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Title: Henry VIII : The King and His Court by Alison Weir ISBN: 0-345-43708-X Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 29 October, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.91 (23 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Great Book, though some flaws
Comment: I really loved this book, and it gave me a unique perspective of Henry VIII and those around him.
The only real flaw in this book is that the chapters that talk only about architecture and fashion tend to be a bit boring. I'm sure that the book would have been just as good without all of those long parts about the castles, etc...
Rating: 3
Summary: A MYOPTIC VIEW OF A HENRY
Comment: If you have read Alison's Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII, you will probably already have a good understanding of this aspect of Henry's life, that his, his private life. A.W. asserts in the beginning of this outing that she will not repeat what she had already covered - she only marginally succeeds. She does a good job of covering the information that you would remiss in not repeating; the dissolution of church, and the execution of A. Boleyn etc. However, in place of those details she's placed page after page of tedious information on the many castles and houses he owned and how much he spent fixing them up or redecorating for his new wife. I really enjoyed her picture of life at court and the internal court fractions between those vying for favor. However, the reason this book does not rate higher is that A.W. spends little or no time exploring the politics and society outside the castle(S) walls. I realize the title is "...and his court," but a lot of that was already covered in Henry's Six Wives. Having read A.W.'s surface treatment of Queen Elizabeth, I know that she is mostly interested in the drama aspect and the personal lives of those in the renaissance court, and not necessarily in the actual broader history of the time.
Bottom Line: I don't think I'm being too harsh on this book. I think A.W. is a wonderful researcher and a fine writer, it's just that this book is not the place I would recommend to anyone really wishing to further their understanding of the world in which Henry VIII lived.
Note: One bit of irritation is A.W.'s mention in the back-of-the-book interview that she has new information regarding Anne's execution, of course she does not mention what it is there because she wants you to read the book. I read over the key chapters where she covers Anne Boleyn's charges and there is really nothing new. As we've learned before the charges against her were mostly fabricated.
Rating: 5
Summary: Fleshing Out Henry VIII
Comment: A compulsively readable account of Henry VIII's court. Weir begins by describing Henry's massive inheritance of "greater" and "lesser" houses. Then she proceeds to his palatial lifestyle, part of the attribute of "magnificence" pertaining to a Renaissance prince, fuelled by Henry's lifelong mania for acquiring and developing property. No detail, whether of texture or cost, is omitted. (Weir helpfully multiplies contemporary values by 300 to give us today's equivalent).
The layout of King Henry's dwellings spoke volumes about courtiers' status and the monarch's accessibility. Courtiers hovered in the impersonal Great Watching Chamber, unless they were lucky enough to have a formal meeting in the Presence Chamber. Only a select few attended the King in his Privy Chamber. Weir's mind-numbing account of Tudor Human Resources yields a smorgasbord of functions, various staff changes, promotions, demotions and, of course, executions.
Later in the book, a biographical framework imposes itself. Henry's infamous matrimonial career is freshly presented from his viewpoint, although that does not lessen his monstrousness. He loved tilting and tournaments; that leg injury was a sporting injury. Most of his best friends seem to have been chosen for their skill in breaking lances.
As in her other books, Weir provides astute mini-biographical "snapshots" of personalities familiar and obscure: the King's coterie of playmates and companions, mistresses and their families, advisors, chancellors and churchmen. So you are getting many biographies for the price of one, especially of people like Thomas More, or Henry's two sisters Margaret (who mothered the Stuart dynasty) and Mary (whose second marriage to Charles Brandon produced the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, her granddaughter, subsequently the "Nine Days' Queen").
One interesting character is Henry Fitzroy, Henry VIII's illegitimate son by Bessie Blount. Fitzroy's existence proved that the King could father a male child, howbeit not a legitimate heir. (Henry Fitzoy was eventually created Earl of Richmond. The poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was a childhood friend of Fitzroy.)
So if you want to know more about the Courtenays, the Boleyns, Norfolks and Suffolks, the Seymours, the Parrs, this is your book. In spades! Weir does it well.
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Title: Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir ISBN: 0802136834 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: April, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir ISBN: 0345425502 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 05 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir ISBN: 0345407865 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 08 July, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Eleanor of Aquitaine : A Life by Alison Weir ISBN: 0345434870 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 03 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir ISBN: 0345404335 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 25 June, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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