Read Six Wives: The Queens Of Henry VIII (2004)

What do You think about Six Wives: The Queens Of Henry VIII (2004)?

The moment I opened this book and stared reading I instantly began to feel distain for Starkey. Throughout his introduction he refers to references and sources of materials that he had drawn upon when writing this book, claming that no one in the past when writing about Henry VIII and his wives has ever drawn upon these sources. This I find extremely hard to believe.He then moves onto Alison Weir’s book “The Six Wives of Henry VIII’ and insults her writing, relating it to a story of legend and overly sentimental and tragic. This absolutely disgusted me as I am a huge fan of Weir and her writing. I felt her book on Henry’s wives was not only informative but very well researched and carefully written. I now understand why I had been told that if I like Alison Weir I would not like David Starkey!All throughout the introduction I felt as though Starkey was trying to prove that his book on Henry VIII’s wives was better and more accurate than any other previously. Instead of finding this intriguing and making me want to read more, I found it came across as pompous and started to put me off. But I wanted to give Starkey credit, he is an incredible and talented researcher and I wanted to push on and to read and learn more.The first part of his book, quite obviously, was related to Catherine of Aragon. It was interesting to read a little of the history of Catherine of Aragon’s parents, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. We learn a little about her brother and sisters and how she was educated and raised based on the beliefs and disciplines of her strong and determined mother. As well as getting to know about the lives of Catherine’s family we are shown how their decisions and actions affected England and great Europe.Starkey not only paints a detailed portrait about Catherine’s personal life, he widens the picture to examine the world around her. He starts with Catherine (of course) and then moves onto looking at her household and her ladies in waiting and all those whom served her. He then begins to look at the wider world – England, France, Spain, Rome and Europe at the time in which Catherine lived. Starkey talks about Catherine’s close family and her relatives and then moves onto the other players on the world stage. We learn a little about the King of France, Ambassadors from all major European countries and even about the Pope at the time. Starkey talks about the thoughts, opinions and how all of these players’ actions – or lack thereof – affects Catherine. This is very clever as all of this builds up a very detailed picture of the wider world that Catherine lived in. At the end of the day Catherine was not just an English Queen – she was a major figure in the greater world.Through Starkey’s research and writing I am able to see now why Catherine refused to go to a nunnery and fought so hard for her marriage. She was fighting not only for her personal religious convictions, but also for her daughter Mary’s future. Like Anne Boleyn who held her temper and curved her sharp tongue in her famous scaffold speech, Catherine was fighting so hard to save Mary’s right to the throne. Catherine had grown up with the belief that women could claim the thrown and rule effectively – her own mother was the perfect example of this – but of course England was different. If Catherine went to a nunnery she was paving the way for Henry to remarry and have more children (preferably a son), whom would take over Mary’s rightful claim to the throne. Ultimately, just like Anne Boleyn, Catherine was fighting for her daughter’s future.I have to say that this view gave me a new respect for Catherine of Aragon. As a mother myself I understand what it is like to want the best for your daughter and to fight for that. Although Anne Boleyn will also be my idol, I can understand why Catherine fought so hard for her marriage and her daughter’s future.The section on Anne Boleyn was by far the longest section within the book and yet seemed to focus the least on one of Henry’s wives. I was severely disappointed with the chapters supposedly about Anne Boleyn. Instead these chapters – over a quarter of the book - talked more about Henry VIII’s ‘Great Matter’ and the ministers, bishops and other influential men at court than he did about Anne Boleyn herself. If Starkey wanted to write a book about Henry’s ‘Great Matter’ I think it would be one of the best Tudor books written. He writes in such great detail about all the details both in England and in Europe surrounding Henry’s great desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon. There is such a wealth of information that Starkey takes up approximately a quarter of his book talking just about the ‘Great Matter’.Yet… was not this section supposed to be about Anne Boleyn? He does mention Anne, but only briefly, little dot points here and there and much of what he writes is mere suggestions of what Anne might have been thinking or feeling. It was extremely disappointing.After speaking in such depth about the ‘Great Matter’ Starkey then moves on to speak about Anne Boleyn’s marriage and coronation. After that he seems to skip through the next few years as though nothing important happened. He barely mentions Anne’s two miscarriages or her actions towards Henry or their daughter. There are a few references here and there but nothing in detail. Then suddenly we are thrust upon Anne Boleyn’s fall. There is little to no lead up to WHY she fell, or about her and Henry’s deteriorating relationship or her public slide from political and courtly life. All seems happy in Starkey’s book and then suddenly Henry does not love her anymore because Anne cannot give him sons and Cromwell has turned against her due to their differing political and religious views. Such little detail leaves the reader slightly confused as to what exactly happened around Anne (and through Anne’s own actions) to bring about such a dramatic fall.Overall I was sourly disappointed with Starkey’s writing about Anne Boleyn’s fall and execution. He dedicates only two chapters, a total of thirty pages, to talk about all the political, emotional and personal reasons surrounding the dramatic fall and finally the execution of Anne Boleyn. The whole section was extremely rushed and Starkey misses out on lots of interesting facts and information. For a man whom seemed in the introduction to take such pride in claiming that he had discovered so much new information about Henry’s wives – he certainly lacked any detail about Anne’s fall and execution. I was utterly disgusted to see so little information and felt as though only the very basic of an outline was penned for the events surrounding Anne Boleyn’s final few months. There was SO much happening at court, so many factors for months and months that all played a role, all were woven together to bring about Anne’s end. So much information that Alison Weir dedicated an entire book to Anne Boleyn’s fall – and yet Starkey seems more interested in writing about Henry’s ‘Great Matter’ than bothering to discuss all of these factors. He gives Anne’s fall only thirty pages and I find this very disheartening and saddening. Anne deserved more recognition and understanding than that.Once I had finished reading about Catherine of Aragon and Henry’s Great Matter the next four wives seemed to pass by within a few chapters. Henry went on to marry four more women over the next ten years of his life, but Starkey only dedicated approximately 180 pages to these for women, all of whom were extraordinary in their own right. I realise that it is quite difficult to convey all the detail and information about each woman in a single book – they are after all deserving of books in their own right. But I was very disappointed with the lack of information and attention Starkey did give to these women. Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser gave the reader more information about Henry’s last four wives in their books than Starkey did. He spent so little time talking about these women that I felt they were greatly glossed over and as a reader I was thoroughly disappointed. Before I knew it I had finished the book and was left wondering exactly who Henry’s last four wives were and what had happened to them!Overall I found Starkey’s Six Wives The Queens of Henry VIII a long and at times quite dull read. I wanted to read a book about the wives of Henry VIII, not a book about the men, councilors, ambassadors, friends, fellow Lords, Kings etc. in Henry’s life. I will give Starkey a small glimmer of credit as I did find a new respect for Catherine of Aragon and her desperate struggle to save her daughter Mary from being declared a bastard in the eyes of the law, but other than that there were too few highlights in such a long book. A good quarter of the book was dedicated to Henry’s Great Matter and all the men whom played a role in obtaining the King’s divorce from Catherine, rather than looking specifically at Anne Boleyn. And there was very little time or detail dedicated to Henry’s last four wives.I don’t feel as though this was a book about Henry VIII’s wives, I felt as though it was about the men Henry gathered around him at court and other influential men within his life. Starkey’s introduction where he discredits Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser was simply uncalled for and I felt this tone was carried throughout the book. Just because Starkey claims to have discovered new information about Henry’s wives does not mean he needs to continuously remind the reader of this – nor does he need to brag about it.I was very disappointed with this book. Starkey is a brilliant historian and an incredibly smart man – unfortunately that did not come across in his book. This is defiantly a great book for factual information, not such a good book to read from cover to cover.
—Sarah

