This book offers a refreshing look at the validity of the English monarchy through a fun, romantic story. The romance of Emmalissa and Will is a delightful undercurrent as Will tries to establish himself as the rightful heir of the throne. Their romance soon takes center stage, as often happens, in his quest for truth. If, in fact, there is any validity to this tale, it puts to question the premise on which the monarchy is founded -- lineage. At a time when the monarchy has become less popular, it would be interesting to know what the royals have to say about Harry's Son. This delightful, light story would make an interesting movie. A movie clothed in romance and intrigue that could question the roots of a nation's monarchy.

The book keeps you spellbound and not wanting to stop reading until finished. Provides enough historical facts to almost make it seem non-fiction. A very well-written and fascinating look into the English Royal Family. Very good.

I truly enjoyed reading "Harry's Son"! The author does an exceptional job of weaving historical facts and fiction to create, quite seamlessly, a really good novel. I liked the short, fast-paced chapter format, the political ideas expressed, and the very appropriate tie-in with today's monarchy. I highly recommend it!

I loved this book. What a real character, full of flaws. What a pretty 16 year old nun who suddenly finds herself in the real world in the time of Henry VIII might actually do. Not mature enough to make good decisions, selfish and wicked enough to wish people harm and definitely immature enough to not realize that there is a reaction to every action. Well done. I have waited a year of reading two books a month to find a book like this! Thank you Ms. Gregory for the tale of a central character so full and rich I stayed up all night reading to finish it.

This is a brilliant dark story of a young girl and her quest to live like a queen. She wants the prize of 'lady of the house' and will stop at nothing to get it. She uses her power to reach for her dreams, only to realise that the prize wasn't hers. She is a false woman, and slowly becomes entrapped in her own lies.

Despite the bleakness of the story and the wickedness of Alys, I still liked her! She felt she was destined for an important role, and went out to claim it. She sought love and didn't know what to do with it when she had it. As l was approaching the last few pages of the story I was wondering how on earth it could end, I was so looking forward to the birth of her child etc.

I am currently making my way through all of Philippa Gregory's books. Her novels, both historical and comtemporay are always so vivid and the endings never fail to be anything but thought provoking. Keep writing, because l will certainly keep reading!

This book is extremely dark - its subject matter is pretty bleak and the characters are often rather twisted... but it is nonetheless a riveting read. The Wise Woman tells the story of Alys, an orphan who has been shuffled from house to house throughout her childhood. Alys' first home is with Morach, her town's local witch. Morach is cruel to Alys, and Alys soon finds refuge in the local nunnery. As she prepares to take her final vows, the nunnery is burnt to the ground. Alys flees the fire - leaving her sisters in Christ to burn to death - and is forced to start her life anew. Her travels lead her to the castle near her home, working as an apothecary to the lord of the manor. There she meets the lord's attractive son, discovers her own witchy powers... and finds herself sorely tempted to break her vows. This book is a fscainting story, very well told... the only downside is the sexual imagery is very explicit, and often rather perverse. If you can overlook that... this book is great!

Anne Boleyn was accused of essentially the same catalog of crimes used against every powerful woman since (and probably before) Jezebel - sexual infidelity, witchcraft, heresy, capriciousness and foul temper. As Ives explains, she may not have been physically the most beautiful woman at court, but her intellect, sophistication and worldliness (she had served at the Austrian and French courts) made her by far the most attractive. What is incredible about her courtship with Henry is the sheer number of missed chances to get a proper annulment of Hal's earlier marriage to Katharine - which, of course, would have removed the impetus for the English Reformation, and all the carnage that followed. What makes this a great read is Ives' ability to translate renaissance history into modern terms: Anne's rise and fall were inextricably linked to larger political and religious forces in Henry's court: her demise was the direct product of a temporary court alliance between the hard line crypto-Protestants (Thomas Cromwell et. al.) and the equally hard line Catholic sympathizers (Norfolk, plus the former followers of Thomas More). Once Anne was off the scene, they happily returned to their ideological trenches and resumed ploting against each other. Anne's was a vibrant life in a world which punished the vibrant and the intelligent.

I found this an excellent read when I was studying Anne Boleyn. While never becoming too bogged down in details, it tells her story compellingly and with the necessary human touch which makes Anne's story so engrossing.

Focusing on faction as one of the major causes of Anne's downfall, we are taken from her contested date of birth to her final end, through the whims of the king, life at court and her dubious romances. Ives gives the legends a brisk working over and gives the facts clearly with all the available evidence. This is THE book on Anne to read and I strongly recommend it to anyone studying her life.

Scholarly but not stuffy, Eric Ives' book is the best biography by far I have read of Anne Boleyn. It is packed with original research and serious scholarship but at the same time is readable and easy to follow. The average intelligent layperson would enjoy reading this. Ives, Antonia Fraser and Alison Weir are all MUST READS for Tudor scholars and history buffs.

Yet again, J Ridley takes the reader on a remarkable journey, guiding you through the maze of factual background without ever letting your hand go. His mastery of the English language and notable training as a barrister make him the best narrator of the century.

