The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn: 'The Most Happy'

by Eric Ives

This definitive biography of Anne Boleyn establishes her as a figure of considerable importance and influence in her own right. A full biography of Anne Boleyn, based on the latest scholarly research. Focusses on Anne’s life and legacy and establishes Anne as a figure of considerable importance and influence in her own right. Adulteress or innocent victim? Looks afresh at the issues at the heart of Anne's downfall. Pays attention to her importance as a patron of the arts, particularly in relation to Hans Holbein. Presents evidence about Anne’s spirituality and her interest in the intellectual debates of the period. Takes account of significant advances in knowledge in recent years.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Tudor Period, Historical, British Literature, Royalty

523 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2004

About the author

Historian of Tudor England. Studied under S. T. Bindoff. He taught at the universities of Liverpool and Birmingham and wrote on faction at the Tudor court, Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a plethora of material regarding Anne Boleyn, and this is hands-down the definitive biography on our captivating queen.

Ives’s style is, by nature, on the dry side. The man is much more historian than captivating writer. But this is exhaustive—the level of detail is simply astonishing. His precision is exceptional, and he presents the facts in an unbiased nature.

This is an extraordinary investigation into the truth of Anne Boleyn. I gleaned a wealth of information on the subject. It is long, but I highly recommend it to anyone who may be curious and passionate about Anne Boleyn and her truth.

Vraiment, La Plus Heureuse.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a biography of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII. It chronicles her beginnings, her first days at court, her long wooing by the king, her rise to the crown, her sudden fall from grace and her execution. Despite all that has been written about her, in many ways, the life of this complex woman is still a mystery. Her beauty was not really above average--in fact she was said by some to be blemished and deformed--yet she impressed many, and not only the king, with her culture, charm and wit. To some she was a witch and to others a martyr of Protestantism. She was bold, ambitious and hot-tempered, yet she was a patron of the arts as well as of the nascent English Reformation.

A lot of what has been written about her is coloured by conjecture, misinterpretation or popular legend, not to mention the personal agendas of the contemporary observers and later chroniclers. Eric Ives explores what is known of her and attempts to separate the wheat from the chaff. He provides a wealth of detail and argues his case carefully, even though he sometimes goes against what some other historians have taken as fact.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claimed to be the best bio on Anne Boleyn to date, and I agree!

I think I like Anne best portrayed as she really was, not based upon all the myths and, let's face it, downright lies that surrounded her rise and ultimate destruction.

Everything is well researched and the supporting evidence is facinating, ranging from letters, artwork and the royal accounts, to songs and poetry.

Ives gives an amazing insight into life as it was in the Tudor Court and the major personalities within it (Henry VIII, the Boleyns, Cromwell, Wyatt, Wolsey, Chapuys, Suffolk, Norfolk &c.).

If you are interested in the Tudors and appreciate historical accuracy, then I highly recommend this book.

I LOVED IT!

[Rashmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exceptionally well-researched, but written in dry style with an overwhelming amount of detail. Excellent political analysis of her rise and fall, but very little about her personality/motives/essence come through. I could have done with a little less of Thomas Wyatt's tedious verse too. It's quite a feat to make Anne Boleyn boring, yet Ives manages to do so here. I had to push myself to finish it.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ives feels like the best of both worlds: his credentials as a legal historian make him detailed an analytical enough that he's a authoritative source on Anne Boleyn, while his well-supported admiration for her makes the sometimes dry, dense writing style worth it for anyone more accustomed to "popular" historians like Alison Weir and Joanna Denny. Considering the lack of solid historical documents or artifacts from Anne herself (even trying to establish her birth year causes controversy), Ives does a brilliant job of presenting historical evidence and then offering well-informed, interesting speculations without seeming biased. He also imparts a thorough understanding of politics and social life in the Tudor era without you feeling as if he's side-tracking himself. And as someone who's had a life-long fascination of Anne Boleyn, there's something extremely wonderful about a historian like Ives who admired Anne enough to make her the sole subject of an authoritative biography.

[— sab · Rating 5 out of 5]

"yet what does come to us across the centuries is the impression of a person who is strangely appealing to the early twenty-first century. a woman in her own right – taken on her own terms in a man’s world; a woman who mobilized her education, her style and her presence to outweigh the disadvantages of her sex; of only moderate good looks, but taking a court and a king by storm."

