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A review by charmingrogue
The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England's Most Notorious Queen by Susan Bordo
4.0
I suppose I should say that I have a sort-of tangential relationship to the author of this book, my husband is one of her daughter's high school teachers and she gave him a copy of this book last Christmas, but I haven't had any personal contact with her.
I enjoyed this book, as both a general history fan and a Tudor buff, though I have to say that there really wasn't anything I found particularly surprising or shocking. I have a college degree in history, so I have read a lot of history, and I know how to read history - I don't take anyone's (including this author's) word for anything. No one writes 100%, "this is exactly how it happened and there are no other possible interpretations" history. It doesn't exist. Everyone has bias and agendas and things they want to stress or avoid.
This book complains about other historians who seem to announce certain things as "fact" despite little or no evidence for them, but there are times this author does the same thing. And there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, as an historian you have to make some judgment calls, but she calls out these other authors while doing it herself. There is very little we actually know for sure about Anne (including her birthdate, though this author appears to have decided that for herself) so every depiction of her is going to be made up or inferred from other things. This book does a good job of pointing that out, and shows how the depictions of her have changed over the centuries, and why she was portrayed the way she was at different points in time. I recognize that not everyone has a history education, and some people may find this more enlightening than I did.
I also happened to enjoy both The Other Boleyn Girl and The Tudors, while recognizing how historically inaccurate they are. As entertainment, they succeed. As history, they fail, especially TOBG. I just wish more people would take something they enjoy and actually do some research about the history, and not just assume that what they read in a FICTIONAL novel or saw on TV was exactly the way things happened (because what reason would people who want to make money on a story have to lie?).
I think this book was a good one to read, along with my other books on Tudor history, because I think taking everything combined can start to give a clearer picture of the real story.
I enjoyed this book, as both a general history fan and a Tudor buff, though I have to say that there really wasn't anything I found particularly surprising or shocking. I have a college degree in history, so I have read a lot of history, and I know how to read history - I don't take anyone's (including this author's) word for anything. No one writes 100%, "this is exactly how it happened and there are no other possible interpretations" history. It doesn't exist. Everyone has bias and agendas and things they want to stress or avoid.
This book complains about other historians who seem to announce certain things as "fact" despite little or no evidence for them, but there are times this author does the same thing. And there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, as an historian you have to make some judgment calls, but she calls out these other authors while doing it herself. There is very little we actually know for sure about Anne (including her birthdate, though this author appears to have decided that for herself) so every depiction of her is going to be made up or inferred from other things. This book does a good job of pointing that out, and shows how the depictions of her have changed over the centuries, and why she was portrayed the way she was at different points in time. I recognize that not everyone has a history education, and some people may find this more enlightening than I did.
I also happened to enjoy both The Other Boleyn Girl and The Tudors, while recognizing how historically inaccurate they are. As entertainment, they succeed. As history, they fail, especially TOBG. I just wish more people would take something they enjoy and actually do some research about the history, and not just assume that what they read in a FICTIONAL novel or saw on TV was exactly the way things happened (because what reason would people who want to make money on a story have to lie?).
I think this book was a good one to read, along with my other books on Tudor history, because I think taking everything combined can start to give a clearer picture of the real story.