Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII

This was less the Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII Used As Backdrop for Countless Men Including but not Limited to Foreign Ambassadors, Bishops, Archbishops, Popes, Chamberlains, Assorted Privy Council and Gentried Fellows. While this book is doubtlessly chock full of great information, it is less about the wives and other women in Henry VIII's life. They are merely the lovely coat rack that the men drape themselves on reverently while scheming, counter-scheming, abstaining from scheming and considering scheming. Though of course, there are a few who abstain from scheming. The results are still the same - a bunch of talk about what the men folk are doing and quite bit less to do about the women.

I'd really hoped for a strong telling show more of the wants, needs, personalities and trials of each woman. I did get that but to have it, I was first required to weed through endless talk of ambassador this and bishop this and Lord High Everything Else that.

I've since seen that there is a feminist take on this same subject matter and that's likely what I'll need. I wouldn't discourage others from reading this book. I'd only say that you should read it with the caveat that Starkey couldn't dissect his female subjects from the men that roughly controlled their lives. It's both true of the author and the times in which they lived - these women were made/broken by men and therefore a complete story cannot be told without their inclusion.

It's brilliant study and educated reasoning. I just don't give a fig for it. show less

This book was really everything I look for in a non-fiction book about history. It was so engagingly written that it could have been non-fiction, but sources were all cited and deviations from accepted wisdom among Henry VIII scholars were mentioned. The story was presented chronologically, with a few, well integrated digressions to give us the history of each of Henry’s wives. Chapters were short and the introduction of new characters was kept to a minimum, creating a very lucid narrative. New characters were always given context, both in the writing and by some great family trees, and we were often reminded who recurring characters were. This made the massive amounts of information in this 880 page book fairly manageable.

Overall the show more book was very approachable, especially for something that clearly involves an awful lot of scholarly research. The straightforward writing style and family trees helped, as did the author’s lack of assumptions about the reader’s previous knowledge. It also helped, of course, that the book was just fun. The author is clearly enthusiastic about his subject and in addition to dates and events, there was speculation about people’s feelings and motivations, obviously separated from but based on historical records such as personal correspondences. Quotes from these sources were integrated into the story very nicely, adding to the narrative without disrupting it.

Finally, the story itself was full of enough drama for a TV show. And, in fact, it has been made into a show called Tudor, which I tried watching but couldn’t get into for lack of a sympathetic character in the first episode. The book, however, made if very easy to feel for each of Henry’s wives, even as they replaced each other. I think that’s what made the book so great – its stuck the perfect balance between historical accuracy and engaging personal stories.

This review first published on Doing Dewey. show less

This book was really everything I look for in a non-fiction book about history. It was so engagingly written that it could have been non-fiction, but sources were all cited and deviations from accepted wisdom among Henry VIII scholars were mentioned. The story was presented chronologically, with a few, well integrated digressions to give us the history of each of Henry’s wives. Chapters were short and the introduction of new characters was kept to a minimum, creating a very lucid narrative. New characters were always given context, both in the writing and by some great family trees, and we were often reminded who recurring characters were. This made the massive amounts of information in this 880 page book fairly manageable.

Overall the show more book was very approachable, especially for something that clearly involves an awful lot of scholarly research. The straightforward writing style and family trees helped, as did the author’s lack of assumptions about the reader’s previous knowledge. It also helped, of course, that the book was just fun. The author is clearly enthusiastic about his subject and in addition to dates and events, there was speculation about people’s feelings and motivations, obviously separated from but based on historical records such as personal correspondences. Quotes from these sources were integrated into the story very nicely, adding to the narrative without disrupting it.

Finally, the story itself was full of enough drama for a TV show. And, in fact, it has been made into a show called Tudor, which I tried watching but couldn’t get into for lack of a sympathetic character in the first episode. The book, however, made if very easy to feel for each of Henry’s wives, even as they replaced each other. I think that’s what made the book so great – its stuck the perfect balance between historical accuracy and engaging personal stories. show less

David Starkey presents a different take on a well-known part of Tudor history. Very detailed and descriptive throughout, my interest was held by the subject matter rather than the writing style, which was heavy in repetitive language ('squaring the circle' appears far too often in the text, for example) and his contrasting of past events with Diana, Princess of Wales.

That aside, I enjoyed the sections on Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. The rest of the book has less original material to refer to regarding the other wives and thus is shorter than the portion covering the first two wives.

I cannot believe this is non-fiction! It reads like an historical novel, but with citations. This story, from history, is beyond believable... all six wives were interesting! The book really shows the influence these women had on the history of England and, quite frankly, much of the world.

It is a very large book, but I was actually a little sad when it was over. I can't wait to read Elizabeth by Starkey and I will probably be looking for more after that. He has a fantastic way of piecing together all recorded conversations, letters, documents, etc. to bring his readers right back to that era... only with a real inside track on what is going on. He is also fabulous at explaining the particular phrases and/or meaning behind what an show more average person today might otherwise overlook.

Looking for a great (and juicy) book and to learn something? Read this! show less

I know some find his style off putting but I really enjoyed it. It's a mamoth undertaking and, yes, I lost track of some of the principals after a while (esp. as they get new titles) but it was a gripping and engaging story well told. The primary focus is Katherine of Aragon, the Divorce, and Anne Boelyn and I learned a great many things I had known before. It took a while to get through and I could have profited by taking a few notes now and then but it was well-worth the time.

I liked the fact he went back to original sources and drew new conclusions which differed from the general run of the mill historians who just copy each other. Kudos! Henry VIII comes off a bit more human than is generally portrayed. Catherine Parr is my favourite wife and I do wish there had been a bit more about her. And all the wars and skirmishes and treaties got to be tedious after awhile. I think the book might have profited if he had done a sum up analysis of each of the queens at the end. But overall, it is a humdinger of a non-fiction account of the Tudor era.