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.

I really enjoyed this book, Fraser absolutely knows her history. I have always been interested in the royals, King Henry VIII in particular. I felt like this book filled in a lot of missing information from what I already knew about the subjects. It’s a very detailed book, not a particularly easy read, but definitely worth reading for all of the intriguing, fascinating information about the lives of these people in this point in history.

After having read and thoroughly enjoyed Antonia Fraser's "Mary Queen of Scots," I decided to purchase and read her book "The Wives of Henry VIII." I was not disappointed. While I was aware of some of the "basic" information concerning Henry's six wives, I was completely naive as to the connections some had with one another. Nor was I knowledgeable of each wife's life history. Fraser's meticulous attention to detail and her ability to weave detailed facts into an easy-reading style of writing made this a wonderful book to read.

This has to be, so far, one of my favorite books of Henry VIII and his wives. The details of all the women is well documented and I enjoyed the way the illustrations were presented. A great book for those interested in the Tudor period of history.

I watched “The Tudors” and wanted to find a non-fiction account to ascertain how much was accurate vs Hollywood. In reading reviews of several Tudor Wives books, this one, rated highly, appeared to be the answer to my questions. This history by Antonia Fraser did an excellent job of telling the women’s stories from their point of view, not just as interchangeable female pawns in Henry VIII’s chess game of life. All the other relevant figures are described well and brought to life. She presents Henry and his successive wives as real, colorful people. She dismisses the old myths and misassumptions and paints each woman as her own individual.I was very impressed with the completeness of her research and the desire to humanize each of the wives.

The author is quite adept with her research, very deep and complete. Yet there is a lot of info that I wasn't interested in and very hard to slog through. Lots of names and politics. Much was not germane to the story. I was looking for a more personal telling of the account of the wives and Henry. This was just too textbook for me and not very readable.

Antonia Fraser has certainly written more enjoyable works but nonetheless, The Wives of Henry VIII is worth taking the time to finish, especially if you're not very familiar with the subject matter beforehand. She does a fantastic job of laying down facts as with all her historical works but she also injects her own rather 'forgiving' viewpoint regarding the intentions and motivations of the people about whom she writes. Fraser has a wonderful way of exposing the core humanity of characters that most of us have been inclined to view as ruthless, inhuman monsters. I would suggest, however, that one read other not quite so tame opinions because the 'truth' usually lies somewhere in the middle of the extremes.

Read this many years ago. Have read a few of her books because her fact research is consistent with my history classes and other readings. Her prose is easy to read as it flows smoothly thru events.I especially like the ebooks where I can manipulate font size and style, page color, margins... I do miss being able to write notes in the book and flip thru to find them. Don't miss lugging those big books around.The Tudors and the Plantagents are two English dynasties that are illuminating and absorbing.

Wonderfully written and historically accurate. Unlike other authors, Antonia Fraser doesn't turn history into a novel. History is history: she tells it with an incredible amount of sources and explores carefully the psychological and social aspect of every character and event

One more time the specialist in monarchies Antonia Fraser bring to us the universe of ancient palaces and the relationship among their habitants, moslty royals. This book goes deep into the lives of this six brave woman who put theis lives into this king hands.

Nice..

Très bon livre, je recommande sa lecture à ceux qui voudraient en savoir plus sur ce personnage historique très controversé et oh combien intéressant!

Einfach nur grandios. Für Menschen die sich ernsthaft über die Zeit und die 6 sehr unterschiedlichen Protagonistinnen informieren möchten. Niemand vermag das unterhaltsamer, klüger und spannender als Antonia Fraser. Sie versucht sich den beiden Annas, den drei Katherinen und der einen Jane sehr einfühlsam zu nähern, wird m.E. nach jeder von ihnen - soweit in der Rückschau möglich - gerecht. Ein faszinierendes Buch, sehr zu empfehlen!