Jasper Ridley's bio of Henry VIII, if nothing else, suggests to me that executioners must have had a steady employment during early 16th-century England. In Ridley's biography, England's formative king is essentially a psychopath, and the country became Protestant, not because of any doctrinal attachment to the Reformation, but as a consequence of political machinations and goals on Henry's part. This, in fact, is one of the book's great strengths; Ridley is rare among biographers in his thorough attention to and excellent summary of the thicket of political events surrounding Tudor England, and this book does an excellent job of explaining these intricacies. Especially fascinating was the depiction of the conflict between Henry and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Henry would have probably gotten the papal annulment that he wanted to dissolve his marriage to Katharine of Aragon, if only Charles had not effectively controlled the pope and been such a bitter enemy of Henry's; then Henry would have found no need to break from the Catholic Church, and history would be entirely different! For a Renaissance monarch, Henry seems more to resemble one of the 20th century's bloodthirsty dictators in this book. While the depiction initially surprised me, Ridley backs up his claims with such excellent documentation and use of primary sources (which I was able to check), that he definitely has a point! A fascinating bio.

Ridley paints a picture of a King who is as ruthless a tyrant as any 20th Century dictator. Henry VIII is shown as a ruler who forced his ministers to do his bidding and then executed them to satisfy public opinion, once his policies began to loose popular support. He would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, including breaking with the Pope in Rome and reforming the Church in England with him as the head, when the Pope refused to grant him an annulment from his wife, who could not give him a male heir. Thereafter, Henry played Protestant and Catholic factions against each other, so that he could remain in complete control as an arbiter; alternatively burning influential Protestants as heretics and Catholics who refused to recognize him as Supreme head of the Church of England as traitors. Ridley's picture shows us a king who would stop at absolutely nothing to get what he wanted, including turning society and 1000 years of religion completely upside down! A fascinating look at the Stalin of the 1500s!

I've always loved Jean Plaidy's books and I'm so happy her Tudor series is being reprinted. The Lady in the Tower is the story of Anne Boleyn. It begins and ends in the Tower with Anne, tired, wiser, and almost ready to die; trying to figure out where things went wrong. Once she was a king's beloved, now that same king was so sick of her that he'd signed her death warrant. How did she fall so far and so fast? Thus, the incredible story begins.
Most biographies, fictional or not tend to skip over her years in France but this one spends quite a lot of time on them and it's to good effect. Anne's life in France helps to explain her actions in England. This is a sympathetic portrait that shows Anne as impetuous, thoughtless at times, and too ambitious but not the evil, scheming seductress that she's been painted as. Brilliant. If you've never read Jean Plaidy, this is a good one to begin with.

'The Lady in the Tower' is a fascinating, fictionalized first person account of the life of Anne Boleyn, doomed second wife of King Henry VIII. The book begins with Anne's childhood as the youngest lady-in-waiting to Mary, young bride of France's Louis XII and sister of Henry VIII. Anne enjoys her life in France until her older sister, also named Mary, tarnishes the Boleyn name with her numerous liaisons with gentlemen of the court, including the man who succeeds Louis as king, Francis I. Anne and her sister are sent home to England, where Mary becomes Henry's mistress and the Boleyn family becomes much more significant because of this. Anne becomes a lady-in-waiting to Henry's wife Katherine, who has fallen out of the King's favor due to her inability to produce a surviving son. Henry is now looking seriously for a new, younger wife, and he finds the perfect woman--Anne. After a courtship that lasts several years, mainly because of the difficulty involved with divorcing one of Europe's most important women, Henry's marriage is finally annulled, and he and Anne marry. Eight months later, she gives birth to a healthy baby--girl. Anne is enthralled with her new daughter, but also dreads her husband's reaction. Henry is upset--after all, he has married this woman mainly to get a son--but decides that this new daughter, Elizabeth, is rather charming, and he and Anne still have plenty of time to have sons. But Anne never does deliver a live son. She has also failed as Henry's wife in other ways: she refuses to accept his dalliances with her ladies-in-waiting, for instance, and is very quick-tempered. What's more, Henry has found another woman, one who is meek, gentle, young, and healthy--and about to become his third wife. Henry does not care to got through the hassle of another divorce, though, so he has only one choice: death. Anne is arrested under trumped-up charges of adultery (including with her own brother), and is sentenced to death by beheading. As the book is written in the first person, we get to hear the thoughts she has a few hours before her execution. Most are of her life with Henry and of her daughter, who will grow up to become Queen Elizabeth I--a fact which, had Henry foreseen it, may have spared Anne's life. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who loves Anne Boleyn, Jean Plaidy, or both.

Jean Plaidy weaves a complex portrait of the fascinating Anne Boleyn, leading the reader through her childhood to her death.

When I saw the paintings of the various Tudors in history books, most of the time the color jobs were so poor you could not see any detail of the clothing. Now, with these wonderful line drawings, you can not only get an idea of what the clothing looked like, but you can color them yourself. Plus, the synopsis of each person's life history sums up the most interesting aspects of that person's life without getting judgemental or too risque for children.

