- Audio CD: 15 pages
- Publisher: Whole Story Audio Books; Unabridged edition (Jan 1 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1407454757
- ISBN-13: 978-1407454757
- Product Dimensions: 13.8 x 13.6 x 3.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#763,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #69 in Books > Audiobooks > Audio CDs > History > Europe
- #92 in Books > Audiobooks > Audio CDs > History > Military
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"No more make believe, this is the real thing - a meticulously researched historical biography... Judith Boyd is a terrific historical narrator, calm and authoritative..." Sue Arnold, The Guardian (audiobook review) "Alison Weir is one of our greatest popular historians." The Daily Mail "...Captivating, intelligent, no-nonsense prose... even readers with no prior knowledge will be drawn into the human drama..." The Literary Review"
Product Description
The imprisonment and execution of Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, in 1536 was unprecedented in English history and never before has there been a book devoted entirely to her fall. But here Alison Weir has reassessed the evidence and created a richly researched and detailed portrait of the last days of one of the most influential and important figures in English history. This recording is unabridged. Typically abridged audiobooks are not more than 60 per cent of the author's work and as low as 30 per cent with characters and plotlines removed.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Lady in the Tower,
By
This review is from: The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn (Paperback)
There is very little I liked about this book. I find all Weir's book suffer from the same problems: soft language, limited citation, and poor editing. She puts out a book a year. To me, there's something questionable about her research. Weir tends to write as though fiction and presented Anne's inner most feeling and thoughts. I found this annoying, and discrediting to the evidence presented.The ultimate issue, for me, was Weir's over reliance on Chapyus, Sander, The Spanish Chronicle, and other Catholic/Protestant sources. These are questionable sources and have been discredited by other writers. I don't mind citing them, but the writer needs to do so with care, and give the reader a clearer understanding of their intentions, and why using them. For instance, in the first few pages, Weir cites Sander, and claims Anne had a sixth nail. This has been dismissed as fiction, so why cite it? It did nothing to support Weir's book. In fact, it devalued her opinion. Weir makes a grand claim that the potential of Anne's guilt cannot be "lightly dismissed." If claiming so, she did not provide evidence to back up this claim. We all know there was NO EVIDENCE to support Anne's guilt. The book continued much the same by making claims that Cromwell was the prime mover, Rochford's alleged sexual preferences, and witchcraft. The so-called evidence to support these claims was unsubstantiated. Alison Weir is a great fiction writer, and at times I felt like I was reading a fictional account of Anne's life, rather than a serious study of her fall. I would still recommend Ives and Starkey. While their theories are often times opposite, they do a much better job seeing through the opacity of evidence.
3 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Hard Read but a Thorough Assessment of Anne Boleyn's Trials,
By
This review is from: The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn (Hardcover)
The Lady in the Tower throughly goes over the last five months of Anne Boleyn's life: from the death of Queen Katherine of Aragon, the woman she supplanted, in late January 1536 to Anne's execution in June 1536.Alison Weir really got into her subject. Why did Henry VIII want her dead - not merely divorced and sent away? Because he believed she had seduced him with witchcraft? Because she had miscarried of at least one male child? Because he was in love with Jane Seymour? Because the Seymours worked on this love for their own advancement or because Mr. Secretary Thomas Cromwell wanted the money from the monestaries to be used as bribes to build support for Henry's supremacy and Anne wanted the money to be used to build schools? And what about the men in Anne's life: the five who were executed as her lovers and Thomas Wyatt and Mr. Page, who nearly shared their fate? Were they her lovers? If not, why were they killed? Was it a political coue by Cromwell and/or the Seymours? Would they have opposed a turn toward the Emperor and away from France? What was Anne going through in the Tower? Ms. Weir believes in Anne's innocence, although it is hard to tell that while she is describing the prosecution's case. She relies a lot on Eric Ives' biography of Anne Boleyn. A throughly researched book. Frankly hard to plough through. This is not a romantic novel, like her "The Lady Elizabeth". The reader gets probably all cases, all angles, all viewpoints. It was hard to sort them out. Worth the money to anyone very interested in Anne Boleyn; but it will not appeal to casual and/or romantic fans of the Tudors
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (102 customer reviews) 175 of 181 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A new look at the black-eyed enchantress!,
By P. B. Sharp - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Lady in the Tower The Fall of Anne Boleyn (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
Alison Weir is, of course, a household name among Tudor aficionados. Although it hardly seems possible that anything new can be said about the Tudor monarchs "Lady in the Tower" is rich in details that may not be generally known. Weir discusses at length, for instance, the personalities of Anne Boleyn's supposed five lovers. Anne's brother, Rochford, may have been a homosexual, a fact that was squelched at Anne's trial. Poor Mark Smeaton, the son of a carpenter and not a gentleman, gave himself airs and resented the fact he could not enter into courtly love dalliances with the Queen. William Brereton was almost fifty, a ruthless individual and a lecher who had caused the death of at least one innocent man and who apparently considered himself above the law. Francis Weston was an attractive young man of twenty five who routinely beat the king at cards. And poor Norris, Groom of the Stool, who may have been Henry's only true friend, was nevertheless discarded. All of these men were loyal to the King and he destroyed them to get rid of Anne, destroyed them without turning a hair.There are many personality portraits of Anne's contemporaries