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A review by nickartrip102
Henry VIII: The King and His Court by Alison Weir
informative
slow-paced
3.5
After reading a lovely volume about the final years of Henry VII’s reign it was time to finally move on to the son. Like a lot of people, I discovered my love of history getting swept away in the story of Henry VIII and his six wives (I also believe a shirtless Jonathan Rhys Meyers has a large part to play in that) but in recent years as I’ve further extended this interest I’ve developed a bit of Tudor fatigue. I’ve gotten so accustomed to visions of Henry as the tyrant and villain that I’ve lost touch with the early years of Henry VIII’s reign when he was viewed as something entirely different, a bit of a new hope and the ushering in of a new era following the final, darker years of Henry VII’s reign. I kept this in mind as I made my way through Henry VIII: The King and His Court by Alison Weir, which worked surprisingly well since the book begins with his ascent to the throne.
I think I should have paid more attention to this book’s subtitle, as Weir provides a pretty extensive account of Henry’s court. I mostly enjoyed this aspect of the text. Weir explores all of the different roles in the household, the various courtiers, the art of the era, sports, music, etc. Most historical biographies also provide similar context, but not quite as exhaustively. I found this really useful, it certainly helped to immerse myself in the era as I read. I did, however, sometimes find myself struggling to push through certain chapters, eager for the reappearance of the core subject. There are certain instances when information in the text isn’t delivered in a chronological order but rather through thematic association, making things a bit confusing at times, but I was able to shake that off.
Another perk of this book is that it doesn’t heavily emphasize his wives (well, apart from Anne Boleyn, but the impact of that marriage is a bit difficult to ignore) since Weir has an entire volume dedicated to them. It seemed to me that Henry VIII: The King and His Court was more enjoyable in the first half, where I was able to learn quite a bit about Henry pre-Anne Boleyn. While I do think there a few instances of some bias shining through, I always return to Weir’s work because it is accessible and (usually) compulsively readable which is exactly what this book delivered.
I think I should have paid more attention to this book’s subtitle, as Weir provides a pretty extensive account of Henry’s court. I mostly enjoyed this aspect of the text. Weir explores all of the different roles in the household, the various courtiers, the art of the era, sports, music, etc. Most historical biographies also provide similar context, but not quite as exhaustively. I found this really useful, it certainly helped to immerse myself in the era as I read. I did, however, sometimes find myself struggling to push through certain chapters, eager for the reappearance of the core subject. There are certain instances when information in the text isn’t delivered in a chronological order but rather through thematic association, making things a bit confusing at times, but I was able to shake that off.
Another perk of this book is that it doesn’t heavily emphasize his wives (well, apart from Anne Boleyn, but the impact of that marriage is a bit difficult to ignore) since Weir has an entire volume dedicated to them. It seemed to me that Henry VIII: The King and His Court was more enjoyable in the first half, where I was able to learn quite a bit about Henry pre-Anne Boleyn. While I do think there a few instances of some bias shining through, I always return to Weir’s work because it is accessible and (usually) compulsively readable which is exactly what this book delivered.