Reviews (1)

A Very Informational Read
In my quest to gain biographical information on the six wives of Henry VIII for historical novel purposes, Ms. Bruce's book on Henry VIII's second wife was one of the first to which I turned. Though it is difficult to prove a great many facts about Anne Boleyn, what Ms. Bruce has written is well supported by gripping evidence. Her extensive travel and study has rewarded her readers with a deep sense of knowledge concerning the knight's daughter-made-Queen and a good understanding of the rise and fall of Queen Anne. However, Ms. Bruce's biography has been succeeded by more recent works on Anne Boleyn, and the date of the studies conducted may point a reader in search of the hard facts in a different direction. Still, Bruce's "Anne Boleyn" is a wonderful and well-written source. ... Read more

Book Description

Born in 1473, Margaret Pole was the daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, niece of both Edward IV and Richard III, and the only woman, apart from Anne Boleyn, to hold a peerage title in her own right during the 16th century. This biography of one of the most significant female figures in the male-dominated world of Tudor politics presents the life and culture of this propertied, titled lady against the social and political background of late Yorkist and early Tudor Britain. New research on aristocratic life and court politics in the period, including a complete reappraisal of the Exeter conspiracy, is presented. ... Read more

Product Description

Issued with a Dust Jackey ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good book for an introduction to this amazing person
I am a newcomer to the life of this amazing English king, but this book has been truly fascinating.Well written, informative, and easy to read, Irecommend Mrs. Fraser's book to anyone who wants to start learning aboutHenry.For an expert on the subject, this is probably too basic for you. ... Read more

Book Description

This biography presents the whole career of the controversial sixteenth century statesman, John Dudley. As Lord President of the council which governed Edward VI's minority, he was the most powerful man in England between 1550 and 1553, notorious for his attempt to alter the succession to the throne in favour of his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey. This is a critical reassessment of a man who was the last medieval magnate and perhaps the greatest of the Tudor service nobility. ... Read more

Book Description

The Inventory is not only a catalogue of magnificence but also a key text for evaluating the successes and failures of the Tudor monarchy. Henry VIII had extravagant ideas of image and authority and loved his possessions, amongst which where over 2,000 pieces of tapestry, 2,028 items of gold and silver plate and 41 gowns. Although he left the country with heavy debts and an empty exchequer, he was far from bankrupting the monarchy as some scholars have suggested. Indeed the Inventory allows us to calculate that at the time of his death the contents of his palaces and wardrobes were worth about £300,000 and the military and naval stores a further £300,000. Most of what the King owned has unfortunately since disappeared. Yet the Inventory tells us what once existed, enables us to identify surviving objects and also helps once belonged to hem. The transcription of the inventory is accompanied by a historical introduction, a glossary of technical terms, and an exhaustive Index which is a major tool of scholarship in its own right. ... Read more

Book Description

King Henry VIII has one of the fullest theatrical histories of any play in the Shakespeare canon, yet has been consistently misrepresented, both in performance and in criticism. This edition offers a new perspective on this ironic, multi-layered, collaborative play, revealing it as a complex meditation on the progress of Reformation which sees English life since Henry VIII's day as a series of bewildering changes in national and personal allegiance and represents 'history' as the product of varied and contradictory testimony. McMullan makes a powerful claim for the rehabilitation of Henry VIII, providing the fullest performance history of any edition to date and reading the work not as a marginal 'late' Shakespeare play but as a play which is paradigmatic of the achievement of Renaissance drama as a whole. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Multiple editions
... the reviews for King Henry VIII by William Shakespeare (and all their other books as far as I can tell) as if different editions have the same content - obviously in the case of classics that is far from true.

... 3 editions of Henry VIII at this time: (1) Hardback edited by Gordon McMullar published in November 2000 (2) Paperback edited by Jay L. Halio published in September 2000 (3) Paperback edited by R. A. Foakes published in February 1998

Their editorial reviews describe ALL 3 of these editions as "This is the first fully annotated modern-spelling edition of King Henry VIII to appear for over a decade and includes up-to-date scholarship on all aspects of the play, including dating authorship, printing, sources and stage history." I don't think so! The reader reviews don't distinguish the editions but they are the same reviews posted for the different books. I wish I could contribute the answer but I am still trying to figure it out -- in the meantime, purchase cautiously or you may be disappointed.

William Shakespeare's King Henry VIII
Shakespeare managed to describe the later life of King Henry the eight, with much intelligence and gracefulness. This play, written centuries before, has captured my attention unlike any present-day play or novel. King Henry VIII was based on the life of the notoriously known King Henry the eight of England. To my dismay, only two of King Henry's wives were mentioned. This play showed how King Henry's life was never truly complete: he couldn't trust anyone, he was unfaithful to the Lord, his wives and his country, and he was never blessed with a son, to be heir to his throne. For myself, the climax of the play was viewing how the king dealt with the change of wives and the birth of his daughter, Elizabeth. The play King Henry VIII by William Shakespeare is a wonderful recommendation for anyone who wishes to understand the tidings of King Henry the eight from a fictitious, historical, personal point of view, rather than from historical facts.

