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A "brilliantly written and meticulously researched" biography of royal family life during England's second Tudor monarch (San Francisco Chronicle).
Either annulled, executed, died in childbirth, or widowed, these were the well-known fates of the six queens during the tempestuous, bloody, and splendid reign of Henry VIII of England from 1509 to 1547. But in this "exquisite treatment, sure to become a classic" (Booklist), they take on more fully realized flesh and blood than ever before. Katherine of Aragon emerges as a staunch though misguided woman of principle; Anne Boleyn, an ambitious adventuress with a penchant for vengeance; Jane Seymour, a strong-minded matriarch in the making; Anne of Cleves, a good-natured woman who jumped at the chance of independence; Katherine Howard, an empty-headed wanton; and Katherine Parr, a warm-blooded bluestocking who survived King Henry to marry a fourth time.
"Combin[ing] the accessibility of a popular history with the highest standards of a scholarly thesis", Alison Weir draws on the entire labyrinth of Tudor history, employing every known archive—early biographies, letters, memoirs, account books, and diplomatic reports—to bring vividly to life the fates of the six queens, the machinations of the monarch they married and the myriad and ceaselessly plotting courtiers in their intimate circle (The Detroit News).
In this extraordinary work of sound and brilliant scholarship, "at last we have the truth about Henry VIII's wives" (Evening Standard).
"The story of King Henry VIII and his unlucky wives has been told before, but the scope and depth of Weir's research provide a wealth of detail missing from many other narrative histories about the Tudors." —Publishers Weekly
"An exquisite treatment, sure to become a classic." —Booklist
"Well researched and at time beautifully written ... [This] work unquestionably is the finest exercise in collective biography focusing on Henry's wives." —Library Journal
This information about The Six Wives of Henry VIII was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
In addition to The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Alison Weir is the author of Henry VIII, The Princes in the Tower, The Wars of the Roses, The Life of Elizabeth I, and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She lives in London with her husband and two children.
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