I found the book witty and informative and so many levels. THere are very few instances in which I can extrapolate so much from a coloring expeirience. I would highly recoomend this book to anyone with a masters or higher in the areas of coloring or bookdrawing genres.

This is a great book. It should be a model of how historians approach the period. It is full of insightful detail such a quotes, vignettes and illustrations that illustrate Parr's life and her impact on society. The book is wonderful in striking a balance between the author's reflections on Parr's life, framing the historical times to give context and historical detail to support her conclusions.

So many books on the women of the English Renaissance seem to be written by little old ladies in Tropesshire, who rattle on about Virgin Queens, duty and stiff upper lips, that sort of tripe. The "see no evil, hear no evil, write no evil" school of history. Susan James's book is a refreshing departure from all that. I can only hope she takes on Elizabeth I as a subject after this book. A really modern, complete book on Elizabeth that has some semblance to historical reality has yet to be printed.

One, small detail, Susan James believe that Parr's daughter, Mary Seymour died before the age of two. She did not. She was placed in the home of another noble family. If she emails me, pfstreitz@aol.com, I'll tell her where Mary went.

This book has everything in it, from pillage and mayhem, royal murders, romance, sex and violence. And besides that, you're learning information never before published about the Tudor royal family. I thought Kateryn Parr was just a weepy widow who married a king and instead she turns out to be Scarlett O'Hara. What a surprise! A strong and well-presented book. Totally fascinating!

This is an incredible story about the life of Cathrine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife. The woman that came to England to marry Henry's older brother and then after his death married Henry against his father's wishes. The book tells about her support of the Catholic church, and the suffering she went through when Henry put her aside for his second wife Anne Boelyn. This book helps you understand how even after the public humiliation this woman could write one of history's most moving love letters to the man who had denied her as his wife and told the world that his daughter with her (To become known as "Bloody Mary")was a bastard and Catherine a wanton. Great story, well told, relaxing reading. Very historically acurate.

This is a novel based on the historical facts of Henry VIII's first divorce and subsequent marriage of Anne Boleyn. The story is entirely from the point of view of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife who never agreed to divorce him. The historical facts in itself are fascinating from the multitude of different conflicts going on: the monarchy succession, the budding religious wars, the national-state rivalries, the personalities, the class struggle, all these aspects combine at a crucial moment in history playing the background to the story of Catherine from her childhood to her grave.

Mr. Mee is a fantastic writer. As another reviewer remarked, Mr. Mee definitely brings history to life. The meetings described in this book make for great, enticing reading material for junior high school on up.

Mr. Mee is an excellent writer and truely brings history to life. I recommend this book to anybody that wants more than "light reading", has an interest in human-kind and is not a real history buff.

I have always loved history, especially stories of the Kings & Queens of England. This is by far the best book I have found. Alison Weir tell the tale of the infamous Henry VIII, his 6 wives, and all the rest of his courtiers in a scholarly but easily understandable fashion. The complex personality of the King is unfolded as the tale of his 6 Queens is told: Katherine of Aragon the proud, stubborn Spanish princess, Anne Bolyen the ambitious girl the people called the "Great Whore," the deceptively strong willed Jane Seymore who gave Henry the son he so despratly longed for, Princess Anne of Cleves who's looks did not please the King, the young & foolish Katherine Howard, and finally the schorally Stepmother & nurse Catherine Parr. Anyone intrested in this period MUST read this book

This is perhaps one of the finest biographies of the women who shared their lives with one of the most powerful and fascinating monarchs to have ruled England. Weir devotes the utmost care to each of the six wives of Henry VIII, telling their stories with compassion and giving each an individual voice. Most of the energy of this book is clearly directed on Henry's first two marriages, first to Katherine of Aragon and the divorce that helped to create the Church of England, and his stormy second union with Anne Boleyn, mother of the Great Elizabeth, chronicling her astronomical rise in power and her spectacular fall from grace. Powerful and masterfully written, Weir recreates the fantastical Tudor court and sweeps the reader into this realm effortlessly. Immensely readable and absorbing, this is Alison Weir at her very best. Extremely well researched, I would recommend this book to anyone who is the least bit curious about 16th century society as viewed through the eyes of 6 of the most important women of their time.

Weir is my favorite non-fiction writer. This is my 2nd favorite of her works, after "The Life of Elizabeth I" (see my review of that work too.)

What's best about "Six Wives" is that Weir is in firm control of the elements of the lives of these very different women. Through telling their stories, Weir gives a coherent history and an excellent account of Henry's reign.

This is serious popular history -- and is well researched and accurate. But Weir's best attribute is her readability. She makes history a page-turning pageant -- without resorting to overblown or overly romanitic drivel.

I've read all her historical works. I suggest beginning with 'Elizabeth I', then "Children of Henry VIII" followed by this work and then her latest 'Henry VIII: The King and His Court." Though she writes of the same period throughout these works, she manages to reveal something new with each -- and is never, ever dull.