The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir

The Six Wives of Henry VIII (original 1991; edition 1991)

by Alison Weir (Author)

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3,237	61	4,095	(4.13)	103

PDCRead's review

The rhyme that has stuck with me since school is divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Which of course refers to the final outcome of each of Henry VIII wives.

This is a well reasserted book, packed full of details and anecdotes about the martial affairs of Henry VIII. Weir has gone into great depth, especially on the first two wives, Katherine of Aragon and Anne Bolyen. The book goes into detail on the character of the six ladies, and all the court intrigue and political posturing that went on during his region.

Henry was infatuated with women, and as well as marrying these ladies, also conducted numerous affairs. There was no comeback on his behaviour, even though he has his penultimate wife executed for adultery and treason. Katherine of Aragon, Jane Seymor and Katherine Parr come across as being kind and well meaning, but Anne Bolyen is shown to be scheming and manipulative, and is linked to a suspected poisoning. Anne of Cleves was a political marriage, but Cromwell who arranged it suffered a political fall when Henry decided that Anne was not the beauty that he had been led to believe that she was.

I could not believe just how decadent the time was. Weir describes the amour of clothes, jewellery and gifts that he showered on those women that took his fancy. Especially when you consider that most of his subjects were in poverty and suffered horrendously from disease. He was a huge mane, greedy too as he reached a point where his suit of armour has a waist line of 54"! He spent the fortune that he inherited from his father very quickly, and was always looking for extra sources of income.

Weir has written a comprehensive account of one of the significant monarchs of our country, and the effect that his insistence on marrying who he wanted had on the religious, social, political infrastructure of our country. Well worth a read if you enjoy history, and want to discover more of this time. (

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PDCRead | Apr 6, 2020 |

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My personal study of England has been a sort of patchy, interest-driven excursion; focusing mainly on the lives of well-known authors and their haunts. One era of British history I'd never read about until now is the Tudor period. I'll admit---it was mainly for fear of mixing up the various Marys, Katherines, Annes, and Henrys. It seemed an intimidating task.

When I was given a large box of Tudor reads, I decided this book was the best one to begin with and I was pleasantly surprised at how readable it is. The author makes few assumptions about her readers' prior Tudor knowledge and I came away feeling like I had a good grasp on Henry VIII's life and wives.

I started out with a very bad opinion of Henry VIII. I'd always heard he was a terrible tyrant. Reading about his early life, I began sympathizing with him as it seemed he really desired to be a good king. About the time he messed around on his first wife though, I started to dislike him and by the time Anne Boleyn came along, I seriously loathed him! So many times he was such a hypocritical and immature man.

I had varying feelings about his wives. I greatly admired Katherine of Aragon's loyalty to her husband and to her marriage vows. I did feel pity for the king concerning Katherine Howard, though he really was getting to see the other side of things for the women he'd cast off so carelessly.

By laying out the facts in an unbiased way, Weir allows the reader to form her own conclusions. With all the horrible, tyrannical things Henry VIII sanctioned, I still came away sad and sympathetic at his end. I'm glad he acknowledged Christ before he died. (

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classyhomemaker | Dec 11, 2023 |

Thorough depiction of each of Henry's wives, containing as much information about their lives with and without Henry as is known. (

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mj_papaya | Nov 21, 2023 |

What fascinating women/queens and an interesting king! (

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wallace2012 | Nov 4, 2023 |

Returning to this after twenty plus years, and knowing some missing stories, I can really see some of the newer research that has taken place since this was written in 1991. These women often turn into caricatures, and I got somewhat offended on their behalf at how Weir portrayed them. But I’m glad I got a general overview again as I’ll continue on with my project research and see where it leads. (

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spinsterrevival | Oct 11, 2022 |

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PDCRead | Apr 6, 2020 |

I really enjoyed this book, actually I have really enjoyed every book by Weir that I have read for the same reason. I love History, particularly European History and the fact that the way that she writes it feels more like a novel. History can be dry in it's presentation, but in this book the historical figures "come to life" for me. I fear that she may take a bit of "literary license" in some of the details and conversations, but I don't think she strays far from the logical assumption in any case. (

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Amelia1989 | Jun 10, 2019 |

I read the Kindle version. I think the paper version would be better, because you'd be able to flip backwards and forwards to the timelines and family trees.

I was a bit confused by the pictures at the end. The names were spelt differently from the way they were spelt in the rest of the book, and some of the information contained there contradicted the rest of the book. (

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KWharton | Nov 29, 2018 |

Whelp, where even to begin?! This book is an absolute masterpiece and a joy to read. I need some time to digest before I can review (

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bookishblond | Oct 24, 2018 |

I was inspired to read Weir's book after completing the Great Courses lecture series "The Age of Henry VIII," which whetted my appetite to better familiarize myself with this fascinating and not infrequently horrifying era in English history. Although I struggled with the slow pacing at times, I've come away feeling now quite knowledgeable about the time, events and people surrounding this 16th-century king. (

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ryner | Jul 29, 2018 |

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KWharton | Apr 11, 2018 |

If I could create a genre for this book, it would be "intense history" or "serious history." This was a politically intense and emotionally nerve-wracking time to live in for any woman. The lifespan of a woman in this time is said to be around thirty years of age. The lifespan of a woman as wife of Henry VIII rested on her attitude as Queen and wife and how well he thought of her. While I don't advocate for divorce, I will accept it over a beheading any day!

Divorced, beheaded, died
Divorced, beheaded, survived.

This was how I remembered what happened to each Queen growing up.