[pi.kavka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo naukowa pozycja o Annie Boleyn, czyli najprawdopodobniej najsłynniejszej z żon Henryka VIII. Choć napisana dość suchym, akademickim językiem, dość dobrze opowiada historię Anny zarówno jako królowej i ogromnej zwolenniczki religii anglikańskiej, jak i jako kobiety, żony i kochanki. Autor wyciąga nam trochę postać Anny z cienia, zamiast ikony stara się dać nam żywą osobę. Dodatkowo rozprawia się z wieloma mitami i przekłamaniami, za każdym razem posiłkując się odpowiednimi źródłami.

Dość ciężka i momentami toporna do czytania, ale bardzo wartościowa lektura dla miłośników historii Anglii i dynastii Tudorów.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you read only one book about Henry VIII or his infamous marriage in serial, make it this book. It's a rare thing to find a book written by a historian who A) knows his subject backwards and forwards, B) can write a compelling narrative but without being too dry or lacking in substance, C) challenge the historical reputation of even somebody written about to the extent that Anne Boleyn has and offer a new and nuianced perception of the person and the culture they came from. While most modern popular history books focus on many of the tabloid details of the Tudors (David Starkey, Alison Weir, etc.) Ives gives his readers substance and spice.

[Elizabeth(The Book Whisperer) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing short of brillant! I love the story of Anne Boleyn, and this was the best biography on her I have ever read.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

As far as I am concerned this book is THE last word on Anne Boleyn's story. I read Ives' first edition 20 years ago and even though I have read other author's takes on Anne, I always return to this one. Ives revised this edition after Henry's Inventory was published so there is more detail and if you are not into detail you may find its a bit dry in places but honestly I love the details. Anne was very aware of her Image but this was an essential part of a person's power in court. Back in those days there weren't political parties but there were most certainly factions. Anne enjoyed gambling and this was her biggest gamble. Unfortunately for her, she ended up folding. Ives has a knack of portraying Anne in human terms, she isn't a saint nor is she sinner. She is flawed and ambitious but she is not an evil monster. Ives puts out the facts without judgments either way....just simple deductions about what was probable. He does address Retha Warnicke's claims of the deformed foetus, witchcraft & the homosexuality of George Boleyn very ably in this revised edition. I highly recommend this book to all you real tudorphiles as a MUST read.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

So insightful, so complete. This is a treasure chest: the definitive book about Anne Boleyn! I've read this book 7 or 8 years ago, at that time not used yet to scholarly writing, and I got a bit overwhelmed here and there by the dryness. But this book is absolutely worth the effort. Get yourself ready for a full immersion in the life and times of Anne Boleyn...

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful and very complete biography of this amazing woman.

[Redsteve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the 1980s, this book does an excellent job of bridging the gap between, while avoiding the faults of, earlier popular histories and scholarly works. Neither sensationalistic or dumbed down, it also isn't unduly dry* or written with the assumption that the reader has degrees in the subject (e.g. blocks of untranslated Latin quotes). I found this readable, with the author staying on topic, avoiding the temptation to ramble about interesting but unrelated details where documentation is lacking. I especially appreciated that the author put a great deal of effort into separating history from gossip - When he got to a "fact" that was in any way questionable, he would pause and evaluate multiple period accounts and relevant details (For example, such-and-so couldn't have witnessed this incident as they were provably in Calais at the time). Also footnotes NOT end notes. Solid 4 stars.

*OK, maybe he's a little dry, but if you're interested in the period, totally worth it.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite dry, so I would only recommend this to people who are especially interested in Anne Boleyn, especially those who study related subjects. Here is all the facts you could ever need - and more, with extensive notes.
The quality of my paperback edition is very nice with thick, smooth pages. I do wish that the insert of over 60 pictures in the middle was on glossy and colored pages, instead of the same pages as the rest of the book, and in black and white. It made it difficult to find them.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A woman in her own right - taken on her own terms in a man's world; a woman who mobilized her education, her style and her presence to outweigh the disadvantages of her sex; of only moderate good looks, but taking a court and a king by storm. Perhaps, in the end, it is Thomas Cromwell's assessment that comes nearest: intelligence, spirit and courage."

A lot of people cite this as the biography of Anne Boleyn. The definite work on the woman that, in the words of Thomas Wyatt, set England 'in a roar'. To an extent I'd agree. It is incredibly detailed, and goes into all aspects of Anne's life. Her religious views, artistic tastes, her childhood in Europe, as well as the obvious - her marriage to the king and her execution. Ives goes over Anne's fall almost with a fine toothcomb, showing that of the men appointed to try and convict her, almost all of them had a reason to find her guilty - some had links to Cromwell, some to the king, and some just plainly didn't like her. He wastes no time in establishing that Anne and the five men executed with her were all innocent. He writes on the king's marital difficulties, the courtship of Anne and Henry, their marriage and Anne's fall so well that in these sections it is a difficult book to put down.

