The Wives of Henry VIII

For me, it’s Fraser. When I read these two books side by side, Fraser’s came across as more objective compared to Weir’s more opinionated text. Weir tended to use verbs and descriptors with strong emotional or evaluative connotations, such as “violently raged,” “furious,” and “cunningly misrepresented,” which make for great reading in a novel, but color historical accounts with the author’s own interpretations. If Weir were a professional historian with the training to critically evaluate her sources, I would welcome her conclusions, but she is not, and according to one history professor specializing in the Tudor period, this “gets her into trouble.” He left her book off his recommended reading list, but included Fraser’s with the comment that it was “authoritative.” This speaks volumes to me. I have to say, too, that Fraser’s suppositions tended to be more convincing than Weir’s.

All this is not to say that Weir’s book isn’t worth reading. On the contrary, she brings each woman to life and includes as many details as she can get her hands on. In terms of reading enjoyment, it was wonderful and I actually enjoyed it more than Fraser’s. But I want a non-fiction book to be accurate, and on that count, I’m not confident about her conclusions, especially when they differ from academic opinion.

Getting back to Antonia Fraser, I do trust her presentation. She provides readers with a thorough study of each wife, portraying them as real, complex people rather than stereotypes or “tarot cards.” There is a certain degree of sympathy for these women that tugs at Fraser’s objectivity. As she herself says, they all had to put up with Henry! She does not judge her subjects, but still sees their flaws, such as Anne Boleyn’s tempestuous and jealous nature and Katherine Howard’s tragic naivete. Along the way, she considers various interpretations of events and discusses their merits and possibilities, making for thought-provoking reading.

In the end, both books are well worth reading. But asked to choose between them, I’d pick Fraser’s.

While this book does cover facts,its boring. And I am deeply into tudor history.It was a very slow read and took me much longer to read than any other book I have read.I found it very dull and would not recommend this to one who enjoys tudor history, even though it does give you alot of facts.Unless you have a test on king henry VIII wives, its a disappointment.

I have always been fascinated by English history, particularly Henry VIII. Fraser did not disappoint. Usually I find history books dry and dull. I was initially put off by the length of the book, but the author writes so well that I couldn't put the book down. She makes it seem more like a novel than a history text. I felt like I was right there with each of Henry VIII's wives. The book is meticulously researched, and she clearly shows the differences between the women in the King's life, and helps the reader to understand his motives. All the events are put in context of the sociopolitcal landscape of the times. As a result, I found myself seeing how complex the King was and not being able to hate him, even though I hated his actions. I highly reccommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of the British monarchy.

The triple threat of Elizabeth Longford, Antonia Fraser and Flora Fraser (Mother, Daughter & Grandaughter)have been providing us with readable yet fairly scholarly biographies for decades. All of them are well researched and certainly admired by historians and non-academics alike. This particular book is a handy all-in-one guide to Henry VIII and his six wives. It is by necessity, rather shallow, as his marital woes had and have very important ramifications, and this volume cannot begin to address these issues in depth. Overall, a great read about a fascinating man at a fascinating time. In truth, the women are not nearly as well fleshed out, with the notable exception of Katherine of Aragon, largely because their stories just were not as important as that of their husband to contemporary writers, so their lives are not as well documented. The extent 16th c. materials have been mined for individuals biographies of each woman, and they do each deserve their own book. (Many such have been written, even about poor Catherine Howard.) This is a good book for a first look at Tudor England. I like Lady Antonia and all her biographies, and those of her mother and daughter. I just wish she would stop writing those shabby mysteries.

A good book to read to get an overview about what went on with Henry and all those wives. Those who enjoy history and detail will enjoy the perspective Fraser always provides. This one is not to be missed if you enjoy British history.

I have read many books on the life and wives of Henry VIII. I thoroughly enjoyed the almost conversational tone of this book. The footnotes were very helpful in answering questions provoked by the text. I was particularly interested in the exploration of the wives personalities, strenghs, and weaknesses. Katherine Howard, an often overlooked wife, was made real by the author. A very enjoyable read.

Although it's easy to say that Frasier did a good research and wrote a book very well arranged that tells the story of all Henry VIII's wives in an interesting and well organized prose, there was one thing that bothered me through the book: she takes deeply takes sides and emits judgments on the people's attitudes all the time (specially if they are women!).

Frasier might have written a book about all the woman that wore the crown behind the second Tudor monarch, but early on it's easy to see that she likes Catherine of Aragon the best and considers her as the one true queen, alongside with Jane Seymour. She shows little sympathy toward both Howard girls (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard), and paint them in a very bad light. Her dislike of Catherine Parr is also notable, and although her claims make it seem that it's because of the fake feminist side she's usually shown to have when Parr was actually a very traditional lady; her treatment of other women make it clear that Frasier has very little feminist tendencies herself.

The book is good fun, but not to be taken as any close to absolute true, since it departs from the natural academy idea of being impartial to sit judgment not only on the King's wives but also on his lovers. Fraiser treatment of Bessie Blount and Mary Bolyen show them not only as lightheaded girls, but also as promiscuous that slept around the court (or, in Mary's cases, courts), and deserve no respect whatsover. While Catherine of Aragon is a saint that never touched her first husband 'because she was too young', she claims that Catherine Howard was sleeping around, some 40 years later, while having the same age (not to mention that both Bassie and Mary seem to be around their late teens as well during their affairs with the King, the same age that Catherine and Arthur were when married). In short, Frasier seems as biased as some of the ambassadorial reports from those times.

