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NON FICTION
books about the Tudor period |
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| About the Book & Author | Reviews & Recommendations |
Non-Fiction About the Author: Eric Ives
Well respected British Historian who is Emeritus Professor at the University of Birmingham, England. He only writes about this period in history & doesn't write fiction. He has been awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his services to British history.
Reviews:
"The Best full-length life of Anne Boleyn and a monument to investigative scholarship"
- David Starkey
"The best book on Anne Boleyn ever written. This is a must for all lovers of Tudor history, academics and general readers alike."
- Alison Weir, BBC History Magazine Books of the Year
"Splendidly successful... Ives' Boleyn, a portrait at all points supported by the evidence he gives, is clever, independent-minded and politically astute. Ives has gone as far as anyone can....in solving the enigma of Boleyn in a narrative at once profoundly researched and lively"
- Antonia Fraser
"Eric Ives, a scholar utterly at home in early Tudor Politics, has been writing about the Boleyns for more than two decades. His book represents a triumphant culmination of all that research, presented with clarity, wit and human sympathy"
- Diarmid MacCulloch
"Magnificently researched. Eric Ives has written the finest, most accurate study of Anne Boleyn we are ever likely to possess. He leaves no stone unturned in his quest to discover the truth. Never has the historical Anne been so satisfyingly portrayed."
- John Guy
"What Ives doesn't know ... about the high politics and court life of Henry VIII's England will either never be known or is not worth knowing. If there is a truth about Anne Boleyn's rise and fall, he will tell it to us."
- London Review of Books
"Ives demonstrates triumphantly the potential of the biographical approach in a pre-modern setting. He evinces a deep empathy for his subject without ever becoming an apologist for her, and ... he provides a narrative which is genuinely moving. He has also given us a fully rounded and persuasive account of Anne's life as a whole, and its significance for understanding the politics and political culture of the early Tudor decades."
- Reviews in History
| Submitted by: SemperEadem
Comments: Few scholars will be able to offer you a better biography on Anne Boleyn than Eric Ives. If you are looking for a volume on Anne, this is the definitive biography. His knowledge in Tudor politics and religion make this a great read, since he is more than capable of backing up his assertions in the book. In fact, you will come away more intrigued than ever about this queen after you put the book down! I highly recommend it for those just starting out or already familiar with Anne. An engaging story teller, Ives also has the scholarly respect that makes his literature essential for college undergrads in Tudor history. |
Submitted by: MsSquirrly
Comments: As far as I am concerned this book is THE last word on Anne Boleyn's story. I read Ives' first edition 20 years ago and even though I have read other author's takes on Anne, I always return to this one. Ives revised this edition after Henry's Inventory was published so there is more detail and if you are not into detail you may find its a bit dry in places but honestly I love the details. Anne was very aware of her Image but this was an essential part of a person's power in court. Back in those days there weren't political parties but there were most certainly factions. Anne enjoyed gambling and this was her biggest gamble. Unfortunately for her, she ended up folding. Ives has a knack of portraying Anne in human terms, she isn't a saint nor is she sinner. She is flawed and ambitious but she is not an evil monster. Ives puts out the facts without judgments either way....just simple deductions about what was probable. He does address Retha Warnicke's claims of the deformed foetus, witchcraft & the homosexuality of George Boleyn very ably in this revised edition. I highly recommend this book to all you real tudorphiles as a MUST read. |
Submitted by:Antoinette2
Comments: This is by far the most well-researched and detailed biography that I have read about Anne Boleyn. Ives' research is impeccable and his story untouched by personal likes or dislikes. Anne evolves as an intelligent, opinionated, artistic, and political woman, backed by her family as a young girl and sent to France for "finishing." Anne commits herself to her family's wishes and returns as an intelligent, well read, witty and fashionable young woman. Unwilling to just being Henry's mistress, she gambles on the prize himself, Henry. What a contrast to most of the English court she must have been! Considering the length of time that she kept Henry dangling, she must have been an intelligent, charming and resourceful woman and Ives gives the reader plenty to chew on. I agree, the MUST READ for all Tudor-obsessives. |
Submitted by: Lady_anne2
Comments: This is the book I've been looking for and cannot wait to read it! |
Submitted by: queen_elizabeth_1533
Comments: I was amazed at how many details Ives had in this book. He has a chapter for everything! Anything you want to know about Anne is in this book. |
Submitted by:angelosdaughter