However, that being said, this book can be so very, very dry in places. Pages and pages explaining courtly love, and whole chapters dedicated to the religious reforms. These are obviously pivotal to Anne's story - but twenty pages can feel a bit much. These sections read more like an academic work, and they make for great academic reading. If I were writing an essay on Anne Boleyn, I'd have hit the jackpot. It means though that this wouldn't be a book I would recommend as an introduction on Anne. For someone already well acquainted with the period, this book is perfect (you just need to power through when it gets tough going). It is one of the best I have read on Anne and was definitely worth sticking with. Ives' presentation of Anne was sympathetic but not sycophantic, and though it has been sitting on my to-read list for ages, I'm glad I finally got round to it.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it's fair to say that I've read a lot of books about Tudor history and Anne Boleyn specifically. This is one of the best, most well-researched, and most well-written that I have come across.

Eric Ives goes far deeper than the trite "Henry fell in/out of love with Anne and thus had her killed"--and instead looks at the life of one of the most intriguing (and briefest) lives to affect the crown. Instead of dismissing old arguments, he looks at the facts and goes through each source, pointing out biases, and presents effective and convincing theories on the life of Anne Boleyn.

Many books about Anne get caught up in the romance of Anne. Ives looks at the life and how it was reflected in her religion, her court, and her art. You come away with a three-dimensional portrait of the woman who set England on a new course. Unfortunately, this makes her downfall to a Cromwell-engineered coup more tragic. It would be so much simpler to say Henry wanted a new wife, so he got one. Instead, it appears (and Ives effectively argues) that Anne Boleyn was doomed not for not bearing a son (though it probably would have saved her), but for being a close and persuasive counselor to the king--and one that went contrary to the plans of the king's most powerful minister.

I'm almost sad it's over.This book, despite me having limited space, has easily earned a place in my permanent library. If you're all interested in Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII, or Tudor history in general, you should definitely read this.

[Meghan Emery · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite all time non-fiction books. The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn is like the Holy Grail for any Anne Boleyn/Henry VIII/Tudor Court fans. It is the most thorough and though provoking biography I've ever read. I had read other books on Anne Boleyn before, most of them were focused on all of Henry's wives. This one only glances over the other wives in relation to Anne.

I would give this book 5 Stars if it wasn't for the actual writing. The grammar was amazing, don't think that is the fault; it is the way in which he writes. The style of writing is stiff. Some of the wording feels off or forced. He seems to get bogged down at some points, and I'm not sure if it is lack of enthusiasm for those subjects or the lack of information or a plethora of information. At other points his writing is inspired and you can see just how much Anne consumed his life.

I would definitely suggest this book.

[Helene Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

ISBN? - 9781405134637

General Subject/s? - Anne Boleyn / History / Tudors / Biography

Title? - Exactly what it says on the cover, life and death of Anne Boleyn.

General Analysis? - Eric Ives is a historian of Anne Boleyn who I can endorse. His arguments are clear and he looks at all aspects of Anne's life in a lot of detail. This book has almost been the cornerstone of my dissertation and will be incredibly useful in my Masters degree next year. He also puts a lot of words into talking about aspects of Anne which often get overlooked - portraiture, her relationship with her daughter, and her time in the Netherlands and France. These are often overlooked because of the cataclysmic events of the divorce, the Break with Rome and her fall. Eric Ives does Anne Boleyn justice.

Recommend? – Yes, one of the best books on this topic.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eric Ives' biography of Anne Boleyn's life is a very thorough and accurate fact-filled account of her life. While it reads more like a text book, it really provides the reader with an intimate look at the person she was, and follows her from childhood through her rise, then fall from greatness in Henry the VIII's court. After reading many historical novels surrounding Anne Boleyn and Henry the VIII's court, I was curious about how much I read in the novels' was actually fact vs fiction ~ this book helps the reader to sort that out. Great reference book for your library if you are interested in the Tudor dynasty.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellently written and very thorough account of Anne Boleyn's life. The focus is only on her, not like in other biographies which also tell the story of the decline and fall of Catherine of Aragon. The author reaches some surprising conclusions, but backs them up with sensible and persuasive arguments. I would give it five stars but for the fact that it's a little TOO detailed. The middle section, which goes on and on and on and on about the details of Anne's coronation, and her artsy possessions, was very boring.

