Six Wives : The Queens of Henry VIII - Softcover

David Starkey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099437244 ISBN 13: 9780099437246

Publisher: Random House, 2004

Synopsis

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.' CATHERINE OF ARAGON: the pious Spanish Catholic who suffered years of miscarriages and failed to produce a male heir...ANNE BOLEYN: the pretty, clever, French-educated Protestant whose marriage to Henry changed England forever...JANE SEYMOUR: the demure and submissive contrast to Anne Boleyn's radical and vampish style...ANNE OF CLEVES: 'the mare of Flanders' whose short marriage to the overweight Henry followed a farcical 'beauty contest'...CATHERINE HOWARD: the flirtatious teenager whose adulteries made a fool of the ageing king...CATHERINE PARR: the shrewd, religiously radical bluestocking who outlived him...In this study, David Starkey gives us a richly textured picture of daily life at the Tudor Court from the woman's point of view. Above all, he establishes the interaction of the private and the public, and demonstrates how the Queens of Henry VIII were central in determining political policy.

About this title

About the Author:

David Starkey is Honorary Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and the author of acclaimed histories including Elizabeth and Monarchy. He was presented with the Norton Medlicott Medal for Services to History by Britain's Historical Association. He is a well-known TV and radio personality. He was made a CBE in 2007.

From AudioFile:

Intrigue. False piety. Self-serving legalism. Backstabbing (figurative). Beheadings (literal). David Starkey's history of Henry's wives (and their husband, children, allies, and enemies) chronicles their struggles for power and survival. The means to their ends, more often than not, were machination and connivance. Patricia Hodge relates this account in a knowing tone that seems to say, "Try as they might to put a decent face on things, we know better, don't we, my dear?" We are entertained. A minor criticism: Hodge's "foreign" accents, applied to the words of non-English characters, are cartoonish and an unnecessary distraction. Unnecessary because there's no dialogue here--no true conversation between characters-- and because all quotes are attributed. T.J.W. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0099437244
• ISBN 13: 9780099437246
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384