Six Wives
The Queens of Henry VIII
By David Starkey
(Harper Perennial, Paperback, 9780060005504, 880pp.)
Publication Date: May 2004
Other Editions of This Title: Google eBook, Audio Cassette
Categories: Historical - British, Royalty, Women
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No one in history had a more eventful career in matrimony than Henry VIII. His marriages were daring and tumultuous, and made instant legends of six very different women. In this remarkable study, David Starkey argues that the king was not a depraved philanderer but someone seeking happiness -- and a son. Knowingly or not, he elevateda group of women to extraordinary heights and changed the way a nation was governed.
Six Wives is a masterful work of history that intimately examines the rituals of diplomacy, marriage, pregnancy, and religion that were part of daily life for women at the Tudor Court. Weaving new facts and fresh interpretations into a spellbinding account of the emotional drama surrounding Henry's six marriages, David Starkey reveals the central role that the queens played in determining policy. With an equally keen eye for romantic and political intrigue, he brilliantly recaptures the story of Henry's wives and the England they ruled.
David Starkey is the Bye Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and winner of the W. H. Smith Prize and the Norton Medlicott Medal for Services to History presented by Britain's Historical Association. He is best known for writing and presenting the groundbreaking and hugely popular series Elizabeth and The Six Wives of Henry VIII. He lives in London.
“Extraordinary. . . . With each queen, Starkey offers a vivid character study.”
-Sunday Times (London)
“Brilliant. ... Six Wives provides an intriguing new perspective on this key period in English history.”
-Daily Telegraph (London)
“Acute and imaginative. ... [Starkey’s] communication of subtle points in simple and vivid language is masterly.”
-Sunday Telegraph
“Truly, this is history made as fluent and compelling as excellent fiction.”
-Booklist (starred review)
“Exciting. ... Very acute. ... It is so gripping that one finishes it wishing it were even longer.”
-Mail on Sunday
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