Henry VIII : The King and His Court

Rating:
Summary: An Intimate Look at Life with Henry VIII
Review: A book like this about the court of Henry 8th is long overdue. Instead of concentrating soley on Henry this book attempts to fill out the background of the court he lived in and the people he interacted with an a daily basis.

You get things like an explanation of the various court titles and functions and how they changed over the course of his reign. There are also sections on costume and painting and the interactions of the various noble families (and not so noble) during Henry's lifetime.

This is a 'widescreen' biography, not a narrow view. It's full of interesting, small details of daily life that are missed in the larger political biographies.

This book was a welcome and refreshing take on Tudor history. Reccomended if you want to fill in the background details of Henry's court.

Rating:
Summary: Fleshing Out Henry VIII
Review: A compulsively readable account of Henry VIII's court. Weir begins by describing Henry's massive inheritance of "greater" and "lesser" houses. Then she proceeds to his palatial lifestyle, part of the attribute of "magnificence" pertaining to a Renaissance prince, fuelled by Henry's lifelong mania for acquiring and developing property. No detail, whether of texture or cost, is omitted. (Weir helpfully multiplies contemporary values by 300 to give us today's equivalent).

The layout of King Henry's dwellings spoke volumes about courtiers' status and the monarch's accessibility. Courtiers hovered in the impersonal Great Watching Chamber, unless they were lucky enough to have a formal meeting in the Presence Chamber. Only a select few attended the King in his Privy Chamber. Weir's mind-numbing account of Tudor Human Resources yields a smorgasbord of functions, various staff changes, promotions, demotions and, of course, executions.

Later in the book, a biographical framework imposes itself. Henry's infamous matrimonial career is freshly presented from his viewpoint, although that does not lessen his monstrousness. He loved tilting and tournaments; that leg injury was a sporting injury. Most of his best friends seem to have been chosen for their skill in breaking lances.

As in her other books, Weir provides astute mini-biographical "snapshots" of personalities familiar and obscure: the King's coterie of playmates and companions, mistresses and their families, advisors, chancellors and churchmen. So you are getting many biographies for the price of one, especially of people like Thomas More, or Henry's two sisters Margaret (who mothered the Stuart dynasty) and Mary (whose second marriage to Charles Brandon produced the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, her granddaughter, subsequently the "Nine Days' Queen").

One interesting character is Henry Fitzroy, Henry VIII's illegitimate son by Bessie Blount. Fitzroy's existence proved that the King could father a male child, howbeit not a legitimate heir. (Henry Fitzoy was eventually created Earl of Richmond. The poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was a childhood friend of Fitzroy.)

So if you want to know more about the Courtenays, the Boleyns, Norfolks and Suffolks, the Seymours, the Parrs, this is your book. In spades! Weir does it well.

Rating:
Summary: More Tudor Fun and Research from Alison Weir
Review: Alison Weir's Henry VIII (the King and his Court) is another dip into the Tudor pool from this wonderful writer. This book covers some similar territory seen in the previous volumes by the author, The Six Wives of Henry VIII and the Children of Henry VIII, but this one will give the reader a more focused look at the moving force behind these previous books. This particular book is much the same in structure as The Life of Elizabeth I, with each chapter looking at specific subjects until the historical narrative finally begins. The endless stream of descriptions of houses and castles can grow a little wearisome but the completeness will be welcomed by some readers. Another nice addition to the Tudor library built up by Alison Weir to help fill in the gaps in the previous volumes.

Rating:
Summary: Good on its own, repetative if you've read others
Review: As Alison Weir is one of my favourite authors, I was very excited to run out and buy this book. However, I was a little disapointed when I actually read it. Weir seems to recycle much of her information from other books that she has written, mainly "The Six Wives" and "The Children" of Henry VIII.

Despite my disapointment, I gave this book 4 stars because if I had read neither of those books, I think I would have really enjoyed this one. As with all of Weir's books, it is chock full of information and extremely well written. Despite all the details, it is never boring. There is SOME new information in here, but I don't think that there is enough to merit a whole separate book.

If you have never read Weir, or are looking for a very good intro to life at a Tudor court, then this book is definately worth reading and I wholeheartedly recomend it. If you are already an old hand at Henry et. al., then you might want to skip this one and move on to another of Weir's books.

Rating:
Summary: Good on its own, repetative if you've read others
Review: As Alison Weir is one of my favourite authors, I was very excited to run out and buy this book. However, I was a little disapointed when I actually read it. Weir seems to recycle much of her information from other books that she has written, mainly "The Six Wives" and "The Children" of Henry VIII.

