The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1991)

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 really enjoyed this book, actually I have really enjoyed every book by Weir that I have read for the same reason. I love History, particularly European History and the fact that the way that she writes it feels more like a novel. History can be dry in it's presentation, but in this book the historical figures "come to life" for me. I fear that she may take a bit of "literary license" in some of the details and conversations, but I don't think she strays far from the logical assumption in any case. ( )

I read the Kindle version. I think the paper version would be better, because you'd be able to flip backwards and forwards to the timelines and family trees.

I was a bit confused by the pictures at the end. The names were spelt differently from the way they were spelt in the rest of the book, and some of the information contained there contradicted the rest of the book. ( )

Whelp, where even to begin?! This book is an absolute masterpiece and a joy to read. I need some time to digest before I can review ( )

I was inspired to read Weir's book after completing the Great Courses lecture series "The Age of Henry VIII," which whetted my appetite to better familiarize myself with this fascinating and not infrequently horrifying era in English history. Although I struggled with the slow pacing at times, I've come away feeling now quite knowledgeable about the time, events and people surrounding this 16th-century king. ( )