I knew that Henry the VIII had had many wives, and that was what he was known for, but this gave me a lot of information about the political goings-on of the times, and informed me about Henry's rise to power.I appreciated that the author informed the reader of where the information came from, such as letters between Henry and Anne, or bills paid by Henry to re-form the stone capitals on plinths to reflect a different letter for a different bride. Although much of the information is taken from minutiae left over from the times: bills, letters, news, etc, the author really paints a picture of the relationships of the king without it being a listing of boring clips of information. This is non-fiction at its best. I highly recommend it. ( )

A fabulous look at all 6 of Henry's wives (not much about Henry VIII himself) -- I have a new found respect for Catherine of Aragon, I felt sorry for her as Anne Boleyn usurped her place as Queen. ( )

As Fraser points out at the start of her novel detailing the lives of Henry's six wives, most people onl know them by either the rhyme "divorced, beheaded, died... divorced, beheaded, survived" or by the female stereotypes attributed to them: "the Betrayed Wife, the Temptress, the Good Woman, the Ugly Sister, the Bad Girl and the Mother Figure." Fraser sets out to debunk myths and present an unbiased view of the six women who came to share Henry's life. Unlike other books of this nature, Henry is not focused on at all - we merely see glimpses of the man he is at the time of each of his marriages.

Fraser writes extremely sensitively about each of the six women - telling their tales from birth to death and using contemporary sources as far as possible. The research is impeccable and allows Fraser to consider many of the myths that have grown up around one or other of the wives and decide whether they might be true or not.

I loved the fact that each woman was presented as being courageous and spirited - they each had some good quality that Fraser explored in her quest to discover why that particular woman caught the eye of the king.

A great deal of learning can be achieved from this novel. For instance, I did not realise that it was Henry's desire for a male heir that drove him so thoroughly to move from woman to woman. I also was not aware of how he had each time lined up the successor to the queen he wanted to rid himself of. Again, it was new to me the fact that Henry was married to Catherine of Aragon for over 20 years, while the sum total of years of his other five marriages numbered just ten. It presents an entirely different view of Catherine - of a royal princess whom the king cast off reluctantly, but whom also did not go quietly.

Another point that both amused and horrified was the reputation that Henry VIII (and, by extension, England) developed thanks to his mistreatment of wives. England was universally laughed and sneered at by the other countries in Europe, and it might well have caused many of the European princesses to be withheld from Henry for fear of how they might be treated (thereby changing the course of history?)

My one real fault of this book is its density. It is extremely well-written and as gripping as a non-fiction historical novel can be but there are still dry passages which take a while to read through. In addition, there are a great many notes that add to the reading but necessitate flicking back and forth within the book which disturbs the narrative flow.

I have great admiration for the fact that Fraser managed to present an impartial viewpoint on each of the six wives and strove to reach understanding as to their motives. I did come away from the book with a sneaking suspicion that she preferred Catherine of Aragon and decried the actions of Katherine Howard - it would be interesting to know if I had correctly identified her most and least favourite of the six wives.

There is a current trend at the moment (in fiction, led by Phillippa Gregory, and on television, including series by David Starkey) for exploring anew the Tudors and the "tyrant" who epitomises the lineage. This book should be read by anyone who has been interested in this period of history - in summary, it is a well-rounded and sympathetic look at the six wives of Henry VIII. ( )

A very well-researched account of Henry VIII's court, this book is one of my favorite history books of all-time, not only for its vivid presentation of the time period, but because the author goes to such lengths not to play favorites. ( )

The Wives of Henry VIII is well written, very well researched and offers more information than you can possibly hope for about each of Henry's wives. More than half of the book covers Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, with the rest dedicated to the other four. But wait ...there's more...it's also a good examination of historical events, European court intrigue, the religious situation not only in England but elsewhere in Europe, and other people connected with the British court and beyond. Furthermore, Fraser ties it all up very neatly by examining in brief the lives of the queens that survived the death of Henry VIII, and poses the question at the end that gives the reader some food for thought: if Katherine of Aragon had delivered a healthy son, would there have been the same type of religious change in England?

I liked this book, but to be really frank, if I had written something like this as a grad student, my advisors would have told me to cut it back and organize it better. She is a bit overly wordy, and there are a lot of things that fit better under different sections other than where she placed them. Also, I have to wonder when historians purport to know the mind of their subjects, and there are several places where the author makes judgments based on what she things Henry VIII would have thought. This was a bit off-putting. Also, in some cases where she makes a statement that somebody said something or something was thought, there were no footnotes that I could reference. However, overall, there is a wealth of information here, and the woman has definitely done her homework. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has a serious interest in the topic and wants a good reference work. Hang in there...it's long, but it's worth it in the end. ( )