The Secret Life of Henry VIII

The Secret Life of...

by Bob Fowke

If people think the past is dull, they haven't seen this book yet. It's witty, anarchic, and full of cartoons and jokes. And amidst the fun there are loads of interesting facts about the life and times of Henry VIII and Tudor England. Did you know: Henry got so fat that he had to be lowered on to his horse with a rope and pulley? Henry passed laws to stop servants and laborers from dressing too smartly? And he was nearly killed when he forgot to close his visor while jousting?

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Bob Fowke is a prolific writer with over sixty books to his name or written in collaboration with other writers. Most of his books have been published by major British publishers, mainly Hodder Headline but also Oxford University Press, Collins and Heinemann. The majority of them are history and science books for children but he is also the author of The Real Ancient Mariner, about the 18th-century British sailor who shot an albatross in 1719, thus inspiring the focal point of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's famous poem, The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere.

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My cousins brought me this book back from London. It was pretty cute, but the target readers were probably more like grade school kids and not 26 year old women. My only hang up was that the author clearly had something against Anne Boleyn.... she was the only wife of Henry VIII that the author bashed. Jane Seymour (who I HATE) was practically depicted as a saint by this author, and not as the home wrecking tramp that she truly was.