[Patience · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough and comprehensive is how I would best describe this biography by Ives! This was the first biography about Anne Boleyn I’ve read and it captured my attention immediately.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne Boleyn is often exposed as either a disreputable woman or a saint. There is no reservation that she was driven by aspiration and she did cause distress to Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and her daughter, Mary, as well as to others who opposed her. However, Anne was not the immoral murderess represented in unreceptive sources, nor a fiend.

Equally, she was no Protestant saint, driven only by a craving for religious reform. Anne was determined and it was always her goal that drove her.

This book is structured in four parts.

1) ‘Background and Beginnings’ focusses on Anne’s beginnings, her education, her launch into English court life and the reasons for the impact she made. That leads on to a argument of the romantic relationships which she had or is supposed to have had, and hence to her contract to marry the king.

2) ‘A Difficult Engagement’ looks at the oft-told history of Henry VIII’s attempt to liberate himself to marry, but with a focus on Anne which destabilizes male-dominated explanations of tradition.

3) Part III, ‘Anne the Queen’, inspects Anne’s marriage and consequential lifestyle, offering a picture of what it meant to be the consort of an English king at an exaggeration well in excess of what is possible for almost all her predecessors. Illustrating this is an almost absolute show of such visual confirmation as has survived, which, in turn, supports detailed discussions of Anne’s portraiture, of her role as an artistic patron, of the day-to-day background of royal living and of her mind and beliefs.

4) The concluding segment, ‘A Marriage Destroyed’, deliberates on the final months of the queen’s life, demonstrating the unexpected and unanticipated nature of her fall, the coup which hurried it, the deceit of the case against her and the tensions of her last days.

Anne Boleyn was a stupendous woman for her day. She set out to arrange an imposing wedding for herself and she can never have imagined just how great a wedding she could snare. When she saw a chance, she took it and she played the game as politically as any of Henry’s ministers.

In the end, Anne’s gamble failed and she suffered for this as, ultimately, so too did many of the most prominent politicians of Henry’s reign.

Nobody would describe Thomas Cromwell or Cardinal Wolsey as helpless victims and Anne would also not have considered herself as a victim. She played the game and she lost, but she would have known that that was always a possibility. As Anne is frequently recorded as saying, there was a prophecy that a queen would be burned and she did not care.

To become a queen, even with the risks associated with this, was a gamble worth taking.

Anne Boleyn was an extraordinary woman living in very difficult times for women. She did not set out to win the king and she may, at first, have been unsure of exactly what to do with the married Henry. She was exclusive and she fuelled a great love and lust in Henry which, notwithstanding his five other wives and numerous mistresses, he had never known before and would never know again. Only Anne Boleyn had the power to occupy Henry VIII’s every waking attention and purpose.

With her appeal and her bluntness, Anne was the most remarkable woman the king ever met. For nearly a decade she was always Henry VIII’s craze and his obsession. It was that fixation that ultimately cost her her life as the reality of Anne, as wife and queen, could never live up to the image of her that had been built up in Henry’s mind.

Anne Boleyn used Henry’s obsession to drive him forward and change the course of English history over their marriage. In due course, however, Henry’s neurotic love turned to detestation and even Anne was unable to protect herself from the outcomes.

The fine points that we carry from this book are the following:

1) Anne Boleyn is the most controversial woman ever to wear the crown of England. Among Henry VIII’s six wives, she is the only one to be a household name and she is remembered as both famous and infamous.

2) Even nearly five hundred years after her death, Anne still stirs up strong emotions. She often appears as a character in films, television and novels, as well as being the subject of numerous biographies.

3) Accounts of Anne differ. Some biographers render her as a casualty of Henry VIII and an almost virtuous figure, a woman who could do no wrong. Others show Anne in a more unreceptive light, focussing on the rumours of murder and cruelty that surrounded her and on her treatment of Henry’s first wife and eldest daughter. Anne Boleyn has been extensively studied since at least the early 19th century.

4) She remains as much a focus for debate as she was during her lifetime. Both today and in the sixteenth century people either loved or hated Anne Boleyn.

5) Anne Boleyn was no stereotype. She was an extraordinary woman living in difficult times. In a world where noblewomen received arranged marriages, Anne forged her own path. She carved out a career for herself, first in Brussels and then in Paris before returning reluctantly for the marriage that was arranged for her.

