The Six Wives of Henry VIII
by Alison Weir
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Book Reviews of The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Book Review: This book is a MUST-HAVE for period actors!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been participating in Tudor-period Renaissance fairs for over 10 years now. This requires sometimes intensive research into the lives major (or minor) figures of the time, and I have yet to find a better all-around source than this book. The criticism that the information is presented rather dryly at times is accurate, but this is not a novel! The rarity with which the author takes literary license is a strength in a resource book, not a weakness. The text is detailed, and supported by direct quotes from communication between the main figures of Tudor court life, including Cardinal Wolsey, Eustache Chapuy, Cromwell, and others. I would highly recommend this book as a principle source for anyone researching the Tudor period in England.Book Review: Outstanding!
Summary: 5 Stars
This was one of the best books I have read in a while. I have always been interested by this time period, and King Henry VIII in particular, but was even more intrigued after becoming addicted to The Tudors television series. After watching the first two seasons (currently waiting for the third to come out on dvd) I decided to read this book and was pleased to find that The Tudors, looks aside, is pretty darn historically accurate.
The book itself is very entertaining and informative and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves The Tudors or is a history fan. Actually, you don't even have to be a history fan, anyone who loves a good book about love, lust, deceit and all of the intricacies of human emotion will love this book.
Book Review: Superb Work
Summary: 2 Stars
When I purchased this book, I was skeptical because I thought it might be another dull book about English history. I was absolutely wrong - this is a great book! Weir does a great job of telling this story. It is not six separate biographies. Instead, Weir weaves the story of each wife around the life of Henry VIII. Ann of Cleves is a particulary sad story, and she comes across as the most likable of Henry's wives. On the other hand, Ann Boleyn is portrayed as a scheming, ill-tempered snob who constantly meddles in the affairs of state, which ultimately leads to her unfortunate death. Henry is accurately portrayed as a controlling and sometimes distant husband and father. You won't be disappointed in this book - it's one of Weir's best works.Book Review: Great study on Henry's 6 wives
Summary: 5 Stars
I love Alison Weir so my review might be a little biased. Since I have read a great deal of her other works I jumped at buying this book. It covers all six of Henry VIII's wives using a great deal of research. Predictably, Ms. Weir focuses the majority of the book on his first two, most famous wives Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. The rest of the book somewhat flies through the rest of the wives, especially his third wife who died shortly after childbirth so her reign was quite short.
This is a long book and it is heavily laded with facts and dates but I love that. It is very informative and entertaining. It is not a boring book by any means. If you want a comprehensive study of all of Henry VIII's wives, then pick up this book.
Book Review: Informative
Summary: 4 Stars
I was interested in reading this since it covered all 6 wives. The first half of the book is Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, since they are probably the most interesting/most well known of the wives. I thought this was easy to read, although it took a while. Not because of the subject or style but that it's a large book. I think it would be difficult for someone with little to no knowledge of the subject to read this as it would be difficult to keep people/stories straight. I think Alison Weir is biased toward/against all of them and I'm not so sure the opinions are factually based. Interesting read if you are interested in this subject though. As for a history book, it's not boring or slow at all. I would gladly read more of Weir's work.