The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII | 
 enlarge | Author: Retha M. Warnicke
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $44.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 1193953
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 338
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.4 x 1
ISBN: 0521370000
Dewey Decimal Number: 942.0520924
EAN: 9780521370004
ASIN: 0521370000
Publication Date: October 27, 1989
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Condition: clean tight pages! some edgewear to dust cover. PLEASE VERIFY YOUR SHIPPING ADDRESS TO AVOID DELAYS! average shipping is 7-10 business days media mail. need it quicker choose expedited shipping! thanks!
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Product Description
The events which led to the execution of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second queen, in 1536 have traditionally been explained by historians in terms of a factional conspiracy masterminded by Henry's minister Thomas Cromwell. Retha Warnicke's fascinating and controversial reinterpretation focuses instead on the sexual intrigues and family politics pervading the court, offering a new explanation of Anne's fall. The picture which emerges - placing Anne's life in the context of social and religious values, and superstitions about witches and the birth of deformed children - changes our perception of her role within the court, and suggests that her execution (occurring only four months after a miscarriage) was the tragic consequence of Henry's profound concern about the continuation of the Tudor dynasty.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Anne the Queen June 7, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this book very much, lovely to read a biography of Anne by someone that's as biased toward her as I am. The speculation that her downfall was caused by miscarrying a deformed child is interesting, & believable, but is not backed up by the sources. The chapters on Anne's childhood & family are fascinating, & the author has a deep understanding of the period which she convincingly portrays. She also points out that some of what we've always been told is fact comes largely from the the very unreliable Spanish Ambassador, & isn't stated elsewhere. It's refreshing to have an author tell us that there's a lot about the people & the times we don't know.it's a reminder that history is what's written down, opinions rather than facts. Buy this book, it'll make you think as well as informing you.
 New ideas on Anne Boleyn April 15, 2008
Retha Warnicke is an expert on family relations in early modern society. This brings a unique perspective to the already interesting life of Anne Boleyn. By understanding not only court politics but the gender roles of time, she effectively introduces new and exciting ideas in the history of the Tudor period.
It seems Warnicke would be the first to admit that she does not have a "smoking gun", no deformed fetus was ever recovered, no secret diary detailing the events ever found. However, she bases her conclusions off logical reasoning and a knowledge of the superstitions of the time. Though this book was not written as a popular history, it is readable and very informative, though you might want to do a little bit of research on the Tudors before you pick it up.
I happened to like this book very much, but if you are old school and do not like to be challenged in set beliefs then do not pick this book up. Her ideas are thought provoking, scholarly and make the reader re-evaluate what they might have learned growing up. She presents a different perspective on Anne Boleyn than any other historian before and that is what makes this book scintillating and readable, even if you do not agree with everything (or anything) she writes.
so far so good March 25, 2008
I'm still reading this book, but so far it's an excellent review of how family politics came in to play with the Boleyn family putting up Anne as a possible match for Henry VIII. The book just doesn't do a very good job of explaining who's who in the courts of that time, but if you've read any other books about the court of Henry VIII, it's not too bad
 Tedious and totally inaccurate January 30, 2008
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is full of errors and unsubstantiated presumptions. To start with, although it has now been conclusively proven by many historians that Anne Boleyn was the younger Boleyn girl(Eric Ives,Alison Weir, Antonia Fraser, David Starkey to mention a few)Warnicke insists she was the elder daughter.
She also insists that Anne was born in 1507 when we now know for certain that Anne was born in 1501. The narrative is slow and laborious. I always try to be objective with any book I read but simply could not take this one seriously when it is so full of errors. The historical fiction author Philippa Gregory based her story 'The Other Boleyn Girl' on this book but it really is hard to decide which work is the bigger piece of fiction!
 Speculative but intriguing March 13, 2006
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I read this book several years ago but returned to it to refresh my memory after being referred to it as a source for Philippa Gregory's The Last Boleyn Girl. While some of Wernicke's assertions are speculative and her writing is a bit dry (especially if you're used to some of the more novelistic writing in popular history these days), she makes a lot of good points, corrects some incorrect assumptions that have been repeated ad nauseam, and generally emphasizes how much we DON'T know.
While there is no definitive evidence for her theory that Anne miscarried a deformed fetus in 1536, it certainly has plausibility and explains a lot of the mystery surrounding Henry's rejection of her and her precipitous downfall. On the other hand, Wernicke makes a good argument that there is virtually NO evidence that George Boleyn's wife was a principal witness against him in the accusations that he had committed incest with his sister, yet as far as I can remember this has been repeated as undoubted fact in just about every book on Anne I have ever read, fiction or nonfiction.
As other reviewers have said, while this book is definitely worth reading, it should NOT be the first biography of Anne that someone newly interested in her or her period picks up.
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