Despite my disapointment, I gave this book 4 stars because if I had read neither of those books, I think I would have really enjoyed this one. As with all of Weir's books, it is chock full of information and extremely well written. Despite all the details, it is never boring. There is SOME new information in here, but I don't think that there is enough to merit a whole separate book.

If you have never read Weir, or are looking for a very good intro to life at a Tudor court, then this book is definately worth reading and I wholeheartedly recomend it. If you are already an old hand at Henry et. al., then you might want to skip this one and move on to another of Weir's books.

Rating:
Summary: A biography that lacks political understanding
Review: As the published reviews have said, this book is what it is: A detailed (even exhaustive) narrative of life at the court of Henry VIII, but it leaves the reader wondering. Weir makes sense of Henry's successive marriages, and gives great detail into the social behavior of the time. She achieves some depth in discussing religion--Henry broke with Rome, but wasn't really much of a Protestant, it turns out. While the internal power struggles of the courtiers are interestingly narrated, the overall political picture remains a mystery. Henry invades France, Henry makes peace with France, he goes to war again--why? In sum, a rollicking beach book, but not for serious study.

Rating:
Summary: A MYOPTIC VIEW OF A HENRY
Review: If you have read Alison's Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII, you will probably already have a good understanding of this aspect of Henry's life, that his, his private life. A.W. asserts in the beginning of this outing that she will not repeat what she had already covered - she only marginally succeeds. She does a good job of covering the information that you would remiss in not repeating; the dissolution of church, and the execution of A. Boleyn etc. However, in place of those details she's placed page after page of tedious information on the many castles and houses he owned and how much he spent fixing them up or redecorating for his new wife. I really enjoyed her picture of life at court and the internal court fractions between those vying for favor. However, the reason this book does not rate higher is that A.W. spends little or no time exploring the politics and society outside the castle(S) walls. I realize the title is "...and his court," but a lot of that was already covered in Henry's Six Wives. Having read A.W.'s surface treatment of Queen Elizabeth, I know that she is mostly interested in the drama aspect and the personal lives of those in the renaissance court, and not necessarily in the actual broader history of the time.
Bottom Line: I don't think I'm being too harsh on this book. I think A.W. is a wonderful researcher and a fine writer, it's just that this book is not the place I would recommend to anyone really wishing to further their understanding of the world in which Henry VIII lived.
Note: One bit of irritation is A.W.'s mention in the back-of-the-book interview that she has new information regarding Anne's execution, of course she does not mention what it is there because she wants you to read the book. I read over the key chapters where she covers Anne Boleyn's charges and there is really nothing new. As we've learned before the charges against her were mostly fabricated.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Description of 16th Century Royal Life
Review: This was an enormously readable and interesting book that went much further than retelling the life of Henry VIII. The descriptions of the elements of daily life at Henry's court were very readable, sensitive to modern readers, and yet reasonably objective. Weir's new hypothesis on the execution of Anne Boleyn is wrought subtly, without drawing attention to itself as a new theory, and might be missed by those who are not very familiar with Tudor history. As with all Alison Weir's books, this one was very well researched, well-written, attentive to detail, easy to read, and very, very enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: very pleasant reading
Review: This was my first exposure to Alison WEIR's writing and I enjoyed every minute of it. Her account of Henri VIII's reign is easy to read but far from superficial. Quite to the contrary: the author's erudition and mastery of the subject is obvious but never intrusive or pedantic. Conversely, there is no attempt to turn the great king's life into a romantic story just to attract readers. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in that fascinating part of European history when the likes of Charles V of Spain (and a few other places !), Francois I of France and some others were struggling, sometimes to master Europe, sometimes to save their own kingdom or at times their skin.

Rating:
Summary: Social History at its Best
Review: Unlike some of the reviewers, I have been disappointed in some of Ms. Weir's books (especially those dealing with Richard III, where she skews the facts to fit her prejudice). But this one is a gem. WARNING: It is NOT a biography of Henry VIII (nor does it claim to be). It is a wonderful portrait of a court and an age. If the details of everyday life enchant you, you will love this book: you'll learn what Henry's court ate, drank, wore; how they ate, how they drank, and when they wore what! You'll get details about the various royal (and non-royal) residences that are very difficult to find elsewhere: how they were furnished, financed, run, used. And this time, Weir is scrupulous in citing her sources and in using them well. Where there are disputed facts, she indicates this. When she is hypothesizing, she indicates this as well. It is true that she appears to be quite fond of old Henry, but not as he became. Rather, I think, she admires the potential that was in the young king, the goodness, basic decency that could have made him England's best (if not greatest) king. The potential for selfishness, greed, paranoia, and self-delusion was also there--unfortunately, the bad side won! After reading Weir's book, I now share both Weir's semi-nostalgic admiration and her regret.