Comments: Ives has written a very detailed portrait of Anne Boleyn's public life. He also explains the political machinery of the Tudor court. While providing chapter notes at the back of the book, Ives also cites his sources in the body of the text, allowing continuity in reading (one doesn't need to flip to the back of the book to check sources) He does admit to being an Anne Boleyn fan as indeed many historians do have some bias toward their subjects, and excuses many of her controversial actions, but he does provide a balanced view of her as politician, less of her as a person, no doubt as there is less on record of her relationships. There are also sumptuous descriptions of her clothing, jewelry, and furnishings and the fate of some of them after her death. There are little-known facts: who would have guessed that Anne and her atterndantsattendants spent so much time embroidering? Many of the beautiful counterpanes, curtains, etc. were embroidered by Anne and her ladies, belying the common image of her chambers as the center of constant dancing, flirting, and revelry. Ives has chosen photos ( including those of Annne's prayerbooks, the valance of a bed hanging that Anne may have embroidered, Elizabeth's famous locket ring with its portrait of her mother, Anne, as well as the defaced medallion, which is the one likeness done in her lifetime) that have not been often published. Ives style is very readable and informative. I have really enjoyed this book. | |
| Non-fiction About the Author : David Starkey
Presently, probably the highest paid British historian due to the fact that he works in both the literary media and Television. Has received the Norton Medlicott Medal for Services to History presented by Britain's Historical Association & awarded the CBE by Queen Elizabeth II.
He is best known for writing and presenting the groundbreaking and hugely popular series Elizabeth and The Six Wives of Henry VIII. G.R. Elton was a mentor although it proved to be a stormy relationship.
He has written over a dozen books on his speciality, Tudor & Stuart history. He is known for his balanced views of both Anne Boleyn & Katherine of Aragon rejecting the view that one was a sinner and the other was a "plaster of Paris" saint.
Starkey's next book "Henry: Virtuous Prince" will be released in October 6, 2008 followed by a six part television documentary in 2009 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession. | Submitted by: Lady_anne2
Comments: I had this book in my collection, but someone borrowed it and decided to keep it. I traded in my copy of "Jane Boleyn" for this. Starkey is very "readable". He writes well without bogging thingds down with filler or needless notations. |
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| Non-fiction About the Author : Antonia Fraser
Popular biographer, historian, and mystery novelist. Lady Antonia Fraser is the daughter of the seventh Earl of Longford, Francis Pakenham, statesman, famed public crusader & writer.
Her mother was the Countess of Longford, Elizabeth Pakenham, the author of a series of popular biographical studies of Queen Victoria, Wellington, Churchill, the Queen Mother,
& Queen Elizabeth II.
It was natural that Antonia should become a writer, coming from a family of writers, the "literary Longfords." As well as her father and mother, Lady Antonia's sister Rachel Billington was a novelist; another sister, Judith Kazantzis, was a feminist poet; a brother, Thomas Pakenham, was an historian; and her two eldest daughters, Rebecca and Flora, were both writers. In 1992, she published this book a year after Alison Weir's book of the same title, but academics felt that Fraser's work was more impartial. She is married to Harold Pinter, the 2005 Nobel Laureate of Literature and she, herself has received the CBE from Queen Elizabeth II. | Submitted by: Lady_anne2
Comments: I have this on my iPod right now and it's wonderful! I love the detail he gives and I've learned so much that I didn't know before. It's not dry in the least and is great to go to sleep listening to. |
Submitted by:Antoinette2
Comments: This is my second favorite Tudor book. Fraser knits the stories of these women into a seamless cloth with Henry, in all his royal meglomaniacal splendor as the warp to his wives' weft. Fraser writes with great compassion and well-researched detail, especially of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. It wasn't much a picnic being one of Henry's chosen women. His obsession for a male heir to stabilize the future of his country caused unparalleled death and bloodshed to the English as well as centuries of religious intolerance and persecution. |
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| The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII Non-Fiction About the Author : Retha M. Warnicke An American historian and professor of history at the Arizona State University specializing in gender issues c. 1400 - 1700. Her theories on Anne delivering a deformed foetus & subsequent accusations of witchcraft & her brother's homosexuality on which Philippa Gregory based her novel "the Other Boleyn Girl" have been harshly criticized by other historians including Eric W. Ives & G. W. Bernard. However, Warnicke has publicly distanced herself from the novel and its presentation of the Boleyns. |
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| Non-fiction About the Author : Alison Weir
Before becoming a writer of both historical fiction and non-fiction, Weir was a teacher & ran her own school for special needs children. She was born in Westminster, London and now lives in Surrey,England with her husband and two children. | Submitted by: queen_elizabeth_1533
Comments: I like this book because not only does it talk about Henry's life, but it gives a lot of descriptions of life at his court that I never knew. Clothing, rules and behavior, important courtiers, palaces, and a lot more information are in this book, and brings out a little more information about some of the people associated with Henry's wives that we werent' told in The Six Wives of Henry VIII. |
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| The King’s Reformation: Henry VIII and the remaking of the English Church (Yale, University Press, 2005) Non-fiction About the Author: G.W. Bernard Editor of the English Historical Review & Professor of History at the University of Southampton, England.