The one wive that escapes with a fairly unbiased portrait is Anne of Cleves, although, considering her marriage lasted only a few months and that she was smart enough to ensure her safety afterwards, she's still shown as a neurotic and jealous woman that wishes to come back to her former post by the time the King married Catherine Parr.

Still, it's enjoyable and readable, but not nearly the best about the subject, even for beginners.

Unlike the whiney reviewers who complain that books like this one has too many words and people in it or isn't as "exciting" as The Tudors on Showtime or a Philippa Gregory novel, I found this book to be a very stimulating page turner as far as historical biographies go. You need to have at least half a brain to be able to fully enjoy this book. If you have the attention span of a toddler and the reading comprehension of an elementary school student, you might find this book to be a difficult read. I enjoy Antonia Fraser and she does have a tendency to be very dry in spots, but for a true lover of Tudor history the facts are much more exciting than the fiction. I enjoy historical fiction myself, but I recognize its place is to entertain rather than educate. Philippa Gregory has said in interviews that she gathered a lot of her information for her novels from reading Allison Wier and Antonia Fraser's biographies, among others.

Antonia Fraser presents a very sympathetic portrait of Katharine of Aragon that is kind without completely taking her side in all things. She explains the royal divorce in clear terms that are easy to follow, even though at the time it was very complicated. Even people who are not fans of KofA will feel sorry for her when her chapter reaches its end.

Anne Boleyn is portrayed as someone who basically would have been a wonderful wife if she'd been married to a very different husband. Her temper and moods made her just too feisty for a man like Henry VIII to handle, since he was used to getting his way all the time. Antonia presents the argument that for as long as Anne knew Henry before they were officially married, she should have known better than to get on his bad side. Antonia Fraser is slightly less sympathetic to her plight since she could have avoided it if she'd been more tactful. She is very fair in her assessment of her character and she does bring up a lot of Anne's good qualities that are ignored in historical fiction today which would have you believe a very one-dimensional view. In fact you find that Anne and KofA had more in common than it might seem at first glance, since she was actually very pious and very generous to the poor.

Jane Seymour doesn't get much of a chapter, maybe because so little is really known for sure about her and because her time with the king was so short. The description of her elaborate funeral is very detailed and there are other interesting details included in the chapter as well, but the character study is not as fine as with the other wives. But again this is probably because so little is actually known.

Anne of Cleves is one of my favorite of Henry VIII's wives and her story is very richly detailed. A lot of biographers of Henry and his wives leave off talking about her after their divorce, but the fact is that she was still very much involved in his life as well as the lives of the royal children. The book includes two very good pictures of her as well.

Katherine Howard is portrayed as foolish and ignorant, which she undoubtedly was, but Antonia Fraser makes the argument that it was more because of the times she was living in and all that wasn't really completely her fault. When I imagine her in my mind I see her the same way I see these stupid pop stars that are always in the tabloids for getting in trouble because they did something stupid. That is kind of how she is portrayed, as a silly girl who thought she wouldn't get caught. Also she states that a portrait that many claim to be of Katherine is not actually her, but is more likely to be Elizabeth Seymour. There is still some scholarly debate over the portrait today, but this book was written and originally published quite some time ago so more details than what are offered in the book may have come to light since then.

Catharine Parr's chapter is very interesting to read since this was the time when Henry VIII was at his all time worst. His illness made him very unpleasant to be around and you get the sense of feeling sorry for her that she had to be married to such a spoiled man. It certainly makes one grateful for modern medicine, and makes modern husbands look almost like saints in comparison to this royal one.

Although this book is about Henry VIII's wives and not solely Henry VIII, there is a lot of information about him as well as other people in the court. She presents Henry in a very sympathetic and human way. He is not cast in the light of the barbarian lecher many biographers see him in. Again, she shows us more than a one-dimensional character of someone who had many bad points but also many good ones. She gives the reason for a lot of his actions as being done out of fear, because of illness, and because he was just raised to be very spoiled and indulged all his life. She shows us his downward spiral as being due to his many illnesses and pains, but gives no excuses for his self-pitying and sometimes tyrannical behavior.

All together this book was a very good read and I may pick it up again and re-read it sometime in the future, but I do not recommend it for those who are expecting a storyline with dramatic scenes and romantic nonsense. If you want women running around in gardens with fancy dresses on and men in tights with lances and swords, go read something else. If you want the bald truth without Hollywood glossing over the raw information, then you might enjoy this book.

If you are familiar with the subject matter, this book does not cover fresh territory, outside of a few obscure details here and there. Lady Antonia Fraser's writing, as always, is fresh, engaging and broad in perspective; although she does not delve into details, nothing is lost. But she must cover a huge expanse: each of Henry VIII's queens reflect him and his needs (indeed, women then were wholly dependent on a man's favour) at different stages of his life and kingship. Which brings me to a poignant note: the most complex and intriguing queens (Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Katherine Parr) suffered at his hands and could not exercise their considerable talents unless permitted. But that is a modern perspective and irrelevant.

What Lady Antonia does best is reveal these women, their personalities and abilities, in the cultural, social and political context of the time. This book is a superb introduction not just to Henry VIII's wives, but Henry himself: vicariously we see the man through the women who both intrigued and repulsed him. Highly recommended.

An extremely readable biography of the women who married Henry. My only complaints are: that the family tree showing the Plantagenet descent of Henry and his queens is error-ridden; that in the time since the book was published, the identities of a few of the portraits included have been reconsidered; and perhaps her judgement of Bessie Blount and Katherine Howard is a bit cold--tho not without pity. Well worth reading, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is a Tudor beginner.