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Summary: My Thoughts
Review: I was impressed by the number of theorys on issues throughout this book. The Author does a excellent job of looking at things from different points of veiw. However as with everyone she has her own opinions and tends to lean towards them.Aside from this I highly recommend this book. It was interesting the whole way through and its worth the money to own it so you can read it again and again.
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Summary: The real story of Henry VIII's seeming cruelty
Review: The story of Henry VIII's rule can only truly be told once a reader understands the vital importance attached to begetting an heir to the kingdom. Alison Weir, as usual, offers this thoroughly-detailed, sometimes amusing, sometimes heartbreaking portrait of a man who, thwarted at nearly every turn from getting a queen who could produce strapping male heirs to the Throne of England, descended from a jolly, back-slapping prince to a fat, cruel and nearly despotic king, whose final wish to be buried alongside Jane Seymour must have cut his final surviving wife, Katherine Parr, to the quick.But, as the title suggests, the primary thrust of this book is not so much Henry VIII as each of his unfortunate wives. One learns a great deal more about them than the usual lines given by armchair historians. For example, "saintly" Jane Seymour, usually depicted as a meek and mild young thing, was just as much a deliberate factor in the downfall of Anne Boleyn as her royal husband-to-be. And as one reads about Anne Boleyn's temper, one teeters between sympathy for her and ... a vague feeling that perhaps Henry beheaded her not so much for failing to produce an heir as to get her to shut up and cease her constant nagging and ill-tempered outbursts. (Of course, then you swing back into Anne's camp, figuring anyone living with someone like Henry would be ill-tempered ... or perhaps worse!) And so it goes ... Fascinating, chock full of details of court life and rife with facts from many primary sources, Alison Weir's account of Henry VIII and his wives remains a standard of its genre.
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Summary: Excellent reference!
Review: Alison Weir did a wonderful job writing this! You know how most reference books are dull reading and you have to drag yourself through them? This is the complete opposite! I admire Alison Weir for writing this because she doesn't sugar-coat anything.
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Summary: What a guy!
Review: This is a very unbelievable true story of how a self centered, egotistical man uses women like he would use toilet paper. It gave me a whole new perspective on how women were valued solely on the proformance of they reproductive systems. Henry's wives were used as royal breeding machines to produce a male heir for him. When they could not accomplish that task they were conveniently gotten rid of. It is a sad yet startling book. Weir gives the reader a real feeling of being there experiencing all the events. Sometimes a little to real for my liking.
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Summary: Not a bad book
Review: First I want to applaud Ms. Weir on her research and attention to detail. It was nice to read a more detailed description of Henry VIII than what you usually get in this type book. So much of the book was spent on Katherine of Aragon and so little on the other 5 wives that I was somewhat dissapointed. There seems to be more information available on Katherine of Aragon, however I question the attention paid to some of the sources Ms. Weir has used. Not the validity of them but the obvious bias of the sources. And Ms. Weir continued her unfortunate habit of losing her objectivity part way through the book. I found this thoroughly frustrating in her book "The Princes in the Tower" and almost as frustrating in this book. Still, this is an interesting book if you can overlook the obvious bias she has when writing of Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.
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Summary: My favorite of Ms. Weir's excellent Tudor series
Review: I am a fan of Antonia Fraser's work on the same subject (with the same name, no less), but I like Weir's work better. (In fact, I read this one in just a few sittings). Ms. Weir is known for including little tidbits of trivia here and there (such as approximating the value of a 16th-century pound sterling to today's pound sterling).
Unlike Weir's other books, I did not see any great bias for or against the "heroines" of the story (with Katherine Howard as a possible exception, though most historians agree Howard was, to put it mildly, loose with her affections...alas, to my credit (or, rather, discredit), Howard blood runs through my veins**). I recommend this book to anyone wanting a great read!
**Genealogical note: To those interested parties, descendants of the Howard family settled in Duplin, Lenoir, and/or Pitt Co., North Carolina in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. My father is a Howard descendant, born in Duplin Co., NC.
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Summary: Wonderful!
Review: Ms. Weir did an excellent job on this book! Her research was, I thought, impeccable. Ms. Weir has succeeded in bringing to life this 'larger than life' king and his many wives, while keeping to the facts and writing in an unbiased fashion. I was hooked!
This book rests on my 'favorites' book shelf. (along with "Marie Antoinette:The Journey" by Antonia Fraser, "The Life of Elizabeth I", Alison Weir, "The Princes In The Tower", also by Alison Weir to name a few)
Thank you Ms. Weir, you've done it again! Remarkable!
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Summary: Excellent -- good history and a great read!
Review: Weir is my favorite non-fiction writer. This is my 2nd favorite of her works, after "The Life of Elizabeth I" (see my review of that work too.) What's best about "Six Wives" is that Weir is in firm control of the elements of the lives of these very different women. Through telling their stories, Weir gives a coherent history and an excellent account of Henry's reign. This is serious popular history -- and is well researched and accurate. But Weir's best attribute is her readability. She makes history a page-turning pageant -- without resorting to overblown or overly romanitic drivel. I've read all her historical works. I suggest beginning with 'Elizabeth I', then "Children of Henry VIII" followed by this work and then her latest 'Henry VIII: The King and His Court." Though she writes of the same period throughout these works, she manages to reveal something new with each -- and is never, ever dull.
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Summary: Enrich Your Life
Review: Follow me closely here, reader; I promise I will get to the point as quickly as I can. I acquired my first Alison Weir book by happy accident - anyone who has been a member of a book club may have shared this experience: you forget to return your stupid forms and the next thing you know, the "Editor's Choice" drops through your letterbox. What's this? A History Book? D'oh!... But, as time would tell, fate was delivering me a cheeky poke in the ribs - a marvellous life-changing experience, my first Alison Weir book, my first history book. OK, I'm still getting to the point, but just a little more context: history as taught at my school. Old Mr Nicholson droning on about The Romans. Cheesy Mr Callan who made history seem as dry as eating sand for lunch in the desert. Imagine my astonishment then, when upon opening Ms. Weir's marvellous book, I discover that history is quite different, full of life, real people, drama, colour, humour, tears, envy, triumph, greed, love, and all this in the first chapter! That first book was actually The Princes in the Tower, but The Six Wives is the best of Alison's histories in my humble op. You may have noticed that I have finally got round to the point! Weir has a miraculous talent for rounding out historical personages into real people; she does this entirely by using the facts, and she really applies her talents to their best when describing Henry's unfortunate spouses. We gasp with admiration at Katharine of Aragon's strength, and we gasp with shock at Anne Boleyn's bare-faced scheming. Poor Katharine Howard requires us to remember how daft we were when we were 16. Not as daft as her though. The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth is a masterful combination of thorough research and sheer readability. 8 years ago Alison Weir unlocked a hidden passion for history in me which has become a major pleasure in my life. Whether or not you are a history-lover, I command you! Read this book!
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Summary: Eye opening read
Review: I truly enjoyed reading this book. I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable of English history, and I was astonished at how much I do not know of this time period! Ms. Weir has a quick moving style and does not allow herself to be bogged down in needless detail, yet still provides the reader with a great deal of essential and interesting facts. She paints a very full picture of both Henry VIII and his many wives.
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