Reviews:
"As the title clearly indicates, this book is a study of the English Reformation during the reign of Henry VIII. What the title does not reveal is that this is not merely a new interpretation but a very large, polemical work that challenges most of the accepted scholarship of the past half century. ...
The fundamental thesis of the book is simple and straight forward: Henry VIII provided the inspiration and leadership for the Reformation from the inception of the divorce proceedings through the monastic dissolution until his death in 1547. The king's ministers and bishops, Thomas Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer, and Stephen Gardiner, played supporting roles in which they did as the king directed with very few exceptions. To achieve his objective the author challenges and rejects the scholarship of an impressive list of historians beginning with Sir Geoffrey Elton and including John Scarisbrick, John Guy, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Christopher Haigh, Michael Bush, and Susan Brigden. ...Bernard's interpretation of the Henrician Reformation contains echoes of the old concept of "Tudor despotism" and the views of A. F. Pollard.Whatever one's assessment of this book, it is a safe prediction that its conclusions will be vigorously debated and challenged, while the author will undoubtedly welcome the opportunity to reaffirm his major arguments." Barrett L. Beer, Department of History, Kent State University. |
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| Non-fiction About the Author : David Loades Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Wales and Research Professor of History at the University of Sheffield. He is the author of many books on the Tudor period including Chronicles of the Tudor Queens, Henry VIII and his Queens, and Mary Tudor: A Life. |
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| Non-fiction About the Author: Lacey Baldwin Smith Emeritus Professor of History at Northwestern University in New Jersey. Lives in Wilmette, Illinois Reviews: "The best book on Henry VIII that I have ever read. . . . Smith brings the inner man alive for us in a way no other historian has done. The portrait is as convincing as it is compelling, absolutely authentic, marvelously readable."––A. L. Rowse |
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| Non-fiction About the Author : J.J. Scarisbrick Professor Emeritus of History University of Warwick, England. |
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| Non-fiction About the Author : Diarmaid MacCulloch Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford.His History of Christianity will be published in 2009, to accompany a BBC Television series. Other books, Henry VIII: Politics, Policy, and Piety (1995),Thomas Cranmer: A Life (1996) ,Tudor Church Militant: Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation |
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| Non-Fiction About the Author : Julia FoxJulia Fox was born in London. From a very early age, she set her heart on becoming a teacher and taught in a public and private schools in north London. She left teaching to concentrate on researching and writing 'Jane Boleyn'. She lives in London with her husband, the Tudor historianJohn Guy, and their two cats. | Submitted by: angelosdaughter
Comments:
I recently read the new (2007) biography "Jane Boleyn" by Julia Fox. To the best of my knowledge Jane Boleyn has never before been the subject of a biography, and there is a good reason for that. Jane, the wife of George is a relatively minor character in the Boleyn drama. The book really doesn't tell much more than we already know about Jane Parker She is mentioned in relatively few records, and most of that during the trial of Katharine Howard whose amorous exploits she supposedly abetted, so most of what the author has to say until the trial of Catherine Howard is what she can infer from records mentioning George and Anne Boleyn. Most of her statements are conjectures such as "Jane was almost certainly...", "Jane would have...", etc. I think this book was a lucrative way to milk the craze generated by the broadcast of "The Tudors" and the movie "the Other Boleyn Girl". There is not enough factual documentation of Jane Boleyn's life to fill a book, so most of it is fluff, such as descriptions of the clothing she would have worn, events in which she may have been present/participated, etc. The true value of this book resides in the last four chapters and the epilogue. In the last four chapters, Jane's role as accomplice and facilitator of Catherine Howard's adulterous affair with Thomas Culpepper is examined. It is for this that she was executed and this on which her reputation as a tale-bearing 'bawd' is based.
