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qtpieash3 's review for:
Henry VIII: The King and His Court
by Alison Weir
First off, it took me FOREVER - ffffffooooorrrrreeevvveeerrrr - to read this. A whole month, which is like 5 book years to me. It honestly stifled my reading over the past month because while this was a good book (3.75 stars) it's not one I found myself eager to pick up. It's dense, it's detailed and exhaustive, and it's looooong. That said, though, it was very interesting and I had stop with the highlights just a few chapters in because the book is just stuffed with facts and figures and interesting tidbits.
For example:
- When he died, Henry VIII (H8) owned more than 70 residences, on which he had spent over $51 million. A huge share of that amount was spent on repairs and maintenance.
- He owned over 2,000 tapestries, some of which were extremely valuable. The display of tapestries denoted great wealth, since they were made of costly silk and wool threads that were dipped in expensive dyes. Some took a team of skilled weavers 3 years to complete! In 1528 he paid $450k for one ten-panel set of tapestries. To clean them (this is my fave part!), they were rubbed clean with bread (!!!) and then the crumbs brushed away. (I am fascinated by this as it seems like it would make them dirtier?)
- Hygiene in the kitchen became important under H8 when it was discovered that some of the cook staff were performing their cooking naked. (!!!)
The whole book is like this - talking about much plate people had (H8 had 2,2o8), how much different fabrics cost, and how much it cost to feed the court each year ($6 million). All super interesting, but so much to digest. I'm glad I read it and have already downloaded Weir's "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" but am not sure I'm ready to jump into another almost 700-page book. This book did inspire me to re-watch "The Tudors" though and it was neat to see the parallels (and differences) between the book and the show.
Overall, if you like H8/the Tudor court and are up for nearly 700 pages of history - this is a good (but LONG) read.
PS - I'm not inherently opposed to long books; I've certainly read some whoppers. But some authors have a way of making the pages fly by. This book... does not.
For example:
- When he died, Henry VIII (H8) owned more than 70 residences, on which he had spent over $51 million. A huge share of that amount was spent on repairs and maintenance.
- He owned over 2,000 tapestries, some of which were extremely valuable. The display of tapestries denoted great wealth, since they were made of costly silk and wool threads that were dipped in expensive dyes. Some took a team of skilled weavers 3 years to complete! In 1528 he paid $450k for one ten-panel set of tapestries. To clean them (this is my fave part!), they were rubbed clean with bread (!!!) and then the crumbs brushed away. (I am fascinated by this as it seems like it would make them dirtier?)
- Hygiene in the kitchen became important under H8 when it was discovered that some of the cook staff were performing their cooking naked. (!!!)
The whole book is like this - talking about much plate people had (H8 had 2,2o8), how much different fabrics cost, and how much it cost to feed the court each year ($6 million). All super interesting, but so much to digest. I'm glad I read it and have already downloaded Weir's "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" but am not sure I'm ready to jump into another almost 700-page book. This book did inspire me to re-watch "The Tudors" though and it was neat to see the parallels (and differences) between the book and the show.
Overall, if you like H8/the Tudor court and are up for nearly 700 pages of history - this is a good (but LONG) read.
PS - I'm not inherently opposed to long books; I've certainly read some whoppers. But some authors have a way of making the pages fly by. This book... does not.