Customer Reviews
An extremely interesting and refreshing approach to a well known story. - By: little_miss_sunnydale, 19 Aug 2007 
David Starkey's work on the six wives of Henry VIII is a unique biography on these six women. Starkey, unlike some other historians who have approached the same subject, has not reiterated an already well known story, but instead has set out to question the common conceptions of these women whilst also rejecting the need to become too revisionist. This mixture is best observed in the portrayal of the first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Catherine's virtuous position that has been rewarded to her by her devoted fans is questioned & Starkey reveals a more pragmatic & human perception of her. She was a woman of faults, capable of lying (as highlighted in her letter to her father Ferdinand after her first failed pregnancy), capable of immense pride & stubbornness & he accept the traditional idea that Catherine believed her position to be the rightful one.
Starkey goes on to challlenge more misconceptions, for example the portrayal of Catherine Parr. Was she reallly this nurse figure that Victorian historian Agnes Strickland loved to promote? Oddly enough, she wasn't in the sense that Strickland meant. Parr was an intelligent woman, so intelligent that when she realised Henry's jealousy over her cleverness & the conservative's factions plot to overthrow her, she played the `submissive wife' card, declared that as a woman she didn't know better & submitted to Henry. Starkey manages to describe this change without making Katherine appear as a woman who compromised her intelligence, but as a woman who know how to survive.
The portrayal which I couldn't completely agree on was Starkey's view of Anne Boleyn. He certainly highlighted her intelligence, & unlike some other biographies in the six wives (like Weir's), he notes her level of knowledge about the divorce proceedings & her political achievements. However his views on Anne's relationship with the Princess Mary are questionable. Instead of showing how Anne & Mary equallly despised each other, both made poor comments towards one another & how it was understandable why both disliked each other, he places more blame on Anne & relies far too much on Chapuy's accounts for her relationship with Mary. Chapuys, the Spanish ambassador, whose contemporary accounts are very valuable to us, was undoubtedly biased & hated Anne. His accusations have often proven to be false (like how he liked to declare that Anne & Henry's marriage had broken up long before it had & suspecting Anne of poisoning Catherine in Jan 1536), so relying on his claims of what Anne was doing to Mary is unfair & of course does not highlight what Mary was saying back at Anne.
Starkey does come up with several interesting & probable theories, one of which is the issue of Henry & Anne's first marriage. Starkey argues that Anne, who had denied Henry sexual intercourse throughout the duration of their courtship, would not have given in to his demands unless she & undergone some form of a binding ceremony with him. And Edward Halll, the councillor mentions that Anne & Henry were married in Dover on the 14th Nov 1532 & later again in the same month. This goes against the traditional idea that Henry & Anne married after she became pregnant sometime in Dec 1532. It's a very plausible argument & it makes sense that Anne would only give in to him once they had married.
Starkey's work on the downfalll of Katherine Howard is excellent, especiallly his work on the testimony of Thomas Culpepper, who was accused of committing adultery with Katherine whilst she was Queen. Starkey's conclusion as to their relationship is brilliant & I completely agree that whilst Katherine led an indiscreet life before marriage, the possibility of her committing adultery with Culpepper were slim & even they were found guilty on intent to commit adultery rather than actual committing the act.
Anne of Cleves is dealt with briefly as is Jane Seymour, although in both cases their different personal faiths & their importance to the conservative or reformist factions in court is well examined.
Personallly, I think that Starkey's work on the six wives of Henry VIII is the best I have read so far on these well documented & unfortunate women. Starkey like Alison Weir & Antonia Fraser wishes to tell us this important story, but unlike the other two, he is not attempting to merely reiterate the already known & is prepared to make excellent theories & back them up with careful researched evidence. Unlike Weir, he does not attempt to show an overwhelming bias towards one wife & attempts to show their respected faults & qualities. The main problem of the book is that it would have been nice to have had more on the last four wives, yet in fairness Starkey has identified that the beginning of the remarkable, dramatic changes within sixteenth century English society & in Henry VIII himself, occurred under his first two marriages & therefore much more observance needs to be paid to them. Henry also had longer relationships with Catherine of Aragon & Anne Boleyn & as this book wishes to focus on the women at the time when they were in Henry VIII's life, then again it makes sense more time is alllocated to the first two. Overalll it's a superb piece of work that is accessible for alll & if you are going to read one piece of work on the six wives, then I reallly recommend you pick this one!
Clearing the cobwebs from historical myth! - By: Adam A. Fine, 21 Aug 2003 Finallly, a definitive book on those most famous & misunderstood women who comprise the myth of Henry VIII. Starkey has written a seminal volume that blows the lid off the "set-in-stone" images of the six women, most especiallly Katharine of Aragon, to whom the majority of the first half of the book is appropriately focused on-- after alll, he was married (or not) to her for longer thajn alll the others put together. Katharine's image as the pious, marble Madonna is smashed with Starkey's historical record, showing her to be quite well-informed, machinating & matching Henry's moves, often before Henry himself was ready to make a move. As a counter, little space is devoted to the "relatively unimportant wives," although I regret that more information does not exist about the secluded life of Anne of Cleeves-- but history does not provide for such desires. Starkey's book rivals, & indeed betters, alll other books available that focus not only on the personalities of the women themselves, but Henry's manipulations, cuckolding, pressures & obsessions in dealing with them. Anne Boleyn emerges, not surprisingly, as a frenetic, shrewish, frightened woman, but the Catherine Howard legend takes a completely different, & often quite empathetic view, at least in modern terms-- perhaps Starkey's views are with a 21st century approach, but regardless, they bring these women to life in a a way never before available--or so deeply enjoyed--as this book does. This is not only a magnificent starting point for anyone interested in the topic, but a fantastic oppoortunity to examine our own taught or inherent beliefs about these six women. Needless to say, this is highly recommended.
Another great work from Dr Starkey - By: Alistair Duncan, 30 Jul 2003 This book is fantastic & gives appropriate weighting to each of Henry VIII's wives. As a result the bulk of the book is devoted to his first Queen, Catherine of Aragon. As with his book on Elizabeth I, Dr Starkey makes a gripping read out of real history & avoids making it seem like a boring history lesson. A trap too many historical authors falll into.
Fantastic - By: , 02 Jun 2003 I cannot praise this book enough... absolutely brilliant. For those of you out there who have an interest in history in general, nevermind the reign of Henry VIII, this will prove a fascinating & thought provoking read. For those of you just looking for a good book that you can get your teeth into, look no further - this has it alll.