There is also the image of Jane as a vengeful wife, jealous of the sibling closeness of Anne and George whose malicious tattling led to the charge of incest against the Boleyn siblings resulting in the execution of George and contributing also to Anne's. Fox takes on this image in the epilogue claiming that there is no documentary evidence of Jane's participation as a witness or informant in the Boleyn trials. To counter the depictions of Jane as a jealous, vengeful wife, Fox presents the evidence of a fragment of a surviving letter written by Jane to Cromwell inquiring after George's well-being in the Tower and promising to intercede with the king for him. The epilogue is valuable in its examination of the writers, many writing a generation or two after the events, some of whom may have had access to primary sources no longer extant who are responsible for Jane's image with regard to her role in the Boleyn convictions.
The true value of this book is in its exploration of a personage whose reputation has been accepted uncritically by other historical writers and whose role in events of the Tudor court has been largely unexamined until now.
At $26.95 the book is expensive and the information, most of which can be found in other books on the Tudor era does not justify the price. Borrow this one from the library.
Fox is a meticulous researcher as a reading of her notes to each chapter and her bibliography shows. I just hope her next book will justify her talents. |
Submitted by:Antoinette2
Comments: I didn not care for this book and I admit I am biased. Ives explains Jane's behavior a bit in this book. We will never know what was in Jane's heart and Fox does try to explain her behavior in this book. |
Submitted by: Lady_anne2
Comments: I really wanted to like this book since my husband got it for me as a gift; but it was BORING. As others have stated, there is more speculation about Jane than real fact. | |
| Non-fiction About the Author: John Guy Fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge, England where he teaches part-time so he can devote more time to his writing and broadcasting career. Read History under the supervision of Professor Sir Geoffrey Elton, the pre-eminent Tudor scholar of the late-twentieth century. Married to Julia Fox, author of Jane Boleyn. Other books, Thomas More & The Reign of Elizabeth I Reviews: `The most comprehensive history of Tudor England for more than thirty years.' Observer |
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| Non Fiction Author: Herbert Norris | Submitted by: Boudica
Comments:For anyone interested in historic costume design of the Tudor Era, this is your Holy Bible! Between these covers are 920 pages chock full of information and over 1000 black and white illustrations of fashion designs from nobility to clergy to peasantry. It also includes through citations to original source material, and excellent summaries of historical persons who wore these garments and the tumultuous times they lived. Not only is fashions from England showcased, but also Spain, Germany, France, and Italy. Finally, one can know the difference between the French and Spanish hood! I would definitely recommend this book for any one looking for reference material in order to design accurate period costume for SCA type gigs or even to just to research what various social classes wore. Very valuable book!
Three other good costume books I recommend along with Norris are "The Tudor Tailor" by Ninya Mikihaila and "Patterns in Fashion, 1560-1620" by Janet Arnold and also by Arnold "Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlocked". |
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| Non Fiction About the Author: David Starkey
[see above] |
Submitted by: Boudica
Comments:Highly readable, entertaining, and rigorous in historical scholarship are hallmarks of the works of David Starkey. "Elizabeth" covers the first 25 years of her life, from birth to accession. Overall it is a well researched, brief, and enjoyable read, I finished it in one weekend. However, I was shocked by some of the simple mistakes Starkey made, like stating that Queen Claude of France refused to see Anne Boleyn when she and King Henry made their visit to Calais in 1532 (Claude died 8 years before). But aside from these simple mistakes, Starkey creates fresh analysis of Elizabeth's formative years and new insight into her relationship with her father, her stepmother Catherine Parr, and her sister Mary. Even the most knowledgeable Elizabethan scholar will glean new knowledge from this book. |
Submitted by: SemperEadem
Comments: Although there are many books on Elizabeth out there, this book is my favorite of all time, perhaps because it is about the time in her life that I find most intriguing. Although many books on Elizabeth only devote the first two-or three chapters of the twenty five years before her reign, this one devotes its entirety to it. Starkey's writing is engaging, and one can actually feel apprehensive when reading it, even though we all know what happened! The analysis of how her younger life affected her later on in life is well done, and answers questions about why she referenced her father so much as queen and what influenced her religion. Easy enough for anyone to read, I've referenced it countless times for numerous research papers. |
