A succinct overview. A good introductory book.

ISBN? – 9781445600499

Publishing? - 2010 by Amberley Publishing (first published 1996)

General Subject/s? - History / Biography / Politics

General Analysis? - Not as good as similar books by David Starkey, Alison Weir and Karen Lindsey, however it is still a good book. In particular, it is good for more of a beginner in learning about the wives of Henry VIII. For heavier reading, Starkey is better.

Recommend? – Maybe.

Similar Books? - [b:The Six Wives of Henry VIII|10104|The Six Wives of Henry VIII|Alison Weir|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1401819791s/10104.jpg|430173], [b:Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII|134961|Six Wives The Queens of Henry VIII|David Starkey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400002592s/134961.jpg|130047], [b:Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation Of The Wives Of Henry VIII|228541|Divorced, Beheaded, Survived A Feminist Reinterpretation Of The Wives Of Henry VIII|Karen Lindsey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389242782s/228541.jpg|221333]

Quite simply if you want a book about Henry VIII’s wives that is quick, simple and to the point then this is certainly the book to read. In the span of thirty eight years Henry VIII had six wives and with that many wives it is not surprising that there is a great deal of information to cover. What is magnificent about Loades’ book is that he is perfectly succinct in his writing. Loades picks out all the most important and relevant information and states it simply and directly.

Each of Henry VIII’s wives is presented and a little information about their lives and backgrounds is given. Information is then detailed about their rise, their relationship with Henry VIII and then their fates are discussed. There are no long winded sentences or running paragraphs. All the information is short and to the point. Loades discusses a little about the personality and the religious and political views of Henry VIII but certainly the majority of the information within the book is about the wives of Henry.

This book is certainly a wonderful resource for people who know little to nothing about Henry VIII’s wives and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about Tudor history. The reader can gain quite a bit of information about each wife while not becoming overwhelmed. This is a great starting book and from here one can research further into the life of one or more of Henry’s remarkable Queens.

The only fault I found with this book is that Loades states that Anne Boleyn was executed on May 18th. From all my reading I have come to the understanding that Anne was executed on May 19th. Her execution was scheduled for the 18th but because the executioner was late coming from Calais it was postponed to the 19th. I am not quite sure where Loades got the 18th of May as the date of Anne Boleyn’s death and I would be very eager to find out why he used this date in his book. Other than this small inaccuracy with the date I found every aspect of the book accurate, informative and utterly fascinating.

Loades has a brilliant mastery of the English language and I found his book a very easy and informative read. Loades writes with great talent and has the ability to draw the reader in and to make them want to keep reading; personally I could not get enough! I would recommend The Six Wives of Henry VIII to people who wish to start learning about Henry VIII, his wives and Tudor history. I would also recommend this book to people who already have a strong knowledge of Tudor history as it makes a wonderful and quick reference source.

Nothing new here, same old facts dryly presented. Disappointing.

Well-sourced, well-written, enjoyable to read and extremely informative. There is a reason that David Loades is known as one of the top Tudor scholars of our time. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about the lives of and times surrounding the 6 wives of Henry VIII

Nothing new here, same old facts dryly presented. Disappointing.