6) Anne rejected that marriage, a scandalous course for the time, and arranged her own much more high profile match. When this engagement was broken, Anne, who had little beauty, used her wit and grace to make herself one of the most talked about ladies of the court, even attracting the king.

The author ends his book with the following observation: “For twenty years after May 1536, Anne Boleyn was a non-person. People who had known her said nothing, while the king, who knew most, grew old, obese and bad-tempered. When he had allowed Cromwell to strike Anne down, Henry had been at the height of his splendour.

By the time he allowed Cromwell himself to be struck down four years later, the physical deterioration was obvious. Four more attempts at marriage brought him little joy. Jane Seymour’s death in childbirth left him with the son he had done so much evil to get, but his remaining wives were barren.

Number four was divorced; number five, Katherine Howard, died by the axe on Tower Green and is buried in St Peter’s, near her cousin Anne; but the luck of the sixth held out, despite the risks of mothering a sick and irascible old man.

And all the while there was little said of Anne, and little left of her but her child, the young Elizabeth, who had been declared a bastard but who was nevertheless acknowledged as the king’s daughter.

Despite her youth and her mother’s shame, she was a valuable card in the diplomatic marriage game and in 1544 she was restored to the succession. A ‘very pretty’, bright and intelligent girl, prematurely cautious’. When her elder sister Mary came to the throne in 1553, the 20-year-old Elizabeth found she needed that caution as never before.

On Palm Sunday 1554 Anne Boleyn’s daughter was brought by river to the Tower of London, just as her mother had been almost eighteen years earlier. Suspected of plotting rebellion, she spent the next two months in the Bell Tower, followed by almost a year under house arrest in Oxfordshire.

In 1558, however, the miracle happened. On Monday, 28 November, to the cheers of the London crowd and the roar of the Tower artillery, Elizabeth came through the gates to take possession of the fortress as queen.

The bastardized daughter of the disgraced Anne Boleyn, with her father’s complexion but her mother’s face, splendidly dressed in purple velvet: Elizabeth, by the grace of God, queen of England, France and Ireland, defender of the faith. Is it fanciful to feel that after twenty years, the mother in the nearby grave in the chapel of St Peter was at last vindicated?”

A most recommended book.

[sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

i don't usually rate non fiction books - for some reason, i find them hard to rate. but i very much enjoyed this one, even if i disagree with quite a few of ives' assumptions or conclusions (i am a 1507 believer i'm sorry eric), and even if i don't love his tone while talking about certain people (snide petty remarks made by a man about a woman's appearance will always draw side eyes out of me, even if said woman was absolutely in opposition to anne - there is more of substance to get into there and criticize, and if he didn't because of time constrain, i get it, but getting into the appearance is ? forever low in my eyes)

but overall, i loved this one. it is slow to read at times (this took me days to get through, dedicating it a large amount of times), but most biographies and non-fiction takes me a bit to read. i loved how ives tried to lay out all options when something wasn't certain (which in case of anne boleyn, it's a lot of the times), how he went into every aspect he could of her, and how he included all rumors even if he disagreed with them and added why he disagreed with them.

it touches on most aspects of anne's life, as much as we have information on (considering how quick her fall ended up being and the subsequent erasure of her, added to the centuries that separate us from her and due to which we have lost information and material), from how she was raised abroad, to the relationship with henry and her rise to queen, to how her life at court was regarding art and patronage and religion and quotes said by her, where we have them, to glance at her personality. i see why it's called "the bible" when talking about anne boleyn books - i get it. i read this as an e-book, but i plan on buying a physical copy as soon as i am able.

[Emily Johnstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been an Anne fan since I first learned about her after reading Philippa Gregory’s novel when I was a kid, this is definitely THE Anne Boleyn biography. I could talk forever about this woman. Making your boyfriend literally convert his entire country to a new religion he made up in order to divorce his wife so you can be queen? DIABOLICAL. And it’s the 1500s? AND his wife is a Spanish princess? AND now the Catholic Church and the rest of Europe is going to whoop Englands ass? DI A BOL I CAL.

Not a book I would recommend to someone who doesn’t already have an interest in Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII - it is DRY. That being said, there is already so much dramatization and witch hunting around her story that being able to read a sourced and contextualized biography was exactly what I was looking for.

[Lauryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Just too heavy going. 🥱 😴

I like Anne Boleyn. I like history. I have a Bachelor of Arts in ancient history from a reputable university, basically, the problem here is not my stupidity... But god did this make me feel stupid.

