in Spain and Anne came from the influential Howard family, but her upbringing was till good to find out about. Obviously as Jane reign as queen was only around one and a half years, her contribution to history wasn't as big as the two previous consorts except she was the only one to give birth to a male heir that lived past infancy who went on to become King Edward VI of England. It was fascinating to find out how much this boy meant to him and how he was deeply effected by the death of Jane to the point that she was the only wife to be buried beside him despite the many years of love from wives before her (even thought their marriages were made invalid, he loved those wives for a significant amount of time). Also the portrayal of the public opinion of Jane which was very positive again showed excellently how much Anne Boleyn was disliked by the public and in fact a lot of the aristocracy. Jane's relationship's with the kings then illegitimate female children and wish to have them returned to favor and Henry's opposition to this idea was very well portrayed by Weir and gave an even deeper incite to his desperation for a boy and therefore heir. Anne Of Cleves's section in the book was in my opinion brilliant and extremely interesting as I was able to learn a lot more about her childhood and upbringing. The section also dismissed the stereotype that she was a "Dim fat girl" which I admit is not said in Weir's book but by David Starkey in his versions but in Weir book it is said that many thought the opposite except obviously the king. Weir goes into more detail about the reign of Anne of Cleves than many authors do which I was very happy about because she is on of my personal favourites from the Tudor period but more importantly because she is usually overlooked quite a lot, despite a very interesting even though her reign was only for 6 months. This section also gave me a larger incite into Anne of Cleves's opinion of the marriage as she was obviously very quick to accept the divorce and be rid of the marriage to the king. From this she then became the kings "sister" and was granted amount of money per year and many households, one of them being the original Boleyn household Hever Castle which still stands today. From this we can also see a way that the Henry's first queen Catherine of Aragon could have easily avoided the cruelty that she and her daughter Mary (the then future queen) were subjected too by the King and his second wife Anne Boleyn. This is one of the only books which goes into greater detail about her life after the divorce during the reign of former lady in waiting Katherine Howard. Again I enjoyed the detail that Weir provided about the relationship between Anne and her step children which was a very good one continuing even after the divorce especially in the case of Mary. I thoroughly enjoyed the part about Katherine Howard especially learning about her upbringing in the dowager duchess of Norfolk's household as it went into good detail throughout the section and this pleased me especially because I have only ever read one novel (so therefore probably not too accurate) about Katherine's upbringing. Even though her reign was short, it was definitely as interesting one and Weir managed to portray that well. Again like in Anne Boleyn's section I enjoyed reading about her downfall and was very much gripped by it and also shocked about how it came about and the people involved. The only things I would say about this section as an improvement would be that again I would have liked to of had more information about Lady Rochford who was obviously a key person in her downfall as she was executed and imprisoned with her. Also I would have liked to have more information on the public opinion of Katherine Howard although I did get to learn what her stepchildren thought of her which was good. The final wife Katherine Parr, I previously had barely had any knowledge on and have barely read anything about her previously but Weir's book managed to change that and I was very impressed with Weir's description of her reign and life, relationship with her stepchildren and was therefore very shocked when she nearly faced a quick downfall for Heresy when the king seemed so fond of her and Weir portrayed this very well which helped me to understand that obviously his opinions can change very quickly on the matter of his wives when they do something that he doesn't approve off. Weir then goes into good detail about her life after the death of the king, her fourth marriage and her death which proved a definitely interesting story. After that Weir the expanded on Anne of Cleves's story after the death of Henry, as she was the last of the six wives to die, the only one witnessing the coronation of Mary I and nearly outliving her. That extra detail about her life was very welcome and proved very interesting especially as many biographies like this one stop at the her death of Henry VIII. Overall I was very happy with this book and learned a lot of things about each wife and happy for the extra detail about the last three which is sometimes missed out on other biographies. I also say that it is very gripping throughout this review because it is told as a story and doesn't seem like a biography when it is and therefore makes the book very enjoyable so I would definitely recommend this book if you want to find out more about the wives or even if you already have a lot of that knowledge because it still proves very interesting.

I have read many non-fiction books about this fascinating period of history since the age of 16 (54 years ago!) which certainly doesn't make me an expert but it has given me a good grasp of Henry V111, dates of events and all the people associated with him. Reading different accounts by historians can give new information according to the research they have done. I have mixed feelings about this book. First the positives: Alison Weir has packed this full of detail about life at Court, such as the lavish entertainments, the food that was eaten, the elaborate clothes, the range of sports the king excelled at and the unbelievable amount of money that was spent to fund it all! The complex character of Henry I think most readers would find interesting, although he changed drastically as he aged and suffered pain from an old leg injury. Basically the incredible amount of work it took to research all this information must have been phenomenal. Now for the negatives: I would have preferred the narrator to have been a woman as it is a female author and the book is based on the six queens. The first five chapters were repetitive in the descriptions of masques, jousting etc. just a bit too much information, but not enough on one or two other things, e.g mentioning that salads were served hot as vegetables were not considered safe to eat raw but there's no explanation as to why that was. The dates throughout seem to jump back and forth - confusing for anyone new to this subject. Overall, it's quite an informative book but the author has also written others about each queen individually so i don't see the point in putting them all together in this book - just my personal opinion.