revealed in the book. The peculiar character of Jane Rochford, Anne's sister -in-law, who was probably the most instrumental voice in bringing Anne down, is analyzed in detail. I've always thought Henry Percy, who was prevented from marrying Anne by Cardinal Wolsey on orders of the king had staggered away from her trial, distraught with grief. He staggered away, all right, but he was terminally ill with a malady that had nothing to do with Anne, and had in fact spread rumors among the aristocracy that Anne had tried to poison Princess Mary. You'll see the Duke of Norfolk, Anne's nasty Uncle, you'll see the Earl of Wilshire, her ambitious and unloving father, who attempted to climb the greasy pole right back to favor following Anne's execution. You'll see the Duke of Suffolk and his wife Mary, Henry's sister, both of whom hated Anne. You'll see poor Princess Mary, who suffered profoundly at the hands of Anne as well as her father. (Anne however, regretted her treatment of Mary and tried to make amends from the Tower).You'll see Thomas Cromwell, the butcher's son, capable, ruthless and motivated to bring Anne down to save his own skin. And of course you'll see Anne herself, the courageous religious reformer, the black eyed enchantress, the center of an avalanche of enemies. But Anne left a great legacy in her daughter Elizabeth. Alison Weir won't let you forget Anne. A fine read and a fine addition to the Boleyn saga. 69 of 70 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exhaustively Researched,
By L.C. Evans - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Lady in the Tower The Fall of Anne Boleyn (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
Alison Weir does an incredible job of putting the reader in the scene for the last four months of Anne Boleyn's life. This is the most detailed account of the time period I have ever read. Ms. Weir examines not only the lives, but the personalities of those involved so the reader gets a better feel for their behavior. Anne Boleyn had enemies. She was too involved in the affairs of state, had too much influence over Henry to suit those who didn't share her views, and she mistreated Henry's first wife Kathryn and Kathryn's daughter. She even went so far as to try to convince Henry to have them executed. But Anne wasn't all bad. She supported the causes of help and education for the poor and she was generous to her friends and family. She was intelligent, quick-witted, and fun loving. But when Anne miscarried a male fetus in January 1536, Master Secretary Thomas Cromwell saw his chance to get rid of her. He also had to get rid of her supporters to strengthen his position at court.Ms. Weir, throughout the book, presents both sides of the story by quoting from accounts of those who supported Anne and those who hated her. In the end the outcome of the questioning of the "witnesses" and the trial itself were foregone conclusions. Anne was framed for adultery and treason along with her brother, Lord Rochford, and four other innocent men. Henry VIII, still bitter over Anne's failure to produce a male heir, and apparently already lusting after Jane Seymour, allowed himself to be convinced of Anne's guilt. Those who might have believed in her innocence or who had evidence in her favor dared not speak lest they lose their own heads. The description of Anne's execution is gripping and vivid. The author does such a masterful job of putting the reader in the picture that when I read the scene I actually felt Anne's fear as she waited for the sword to strike. Brave to the end, she asked forgiveness of those she'd wronged in her life, but did not confess guilt for crimes she had not committed. Ms. Weir finishes the book by telling how each person involved ends up. Apparently, what goes around, comes around. Thomas Cromwell was executed a few years later. In fact, several others who played a part in Anne's downfall were later executed. I highly recommend this book. 49 of 50 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Investigation into Anne Boleyn's Downfall That's Both Readable and Scholarly.,
By mirasreviews - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Lady in the Tower The Fall of Anne Boleyn (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
"The Lady in the Tower" is dedicated to the fall of Anne Boleyn rather than being a biography of the doomed Queen's life. Alison Weir focuses on the last four months of Anne's life, January through May 1536, setting the stage for her shockingly rapid demise, as she went from being a vibrant, ambitious queen with a strained marriage to losing her title, her husband, her daughter's place in the succession, and, finally, her life in just a few weeks. The picture Weir paints of the Tudor court is sympathetic to Anne Boleyn. Her research is based mostly on primary sources, and she admits that her meticulous investigation of the events surrounding Anne's downfall led her to some conclusions contrary to what she expressed in her previous books.Weir includes some background information on Anne's marriage, in particular how her overbearing personality and indiscreet talk did not serve her well as King Henry VIII's wife, even if these traits had endeared Anne to him as his mistress. We learn who her enemies were at court, why she was so disliked, and the state of her relationship with the King as her enemies were uniting against her. It is the author's belief that Thomas Cromwell was the impetus behind Anne's downfall, not King Henry, so she focuses on his machinations. She takes us through the trials of Anne and the five men accused of adultery and plotting regicide along with her -as much as can be known of the proceedings, as full trial transcripts are not extant. And there is a dramatic and moving account of Anne's execution. Alison Weir believes that the 21 charges against Anne Boleyn were fabricated and refutes them as best as she can with the evidence available. The author also addresses discrepancies in various accounts of Anne's demise, and she discusses competing theories. In analyzing history's view of Anne Boleyn in the last chapter, I felt that the Weir sometimes avoids the obvious conclusions. She is reluctant to blame Henry, though the evidence suggests that he killed his wife deliberately, without believing the charges against her. Weir has consulted an impressive number and variety of primary sources that bear on the issue, however, and the reader can draw his or her own conclusions. "The Lady in the Tower" is written for a popular audience, but, in this case, that just means it's very readable, not deficient in scholarship. |
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