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Henry VIII: King and Court | 
| Author: Alison Weir
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 26413
Media: Paperback
Pages: 656
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.5
ISBN: 0099532425
EAN: 9780099532422
ASIN: 0099532425
Publication Date: September 18, 2008
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Henry VIII (1491-1547) casts a long shadow over English royalty and biography alike. In Henry VIII: King and Court, Alison Weir takes on this forbidding reputation to produce an admirably detailed, if somewhat cumbersome, biography of a king who married six times and presided over England's cataclysmic split with Roman Catholicism. Weir's main task is to overturn the "caricature" of Henry "as a man who thought of nothing but chasing the ladies, and who threw chicken bones over his shoulder". This seems a rather obvious characterisation to challenge, but Weir proceeds to amass an extraordinary wealth of detail about Henry's cultivated court, from its learning, architecture and political machinations, to how many people handled Henry's bedsheets and the food that his horses ate. The early sections get bogged down in too much detail, and detract from the political drama of Henry's growing estrangement from his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, and his fateful marriage to Anne Boleyn in 1532. The second section is much more convincing in tracing how "the young, idealist humanist with liberal ideas about kingship was giving way to a selfish, dogmatic tyrant", as Henry dispenses with Wolsey, Sir Thomas More, Anne and then Cromwell, and the court increasingly sinks into factionalism and intrigue. Weir's biography is a lively recreation of the everyday life of Henry, his court and what he called his "ill-conditioned wives", but it neglects the wider European dimensions of Henry's reign, and sweeps over many crucial aspects of the split with Rome. Detailed and scholarly, Henry VIII: King and Court provides a strangely colourless portrait of the most colourful of English monarchs. --Jerry Brotton
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Interesting read but not detailed enough on Henry the man November 30, 2008
This was an interesting, and pleasingly accessible read. Weir writes in a friendly, easy to understand manner. Weir writes in the introduction that she hopes readers "will be able to make that great leap of imagination across the centuries ... and that, for them, Henry VIII and his court will come to life". I have to day that to some extent Weir succeeds in this - for me Henry VIII is firmly placed in his times and court, with his many palaces, hunts, pageants, masques etc.
The first third of the book is not really a biography of Henry, but an in-depth study of the court, the palaces, and the world in which Henry lived. This section was the weakest part, and for me, the least interesting. The section is far too detailed - an endless list of buildings, names, court positions etc. I agree this aspect of the period is important to study, but it was overdone.
Once we get into the biographical aspect of Henry VIII, the book improves drastically. Weir has produced a good, but not comprehensive, study of Henry as monarch and man, and the personalities of the reign (More, Cromwell, Wolsey, Fisher etc) come to life. Disappointingly, the biography is not as detailed as it could be - especially concerning the important events of the reign. I would have liked more analysis, even narrative, of the Pilgrimage of Grace; and a study of the technicalities of the canon law of Henry's divorce (or annulment) from Catherine of Aragon. Nevertheless, the book is readable and gives a good overview of the politics and factionalism at court and abroad. I did learn, however, that Anne Boleyn was likely to be pregnant at the time of her execution. This surprised me, given Henry's desperation for a son. However, given the offical reason for Anne's execution (adultery amongst other things), it would have been foolish to allow the child to be born - there would have been doubts over its paternity and possibly lead to a succession dispute.
Weir provides plenty of footnotes (at the back of the book) and sources, both secondary and primary, which is an added bonus, and there are two sections of illustrations. However, as other have noted, the genealogical table is very simplified. It is entitled "The Tudors and their Rivals" but it only shows some of Henry's Yorkist cousins (the Courtenays and Poles), whilst omitting other possible alternatives for the throne, such as the De la Poles and Staffords. The Tudor descent from Edward III, via the Beauforts, is not shown, indeed, Edward III isn't even on it.
However, in summary, I can recommend the book, as a good introduction, to anybody interested in Henry VIII, the Tudors and the Henrician court.
 Glittering Court February 26, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book gives a very thourough and complete insight into all the workings of the Tudor court. It is quite exceptional in it's minute detail. This is a must for serious history students. It's one of those books that needs reading many times as there is just so much detail to be absorbed. Fiction it is not! Totally astonishing was the wealth of Henry VIII's court. Read this book and you will learn all the intricate details of court life for both Henry and his Queens as well as their courtiers. Highly recommended.
It has the stuff they dont put in films that makes it special February 25, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
A well put together book. It is a little hard to read. You need to concentrate and you will not wish to be disturbed, but the History is outstanding. Page after page with facts that most of us never know about. It has much detail on the personal side to the great king. It does not dwell on his six wifes like the movie industry. If you want the truth and facts this is it.
 Hard work to get through October 10, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is (almost) excellent for the student of the Tudors, although not for someone with just a general interest in Henry VIII. I saw 'almost' excellent because none of her quotes are clearly referenced. They might say which book, but not which of the forty volumes of that book or the page in the volume! To find out more would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Antonia Fraser's work is clearly referenced. For the first 100 pages or so, this reads like the accounts of Henry's spending etc., and is hard work even for someone who wanted to like it and was studying the era.
Crippled by Bias March 6, 2004
7 out of 13 found this review helpful
Whilst there's no denying the enormous amount of research Ms. Weir must have undertaken to write this book, and that for those studying the minutiae of Henrician court-life this book is a must. However, Ms. Weir's bias towards the historical characters dealt with is truly breathtaking.The hagiographic treatment accorded to Katherine of Aragon contrasts sharply with the utter vituperation of Anne Boleyn's. It seems that the more balanced (and more readable) accounts that characterised her "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" have utterly vanished.
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