898 pages
5 stars
This is a most excellent and accessible history. Mr. Starkey made it very readable and spoke in a conversational tone, rather than a dry, preachy one.
For the most part what I read was not new, but I did read some very interesting tidbits in this book. The dispute over the disposition of Catherine's plate and other goods at the time of her marriage was both childish and more than a little ridiculous.
Mr. Starkey puts forth that it was Anne who put the whole idea of the divorce in Henry's head. That it was she who came up with the “reasons” for the action. (I have a strong hunch that the author did not care for Anne.) In fact he seems to believe that it was Anne who more or less told Henry what to believe and do. The author details the long and drawn out “Great Matter.” The road to Henry's “divorce” from Catherine was arduous and fraught with difficulties.
Catherine and Anne take up a great deal of the book, naturally. For the split between Catherine and Henry portended the split between England and the Catholic Church.
There are many such moments and they are telling. Mr. Starkey must have done exhaustive research for this book. Perhaps years of research. His attention to detail was beyond compare. I was truly entranced with all the data and the conversational manner in which he wrote.
I have long been a Tudor aficionado, and very much enjoyed reading this book. I immediately went to Amazon to peruse Mr. Starkey's other books.
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