Submitted by:Antoinette2
Comments: Enjoyed this book from cover to cover, especially Chapter 12, Property. Starkey states that "Rapacity was the besetting sin of the Tudors," and Elizabeth was the Donald Trump of acquiring property. It's a bit disturbing, this aspect of greed in her character, but reflect on who Mom and Dad were. Otherwise, it's an easy and quick moving biography to spend an evening reading. Highly recommended. Lots of fun tidbits. |
Submitted by: Lady_anne2
Comments: Another great read by Starkey that had a television special to go with it. The TV special was actually what made me get the book. | |
| Non Fiction About the Author: Joanna Denny This is Joanna Denny's first Non Fiction biography, her second, released in 2008, is about Katherine Howard. Denny has written a fiction trilogy set in the Tudor Era. | Submitted by: Boudica
Comments: I started out with high hopes for this biography. On the hardback edition the subtitle read, "For the first time...the truth about Anne Boleyn." First off, Denny forgets that hers is not the first book to give Anne Boleyn positive spin, thankfully. But as an AB fan, I figured this was an author sympathetic to a lady I admire, so what could go wrong? A lot apparently (there's a reason it's got 13 1-star reviews on Amazon-US). If one has only read Denny and no other biographies on AB I suggest they go to the library and start reading some quickly because Denny has a knack for distorting facts to suit her twisted interests - frankly, her book is very anti-Catholic, gives AB a ridiculous amount of credit for the Protestant Reformation, lazy source citation, misinterprets primary sources over and over again. Bottom line is, there are much better biographies out there, like Ives or even Warnicke if you want to be edgy. This is the worst positive bio of AB I've read yet. Really. |
Submitted by: miller-pvkk
Comments: As much as I admire Anne Boleyn, I had a hard time reading this book. Joanna Denny clearly has an agenda, which focused on continuing the Protestant reformation into modern times. Let me emphasize that I am also very sympathetic to the 16th century Protestant reformation, but it is time to move on and put aside the propaganda for a more unbiased approach. This book strikes me as something Matthew Parker would have written (Elizabeth's Archbishop of Canterbury and a one of Anne's spiritual advisors). Again, nothing against Matthew Parker, but I like just a little objectivity from my historians. While I don't like books frrom blatently pro-Catholic historians that trash Anne and turn her into an evil monster, I don't want a book that turns her into the saint of the Protestant reformation either.
I think a biography is much more effective when it treats its subjects not as saints but as human beings with attributes as well as flaws. If you have to limit yourself to one or two biographies about Anne Boleyn, I would skip this one and focus on Eric I'ves' scholarly masterpiece. |
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 Non Fiction About the Author: Chris Skidmore |
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| Non Fiction About the Author: David Loades [see above] Other books by David Loades on the Marian Period: "Mary Tudor, A Life", "Regin of Mary Tudor: Politics, Government, and Religion in England, 1553 - 58", "Intrigue and Treason: The Tudor Court, 1547 - 1558". |
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| Non Fiction About the Author: Carolly Erickson Carolly Erickson holds a PhD in Medieval History and has written 20 non fiction books and 4 works of fiction. She specializes in the medieval period and writes primarly on the lives of European monarchs. | Submitted by: Lady_anne2
Comments: I've owned this book for years and have yet to read it. Now I have a reason to so I can give a review of it! |
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 Non Fiction About the Author: Carolly Erickson | Submitted by: Boudica
Comments: First biographic material I ever read on AB when I was about 13 years old. I remember going to the bookstore with my aunt and she said she would buy me one book of my choice, and this was it! The length and the large type I thought would be good for my short attention span and dyslexia, which it was. Other that that, I can't think of much else that I benefited from this. It was a good introduction, but Erickson, like Alison Weir, doesn't portray AB in a sympathetic light. Despite having a PhD, Erickson has sloppy citations and gets some of her facts mixed up or makes implications that don't stack up. For example, Erickson implies that the misuse of drugs taken by the English ambassador to Spain was a botched attempt to poison Princess Mary. (Even the picture on the cover isn't of Anne, it's of Frances Walsingham, the wife of Sir Phillip Sidney and daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabethan spymaster). Even at 13 I wasn't completely satisfied with this biography. |
Submitted by: Antoinette2
Comments: The author's constant injection of her own viewpoints really irritate me. Very biased. Write a novel if you want to tell the story from your POV. Not recommended. |
Submitted by: Lady_anne2