Shakespeare's Final Play
This was an appropriate conclusion to Shakespeare's career. Not only are the characters such as Henry VIII, Cranmer, and Wolsey convincing, but the poetry and images are beautiful. In addition, through the fall of several characters such as Wolsey, we can see reflections of Shakespeare himself as he wrote his 37th and final play. It is also poetically appropriate that one of the greatest writers England ever knew ended his career by writing a play about one of the greatest kings that England ever knew! I DO NOT believe that Shakespeare only wrote parts of this play as many people do. With the beautiful images, poetry, and captivating characters, I am very confident in the belief that this play was written entirely by the one and only William Shakespeare. ... Read more

Book Description

Thomas Starkey (c. 1495-1538) was the most Italianate Englishman of his generation. This book places Starkey into new and more appropriate contexts, both biographical and intellectual, taking him out of others in which he does not belong, from displaced Roundhead to follower of Marsilio of Padua. Beginning with his native Cheshire, it traces his career through Oxford, Padua, Paris, Avignon, Padua again, and finally England, where he spent the last four years of his life trying to fulfil his ambition to serve the commonweal. Most of Starkey's career revolved around his patron Reginald Pole, scion of the highest nobility, but Starkey (and many other Englishmen) managed to balance loyalty to Pole with allegiance to Henry VIII. Out of favour with the king's secretary after the middle of 1536, Starkey turned increasingly to religion, continuing to cling to his conciliarist and Italian Evangelical opinions until his death. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the first biography in ninety years of Reginald Pole (1500SH1558), one of the most important international figures of the sixteenth century. Pole's career is followed as protégé and then harshest critic of Henry VIII, as cardinal and papal diplomat, legate of Viterbo, a nearly successful candidate for pope, and finally as legate to England, archbishop of Canterbury, architect of the English Counter-Reformation, and victim of both Pope Paul IV and of himself. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is a study of the marrying of Anne of Cleves to King Henry VIII. It contains fascinating material--including "demonic" interference and sexual politics at court--that differs greatly from the usual stereotyped accounts of Anne. It also provides a rich new context of royal courtship rituals, and a startling account of the king's failure to consummate his marriage. Henry's decision to ally himself with this German noblewoman in 1540 was in part a reaction to the Franco-Imperial Treaty mediated by Pope Paul III, who renewed a suspended bull of excommunication against Henry in the hope of isolating England diplomatically. The subsequent marriage procedures, from the advent of negotiations and the portrait of Anne by Hans Holbein the Younger to Henry's Rochester greeting of Anne--in disguise--and the Greenwich nuptials, all followed usual royal protocol. However, the king's sexual incapacity, which prevented the consummation of the marriage, culminated in the fall and subsequent execution of Thomas Cromwell and his client Lord Hungerford, who were both tarred with the brush of sexual heresy. Retha M. Warnicke is Professor of History at Arizona State University. She is the author of several books, including The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn (Cambridge 1989). ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The Marrying of Anne of Cleves
Fascinating data; eggregiously written. Are there no editors at Cambridge University Press!

Not what I expected
When I first started this book I was hoping that it was one that would give some insight into the life of Anne of Cleves, what she was like as a person etc. I was also hoping that it would touch on the controversty surrounding the portrait done of her by Hans Holbein (it mentions the scandal briefly to say that he did not misrepresent her in the portrait). Instead it focuses on marriage and uses Anne as its example. Not to say that this topic was not interesting, I just felt as though the title was misleading in terms of the book's subject matter. It really does not talk about her until you are half way through the book. I would recomend reading this book but only after it has become a paperback or if you want to know about the history of marriage within the Church.

Warnicke's "The Marrying of Anne of Cleves" an Engaging Read
Dr. Warnicke's latest book is quite enlightening. I admit that I didn't know much about Anne of Cleves or how she came to be married to Henry VIII, but learned that what I had read was largely inaccurate. Dr. Warnicke makes Anne's situation quite clear, much as she did in her book about Anne Boleyn.

The information about royal protocol in selecting and securing foreign-born brides was also fascinating. The book definitely bears a second reading, IMO.

The Marrying of Anne of Cleves: Royal Protocol in Early Mode
Excellent! Lots of detail and background. Ms. Warnicke provides details from many courts and now I finally understand just how Anne of Cleves ended up in England. I enjoyed this as much as her previous book on Anne Boleyn. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The long-awaited definitive study.
Given all the books that have been written about the Tudor period it is extraordinary that none has covered Thomas Howard, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk. He lived through the reigns from Henry VII to Mary and played a major part in the maintenance of the Tudor grip on England. He even survived being sentenced to death for treason under Henry VIII, and spending Edward VI's reign in the Tower. Not bad for a staunchly conservative man of Catholic persuasions. (He avoided the block because Henry VIII chose the day appointed for his execution to die). Thomas Howard was released in the reign of Mary and died shortly afterwards at the age of 80. It is hard to think of any other aristocrat who was so fortunate. However, for once in the Tudor period, justice was done; he had backed his sovereign through thick and thin. Indeed, he has been much maligned as being no more than a 'yes-man' to Henry VIII and none too bright with it. But although he made no great claims to learning his contribution was immense. He communicated directly with diplomats, accumulated many works of art (preserving several of the Holbein portraits that are increasingly well-known today). He is perhaps best thought of as the last of the feudal lords, able to raise effective armies almost at will (though always in the interests of his liege sovereign).

David Head is apologetic about the length of time it has taken to produce this work, which has been gestating for over a decade, notwithstanding that it formed the basis of his doctoral thesis. However it is clear to the educated eye that a colossal amount of work has gone into it. It is increasingly rarely that one can read a history book and be sure that it is entirely the work of the person whose name appears on the cover. Possibly the reason no-one has attempted a similar work to this in the intervening period is that its reputation for excellence and academic rigour (sorry, I'm English!) travels before it.

This book is worth every penny to the serious scholar, although it may come as a bit of a shock to those who thought that Tudor History and Antonia Fraser were synonymous!

John A.W. Lock ... Read more