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Henry VIII: The King and His Court | 
 enlarge | Author: Alison Weir
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
Buy Used: $3.69
You Save: $24.31 (87%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  40 reviews
Sales Rank: 281759
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 640
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.6
ISBN: 0345436598
Dewey Decimal Number: 942.052092
EAN: 9780345436597
ASIN: 0345436598
Publication Date: May 1, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Contemporary observers described the young king in glowing terms. At over six feet tall, with rich auburn hair, clear skin, and a slender waist, he was, to many, "the handsomest prince ever seen." From this starting point in Henry VIII, the King and His Court, biographer extraordinare Alison Weir reveals a Henry VIII far different from the obese, turkey-leg gnawing, womanizing tyrant who has gone down in history. Henry embodied the Renaissance ideal of a man of many talents--musician, composer, linguist, scholar, sportsman, warrior--indeed, the Dutch humanist Erasmus (not a man inclined to flattery) declared him a "universal genius." In scholarly yet readable style, Weir brings Henry and his court to life in meticulous, but never tedious, detail. Weir describes everything from courtly fashions to political factions and elaborate meals to tournament etiquette. Along the way she offers up charming--if all too brief--glimpses of Henry's court: tiny Princess Mary, still a very young girl, at her betrothal ceremony saying to the proxy, "Are you the Dauphin of France? If you are, I want to kiss you"; Henry weeping with joy as he held his long-awaited son and heir for the first time; Henry showing off his legs to the Venetian ambassador ("Look here! I have also a good calf to my leg"); Henry's courtiers dressing in heavily padded clothes to emulate--and flatter--their increasingly stout monarch. She also reveals some surprises, for example, that Henry and Katherine were still hunting together as late as 1530, even though Henry was desperately trying to have their marriage annulled. Weir also describes surprisingly happier times in their relationship; Henry loved to dress up in costume, and "was especially fond of bursting in upon Queen Katherine and her ladies in the Queen's Chambers.... Henry took a boyish delight in these disguisings and Katherine seemingly never tired of feigning astonishment that it was her husband who had surprised her." Henry's queens receive relatively little attention here (for them, see Weir's excellent Six Wives of Henry VIII), but this book is fascinating and a joy to read. Alison Weir has done it again. --Sunny Delaney
Product Description
Henry VIII, renowned for his command of power, celebrated for his intellect, presided over the most stylish—and dangerous—court in Renaissance Europe. Scheming cardinals vied for power with newly rich landowners and merchants, brilliant painters and architects introduced a new splendor into art and design, and each of Henry's six queens brought her own influence to bear upon the life of the court. In her new book, Alison Weir, author of the finest royal chronicles of our time, brings to vibrant life the turbulent, complex figure of Henry VIII and the glittering court he made his own.
In an age when a monarch's domestic and political lives were inextricably intertwined, a king as powerful and brilliant as Henry VIII exercised enormous sway over the laws, the customs, and the culture of his kingdom. Yet as Weir shows in this swift, vivid narrative, Henry's ministers, nobles, and wives were formidable figures in their own right, whose influence both enhanced and undermined the authority of the throne. On a grand stage rich in pageantry, intrigue, passion, and luxury, Weir records the many complex human dramas that swirled around Henry, while deftly weaving in an account of the intimate rituals and desires of England's ruling class—their sexual practices, feasts and sports, tastes in books and music, houses and gardens.
Stimulating and tumultuous, the court of Henry VIII attracted the finest minds and greatest beauties in Renaissance England—poets Wyatt and Surrey, the great portraitist Hans Holbein, "feasting ladies" like Elizabeth Blount and Elizabeth FitzWalter, the newly rich Boleyn family and the ancient aristocratic clans like the Howards and the Percies, along with the entourages and connections that came and went with each successive wife. The interactions between these individuals, and the terrible ends that befell so many of them, make Henry VIII: The King and His Court an absolutely spellbinding read.