Alison Weir did her research thoroughly in the making of this book. If there are any gaps, she acknowledges it. Sometimes papers are missing or its location may not be known. She did mention a fire which may account for other missing evidence that would have answered questions about Henry and his wives. It's long and intense, but it's well done.

However, it's not something I would want to re-read over and over again, which is why I gave it three stars. (

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caslater83 | Apr 23, 2017 |

Excellent history of his wives. (

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ShelleyAlberta | Jun 4, 2016 |

A very quick read, despite it's size. The only thing that disappoints is that so little of the book is given to wives 3-6 while just over half of it focuses on Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Given the length of his marriage to Katherine and the upheaval caused when he wanted to set her aside and marry Anne it is understandable why any book about the wives spends more time on these to but it does mean that you learn very little about his other four wives. (

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KarenDuff | Jun 1, 2016 |

Very good book. Well researched and interesting review of facts of Henry VIII rule but also a insightful view of the turmoil and violence that was part of the Protestant revolution in England. (

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hazel1123 | Jan 28, 2016 |

I have this as a preview book - out as a preview for bookstores before the original release date. Loved it then and read it often (

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tmscott13 | Jan 23, 2016 |

comprehensive, easily read biography of Henry's queens (

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pennsylady | Jan 23, 2016 |

What I liked about this book was that it told the events from the perspective of the wives of Henry Viii, not just the king as is most often the case. Also the author avoided giving them their usual "tag" and categorizing them as pretty, clever, ugly or whatever, instead she gives a balanced picture of each (as much as that is possible) and let them emerge as women with their own dreams and ambitions. (

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SabinaE | Jan 23, 2016 |

4.5 * Excellent biography of the six wives of Henry VIII (and Henry). This is very readable while also being full of fascinating detail. It's not just lurid detail, although that's included; we get to really understand each person's character. I was surprised to find the chapters about Anne of Cleves and Katherine Parr, the least dramatic of the wives, to be particularly interesting to me.

The reader is excellent as well, suiting the book well. My only recommendation would be more pictures and colored pictures in the book. (

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Connie-D | Jan 17, 2016 |

Excellent and easy to read. Great for a general overview of Henry's wives. (

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ThereseKar | Jan 4, 2016 |

I loved this book!! It was so interesting that I didn't want to put it down. Looking forward to reading about Henry's kids next. (

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tuskergirl | Jan 2, 2016 |

This exhaustive effort by the author does not prove an exhausting experience for the reader. Not for this one, anyway. Rather, this heavy tome is engaging and informative, filled with details of the lives and deaths of Henry VIII's six queen consorts.

It may seem to many that Catherine Parr, the sixth wife, was the most fortunate of these queens; however, after reading this book it becomes clear that wife number four, Anne of Cleves, had the best life of them all.

It's also interesting to trace how the legendary Tudor monarch developed from a much-beloved sovereign to one of the most feared tyrants in English history.

In short, this is a brilliantly researched book written by a great author. (

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PhilSyphe | Mar 13, 2015 |

I found this book to be very good. I learned something about each wife that I didn't know about. (

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harleyqgrayson02 | Feb 11, 2015 |

While this book started out fairly dry, I quickly got drawn into the story. I love the fact that the author put so much effort into giving an un-biased account of these six women even though it was clear from the beginning that she has very strong opinions regarding them.

I was surprised to find myself rethinking everything I knew about Tudor history after the chapter on Anne Boleyn, I've always seen her as a sort of tragic heroine, manipulated by her family and by political schemers. This book helped me see her as she was, neither an innocent victim nor an evil witch of a woman.

I had never read very much about Anne of Cleves as she'd always struck me as rather dull. I quickly found a well of admiration for this strong woman and realized that as a step-mother I can relate quite well with her choices and motivations.

This book is so well written (despite the dry beginning) that by the time you finish, you'll feel like you've met these women personally. (

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Mozzie | Jan 15, 2015 |

I became very keen to learn all about the Tudors after reading Hilary Mantel's excellent Wolf Hall, followed by Bring Up the Bodies not long after. At that time I had very little notion about British History, and none at all about Henry VIII and his time, other than the fact he was an oft-married tyrant who had a couple of his wives beheaded. This book was just what I needed to fill some of the biggest gaps in my understanding of a) the reasons why H8 married so often b) who his wives were, with their backgrounds and personal stories and c) why he killed off two of his wives and divorced two more. I also learned in greater detail about d) how and why the break from Rome and the pope occurred, and why there were so many reversals back and forth from Catholic to Protestant beliefs, resulting in the deaths of uncounted masses of people for heresies which were determined according to ever-changing priorities and whims of the great monarch.

I felt I got quite a thorough overview of each of H8's six wives, and also that Alison Weir seemed to greatly dislike Anne Boleyn, who came across as quite an unlikeable woman, though I gather this is a widely agreed upon opinion. Catherine of Aragon, his first wife, predictably enough, came across as a saint. Ann of Cleves and Catherine Parr, as the two clever ones who survived marriage to a vile brute. And of course, plenty of information about the monarch himself and his time. Recommended for those who like me have an interest in literature about that period with little background on the topic, as I imagine a lot of the material is familiar to those who have a better grasp on English history. (

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Smiler69 | Jul 1, 2014 |

I read this book in 6th grade and have been in love with Alison Weir ever since. There is so much detail in this book but none of it is boring. It is amazing to see how many conceptions and miscarriages a queen had to go through just so that A king could have a son. Henry VIII spent most of his life looking for a son when he should have seen the potential he had in his daughters. I can read this over and over and I always seem to learn something new. (

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Desilu42 | Aug 1, 2013 |

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