I'm finding it difficult to assess this book because I found the forward to be so incredibly off-putting. Starkey comes across as arrogant and contemptuous of all biographers who have come before him, and this impression is reinforced by occasional subsequent comments by him in the rest of the book. Starkey inserts himself at points to congratulate himself on new interpretations of primary sources, and he also lumps together and denigrates all the "others" who held a different view. While he may be correct, the effect is obnoxious. His coverage of Catherine of Aargon and Anne Boleyn is incredibly detailed, but the other four wives are given a very superficial telling. While I appreciate Starkey's defense that Catherine and Anne had much bigger roles to play, there are key events in the lives of the other four wives that are entirely skipped here. Starkey likely will roll his eyes and dismiss me with a derogatory comment, but I much preferred Alison Weir's Six Wives.
—Cwelshhans

Well, I only got halfway through this complete snoozer. I guess I'll never know what happens to Anne Boleyn (hah!). I looked at other reviews of this book, and I wonder why I felt so differently. First off, there was way too much editorializing. I understand historians write to make a point, but the constant comparisons between Anne Boleyn and Princess Diana were aggravating. And the ego involved! Every single page the reader is treated to insights, facts and discoveries that only David Starkey has made or uncovered. I can understand presenting your own documentary can fluff you up a bit, but I could do without the diva-esque asides. I'll have to find another book about these six women.
—Liisa