Customer Reviews

Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although the reviews on this website are positive, a greater diversity of opinion can be found at amazon.com. This is a controversial book.

Here's what I submitted to the .com website:

I bought this book on a whim, without benefit of these reviews. I should have done my homework. The other reviews on this website are excellent and I won't repeat them here except to underscore two points.

First, as an academic myself I was stunned by the extent to which Starkey's scholarship is biased, subjective and speculative. He blithely makes racist comments about other cultures (the Spanish are "instutionalized sadists," for example). Evidence that is accepted by other writers he dismisses out of hand, while other, more dubious sources that are not normally consulted he accepts without question. Ideas that start out as speculation are facts a few chapters later. Starkey may be a respected historian, but this is not a good piece of scholarship.

Most significantly, he seems unable to put these women into an historic context. He doesn't appear to appreciate what it was like to be a woman, without legal powers, who attracted the attention of a ruthless and brutal king. For instance, he characterizes Ann Boleyn as manipulative. Maybe she was intelligent enough to realize that if she refused the King, she and her family would suffer the loss of their wealth and possibly their lives. The best she could do was to hold out for marriage which at least gave her some legitimacy. Starkey's failure to appreciate the brutal reality of women's lives at this point in history is a huge handicap in writing their biographies.

It's very long, but so was the list of his wives. Worth reading! If you love 'The Tudors' tv series, read this first before watching :)

This book is absolutely necessary to read! The events that took place in this book, although on the surface they are just marriages - changed the course of the world. Each successive wife in her own way made an impact history. David Starkey did an incredible job!

I first encountered author David Starkey through his "Six Wives of Henry VIII" documentary on PBS (based on this book). The documentary is informative and very entertaining -- Starkey has a gift of bringing history to life and making it fun, with his interesting anecdotes about the characters and humanizing these events. That gift is also evident in this book.

This book, upon which the documentary is based, goes into much more detail than the documentary, of course. I only read the first two chapters (which make up 80% of the book): the chapters on Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Henry's other four wives are, of course, interesting in their own right but let's face it -- Catherine and Anne are where the real drama unfolded.

I also commend Mr. Starkey for his lack of demonstrating any bias. It is impossible to tell from his writings whether he sympathizes more with one character than another.

I particularly recommend this book if you're interested in learning how the Reformation came about (I also recommend Hillaire Belloc's "How the Reformation Happened.") Sadly, the reader realizes that, rather than being borne out of a sincere, pious desire to reform the Church, the Reformation seems to have been born out of political power struggles and desire for financial gain, instead. The book is not really just a study for six women but rather a love triangle (or "power" triangle) which altered the course of history.

A fascinating read -- a highly recommend it!!!

A wonderful book dedicated to the lives of the six Queens of Henry VIII. The majority of the book focuses on the first two wives, Catherine of Aragon, and Anne Boleyn. The reader will really connect with each of the Queens and the ups and downs they went through in royal life. David Starkey is incredibly knowledgable on this subject, and puts it all in this book for anyone who is interested to read.

David Starkey is a great biographer and historian but I found his book a little droll. I have watched his program on Henry VIII and the Royal Monarchy and enjoyed them immensely so I was very dissapointed. This book would be really good if majoring in 16th century english history.