For anyone interested in English history this is a must read book very well written by Alison weir keeps you gripped from start to finish fascinating insight into the Tudor period .despite his callousness and cruelty you almost feel sorry for Henry 8th everything he did was driven by desperation to produce a male heir .thoroughly enjoyed this book highly recommended

Great book for anyone who is a fan of Tudor history. Alison Weir is a brilliant writer of both non-fiction and fiction, and her books are well worth reading.

Incredible read. Well researched academic text uncovering the untold and ignored lives of Henry VIII wives. Highly recommend especially if you enjoy the Tudors. Absolutely fascinating read. I cannot recommend it enough for anyone that wants to known these women as individuals and not just by the nursery rhyme

It's amazing how easily people are taken in. At the time of writing this review, this book had 80 reviews with 5 stars. I wonder what these people would give a book that did some serious analysis of both the Tudor period and Henry VIII and his so-called six wives. This is the second book I have read about this subject, the first being Antonia Fraser's The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (Orion 20th Anniversary Edition) of virually the same title. Although it is more than ten years since I read Fraser's account, little surprised me in Weir's version of the same events. Which then begs the question: Why write anotehr book about it when you are simply going to repeat the same story almost word for word! Having also read several other books about the Tudor period it now seems clear that much of what is written in these books is simply made up. Not by the authors. But much of the sources on which they claim to rely on In his book Reign Of Henry VIII: The Personalities and Politics David Starkey stronly suggests that much of the policies of Henry VIII were actually those of the peoople who surrounded the him. And just as today you cannot trust anything the official news sources tell you, especially the BBC Propaganda and Sky Triva, so we shouldn't trust all the sources back then - official or not. It's clear that Henry didn't have six wives, or if he did, some of those included in the list should be taken out (Anne of Cleves) while others should be put in - like Bessie Blount who actually gave Henry a son. It's also clear that many of the events don't add up: several of the separate characters (MAry and Anne Boleyn) are probably the same person, and there is also a possibility that at least two of the wives were also one single woman. I am also coming to the conclusion that Elizabeth I was clearly a man, a replacement for the murdered daughter of Anne (or Mary?) Boleyn after the mad woman Mary I tried to kill everyone who wasn't Catholic enough for her. While most people would laugh at the above, there are still many people today who believe that man has walked on the moon, 9/11 was caused by two airliners crashing into the World Trade Centre towers, and Prince William is the son of Prince Charles (most people know the father is the former King Juan of Spain.) Further, neither Prince Andrew nor Prince Edward were fathered by Prince Philip. Much of this is now partially accepted to be true, but is NEVER mentioned by the mainstream news, especially the BBC Propaganda. I look forward to reading Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII , but I suspect it will be the same old story. Lots of entertainment but few facts. Five stars? Yes, for fantasy! Stick to fiction, Alison. A.M.

The rhyme that has stuck with me since school is divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Which of course refers to the final outcome of each of Henry VIII wives. This is a well reasserted book, packed full of details and anecdotes about the martial affairs of Henry VIII. Weir has gone into great depth, especially on the first two wives, Katherine of Aragon and Anne Bolyen. The book goes into detail on the character of the six ladies, and all the court intrigue and political posturing that went on during his region. Henry was infatuated with women, and as well as marrying these ladies, also conducted numerous affairs. There was no comeback on his behaviour, even though he has his penultimate wife executed for adultery and treason. Katherine of Aragon, Jane Seymor and Katherine Parr come across as being kind and well meaning, but Anne Bolyen is shown to be scheming and manipulative, and is linked to a suspected poisoning. Anne of Cleves was a political marriage, but Cromwell who arranged it suffered a political fall when Henry decided that Anne was not the beauty that he had been led to believe that she was. I could not believe just how decadent the time was. Weir describes the amour of clothes, jewellery and gifts that he showered on those women that took his fancy. Especially when you consider that most of his subjects were in poverty and suffered horrendously from disease. He was a huge mane, greedy too as he reached a point where his suit of armour has a waist line of 54"! He spent the fortune that he inherited from his father very quickly, and was always looking for extra sources of income. Weir has written a comprehensive account of one of the significant monarchs of our country, and the effect that his insistence on marrying who he wanted had on the religious, social, political infrastructure of our country. Well worth a read if you enjoy history, and want to discover more of this time.

I have always found Tudor history very interesting, and spurred on by what i was sure were huge historical inaccuraccies in the TV series The Tudor's i bought this book after seeing the ammount of great reviews it had. I have to admit it took me a while to pluck up the courage to start - i enjoy history but did not have the patience for the minute details of political goings on that were required during school/university study. To me the figures took away from the human element of history which is what interests me. Eventually (spurred on by the film The Other Boleyn Girl - again historical inaccuracies!!) i picked up and started reading. Alison really does do a great job of making historical fact readable. As others have commented - you cannot put this down and it is as gripping a book as any other i have read despite my knowing the various fates of the wives in question. There are historical facts, dates and political goings on - but all covered in an accessible way that is all very much about the human aspects of all of the key players. She also includes amazing descriptions of some of the tudor fashions, creating something for everyone. I learned some things i had never known - and to be honest i had thought i knew quite a lot. The biggest surprise was regarding Anne Boleyn, whom i have seen painted in an awful light. You get the feeling Alison is not biased against any of them - giving both sides to every story. I cannot rave about this enough - amazing for anyone wanting to get an unbiased view on this era which you cannot get from the various films and TV dramas about at the minute!!