Meticulous in historic detail, narrated with high style and grand drama, Alison Weir brilliantly brings to life the king, the court, and the fascinating men and women who vied for its pleasures and rewards.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 35 more reviews...
 The Real Henry VIII July 4, 2008
I have read all of Phillipa Gregory's books about the Tudors and have also read Allison Weir's fiction, The Lady Elizabeth and wanted to know more historical facts about this period and this book has them. What they ate, drank, wore, and played is all here backed up by thorough research. If this period interests you buy this book.
A Matter of Personal Taste July 1, 2008
A few months ago while in the airport and not comfortable with flying in general, I picked up a book called The Boyeln Inheritance, which stated it was by the same author as The Other Boyeln Girl, a movie that looked interesting but I hadn't had a chance to see yet but had wanted to. So I bought it to pass the time on the plane.
Wow! Since then I've been so wishing I had been able to focus more on history in high school and have been in this web and book search ever since about the Tudor times.
That's when I came across this book. The background I've given you is to let you know I'm a novice to this part of history, so that's where my perspective comes in this review.
Like another reviewer said, the beginning is "choppy" but only in the sense that the author is trying to paint a picture of the various day-to-day aspects, decor, food, dress, etc of people who lived back then. Each short chapter is devoted to a different thing, and in great detail. If you're into what they dressed then you'll love that chapter, and if you're not into the art, then you'll find that a bit dry. Most of them I found personally interesting, but even in those it was hard to get a picture in my mind of some of the more minute details, because I am still a novice at this and I didn't know what the words meant. But I also didn't expect the author to explain to my level--she has put in plenty of detail as it was, and the random thing I wasn't familiar with I could look up on the net.
Nonethess, the author herself said in the beginning of the book that the first bit is more descriptive, and the rest goes into the narrative as to what happened, just as that reviewer said as well.
And it definately does! It starts to read like a novel, although it is interspersed with some paragraphs of detail which are "dry" if that's not a part of it that you are personally interested in. It was a little hard keeping up with calling someone their proper name and then their title name (i.e. Duke of Norfolk = Thomas Howard = Norfolk), especially when people changed titles, but I think that's more due to the times then the author--they seemed to be called by their title moreso than their actual name. (Again, I'm new to all this.)
As to the reviewer that said this book contains some of the same info as her other books--that's understandable to me. You don't know who already read which book, so you have to lay a foundation. It's not a "series". This having been the first book I read by her, I was delighted for the info.
Overall, the amount of info is astonishing, especially if you're new to this time period in history, but it's not overwhelming, and if I were more familiar with the "characters", it would be easier. I found myself going to the index once in awhile to refresh my memory on "who is this guy again?" but it was easily doable. It's not the author's fault there were so many colorful characters during this time period in particular...LOL!
I just finished the book today, and started looking up some of the people in it on the internet to see what happened next, and then arrived here to see what other books Ms. Weir has. She has made me look forward to learning more!
Henry VIII: The King and His Court April 8, 2008
Henry VIII by Alison Weir is a well written historical review of the life of the king. It is written in a manner to provide both factural and personal information about the life and court of Henry VIII. Her writting style is easy to read. I throughly enjoyed reading the book.
Excellent book March 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is great! It is not only for people who like history but for people who like to discover interesting and uncommon facts too. The book is not boring. The author reveals a lot of interesting facts from the life of a "usual" King and his court. There were many times when while reading I would exclaim: "I could never imagine that!"
English is not my native language, so when I choose something to read it has to be really worthwhile because it takes me time to read it and look up new words in a dictionary and this book is bright and vivid. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Love this book, not repetitive at all! March 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I agree with all the positive reviews written about this book. One additional comment about what I love about the book is that it details what still exists from the Tudor era and who owned it (clothes, desks, beds, personal articles, Anne' prayer book, etc.) and where these items can be seen ie: Hever, Hampton, etc. I loved the reference to a worker in the 1970's finding one of Henry's tennis balls wedged between beams at Hampton Court. If you are mildly interested in the Tudor era, this may be too much detail for you. If you love this era and have not read this book, you will love it.
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