Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII / by David Starkey

Perhaps no other monarch in the history of the world has been as scrutinized as King Henry VIII (1491-1547). Above all, it was his six marriages (along with several publicly acknowledged affairs) which have so long carried his legacy. Assuming the throne at 17 following the premature death of his older brother, Henry had little leisure for a normal youth there being the political urgency to wed his brother's widow, Katherine of Aragon (Spain). By all accounts the marriage between Katherine and Henry began happily enough, the pair hitting it off 'royally' for the first few years. But England being a kingdom ruled by monarchy, a proper successor was desired and the fact that Katherine bore 3 healthy children—all girls—availed little good graces from Henry who, along with his advisers, would accept nothing but a legitimate son and heir. On trumped up charges of infidelity Henry divorced Katherine in 1536 and had her abdicated from the royal court, allowing the King (and subsequent "Head of the Church of England") to lawfully wed his--now pregnant--mistress, Anne Boleyn.

More than any partner of a King, Ruler, or Pontiff and certainly among the six wives, Anne Boleyn's tenure as queen has been the most renowned. Meriting appraisal on par with Henry himself, commentary on Anne has widely diverged, herself depicted simultaneously as a vixen, adulteress, homewrecker, heretic, and martyr. Yet it was Anne’s influence beyond all others which prompted Henry’s renunciation of papal authority over Great Britain, a move spearheading the country’s protestant reforms and inciting centuries of religious conflict. But any fanfare for Anne as heroine soon died with her after she too failed to bare Henry a son (her daughter Elizabeth would be queen anyway). Over the next 2 decades Henry would wed four more times with one more wife beheaded, one divorce and one dying in childbirth before his final wife ultimately outlived him. His only son Edward, born to third wife Jane Seymour, would last only 7 years on the throne.

Starkey details everything. Along with the conditions and political climate at the time of each marriage, he comments on the degree of influence advisers--some beheaded with the wives--would have had in relation to Henry's own convictions. While more weight is allotted to the first two marriages, Starkey does well to layer the evolution from Henry's youthful vigor to the aged but still hopeful King wedding his sixth wife, Catherine Parr. For those looking for details behind one of history's most celebrated soap opera's, 'Six Wives' does not disappoint.