Comments: Pretty good; not great. I had to laugh when I read the picture on the cover isn't even Anne! I agree strongly with Antoinette2 about the author pushing her POV. How very Tina Brown of her... | |
| Non Fiction About the Author: Robert Hutchinson |
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| Non Fiction About the Author: G.R. Elton
Pre-eminent British historian of the Tudor period who passed away in 1994.A very professional scholar and a formidable man with little time for those who failed to meet his exacting standards. Elton taught at the University of Glasgow and was the Regius Professor of Modern history.He was knighted in 1986. Elton worked as publication secretary of the British Academy and served as the president of the Royal Historical Society. He married a fellow historian, Sheila Lambert. |
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| Non Fiction About the Author: Alison Weir
[see above] | Submitted by: SemperEadem
Comments: A nice biography of the six wives of Henry VIII, Weir once again offers a popular biography of the modern period. While Weir offers little scholarly contribution to the literature that already exists about the queens, her writing ability and skill makes it a nice volume for anyone unfamiliar with the Tudors. I would recommend it to anyone who has a beginning interest in the family or for middle school and high school research papers, but if you are in college, reference another volume or your professors will tell you to put it aside like mine did. |
Submitted by: Lady_anne2
Comments: Very good but less informative than I would have liked. I find Weir to to be hit or miss. I prefer Starkey's version and Antonia Fraser's version to be my favorite. |
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| Non Fiction About the Author: Derek Wilson
Reviews:
"A dramatic story to tell in human terms...carried out with attractive energy and zest...[Derek Wilson] has written a useful and stimulating book about [Britian's] most important dynasty." - Antonia Fraser
"I cannot praise too highly Derek Wilson's prose style, which is masterful and lively. He writes with great conviction and a breathtaking attention to the kind of personal detail that makes his books such compelling reading." - Alison Weir |
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| Non Fiction About the Author: Alison Weir
[see above] | Submitted by: Lady_anne2
Comments: I have just started reading this and so far, it's very enjoyable. I never knew a lot about Henry's "other" children. I'll review properly when I'm done with it. |
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| God's Bestseller: William Tyndale, Thomas More, and the Writing of the English Bible Non Fiction About the Author: Brian Moynahan |
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| NonFiction About the Author: Susan Brigden Susan Brigden was a postgraduate student of G.R. Elton while attending Clare College, Cambridge. She has been a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford since 1980. | Submitted by: SemperEadem
Comments: This book has been irreplaceable for me several times in school, if only because I'm constantly writing on Tudor expansion and colonization (or the question of whether it is colonization or state-formation; don't get me started :-D). For anyone interested in the political and military aspects of the Tudor's reigns, this is a great one for you. Border issues, expansion, politics, and religious issues, if you have a question about any of these things, consult this book for ideas of where to do further research. |
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| Non Fiction
The Challenge of Anne Boleyn
by
Hester W. Chapman
First American Edition, 1974 | Submitted by: Lady_anne2
Comments: The liner notes state, "The most sympathetic account of Henry VIII's second wife to appear. A skilled writer, Miss Chapman makes the story as readable as it is dramatic."
My favorite accolade is from "The Times" (London) : "Hester Chapman is the Coco Chanel of Tudor historiography."
She also wrote books on Henry's sisterss; Mary and Margaret that I would like to reead as well if they are not out of print. |
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| Submitted by: angelosdaughter
Comments: Very readable biography of Katharine of Aragon, even if Luke is obviously an admirer. Luke's writing style is vivid and immediate. She makes the reader feel present. The only criticism I have is that Luke uses too many secondary sources. She does use Cavendish and Roper, as well as collections of love letters from Henry to Anne Boleyn, the correspondence of Sir Thomas More and several other collections of correspondence from the period, but her omission of Chapuys' dispatches as well as the Spanish Calendar as sources (unless of course these sources were unavailable in 1967) are strange considering Katharine's friendship and close communication with the Spanish ambassador. I do think it is time for a new and, insofar as is possible, unbiased biography of Katharine incorporating new sources that have become availiable since 1967. This was one of the first books I read on the Tudor period and I have to say I love this book; I still reread it from time to time. |
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