It was a slog and a chore. Ives’ writing is confusing and obtuse. It took me a year just to get 268 pages through it. There’s no need to over complicate language just because it’s scholarly writing. It should still flow and be comprehensible.

I’ve tried to read this twice now, and I can see why I decided to donate the book the first time around. I won’t be giving it a third chance.

Can someone from Gen Z please write a biography about Anne Boleyn?! Something that isn’t built like a textbook.

[Jodie Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5

'A figure to be more admired than liked'

A comprehensive, detailed but thoroughly accessible and readable account of the life and death of Anne Boleyn, one of the most intriguing characters in history. I would definitely recommend.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Αναμφισβήτητα η πληρέστερη βιογραφία της Anne Boleyn. Εξαιρετικά λεπτομερής έρευνα, με προσεκτικά διατυπωμένα συμπεράσματα. Ακόμη κι αν κανείς δεν συμφωνεί με όλες τις απόψεις του Ives, δεν μπορεί παρά να παραδεχτεί ότι έχει μελετήσει πολύ προσεκτικά τις πηγές, πάντα αιτιολογεί σε βάθος και συζητάει όλα τα ενδεχόμενα, πριν να αποδομήσει όσα επιχειρήματα βρίσκει σαθρά.

Η ανάγνωση δεν είναι εύκολη, ούτε γρήγορη- όσο κι αν απευθύνεται στο ευρύ κοινό, το ύφος είναι ακαδημαϊκό και το κείμενο είναι γεμάτο σημειώσεις, ημερομηνίες, ονόματα. Δεν θα το πρότεινα σε κάποιον που δεν έχει ήδη κάποιες σχετικές γνώσεις κι επαφή με το αντικείμενο, καθώς θεωρείται δεδομένη η εξοικείωση με πολλά πρόσωπα και καταστάσεις.

Δεν αφήνει πέτρα για πέτρα που να μην γυρίσει και καλύπτει όλες τις πτυχές της ζωής της, από την εκπαίδευση, μέχρι το ενδιαφέρον της για τις τέχνες και την θρησκευτική της ιδεολογία. Η άνοδος και η πτώση παρατηρούνται αποστασιοποιημένα και ψύχραιμα, αν και διαφαίνονται η εκτίμηση κι η συμπάθεια προς το πρόσωπό της.

Νομίζω ότι αποτελεί σημείο αναφοράς πια και το συστήνω ανεπιφύλακτα.

[Reading Tudor · Rating 4 out of 5]

❝ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐲𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫. ❞

It has been said many times and by many different Tudor enthusiasts that Eric Ives is the best biographer of Anne Boleyn. So of course, being fascinated by Anne Boleyn, I just had to pick up The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn; which is why I was exited it got picked as our October book of the month for The Tudor Book Club on facebook.

I went into it expecting to learn more about Henry VIII's second wife and was not disappointed. What I appreciated the most was that the author doesn't focus only on her rise and fall, her mariage and execution, but instead retraced her whole story.
It was very interesting to read about her youth at the court of Margaret of Austria and later at the French Court.

The book tries to give us the truest depiction of Anne possible; not base on mere myths but on a lot of research. (You can see the incredible amount of research Ives went through given the many sources he gives.)

❝ 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩, 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝. ❞

What made this book even more interesting is the fact that the author shows us Anne as she was or at least as clearly as can be guessed given the little surviving evidences, words and artefacts left of the tragic queen. The Anne Boleyn we see through the novel is as close to the real Anne as can be and not yet another romanticized version of her.

Anne was a very intelligent, brave and sophisticated woman but as every real person, she also had her flaws and the author does not shy away from them.

The only thing that made the book hard to read for me at times was the dense writing and the inventory aspect of some parts of the books. For instance, the author spends a whole chapter describing and listing Anne's possessions which I found to be unnecessary and boring as it didn't bring much to the story.

To conclude, though dense, the book is a must read for all fans of Anne Boleyn for I believe you will not find another book which will teach you so much about the life of the queen.

[Brigid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this is a thoroughly researched, well-reasoned approach to the life of Anne Boleyn. Ives presents the reader with a cornucopia of information from a variety of sources, while simultaneously making judgments on who is more reliable than others. He quotes extensively from original source material and isn't afraid of analyzing the implications. He also gives excellent background on the period, the convention of courtly love, and the status of England with regard to the rest of Europe at the time. My only complaint is that sometimes he draws conclusions without explaining clearly enough his reasoning. He is also apt to quote from French without providing a translation, which to an American reader is annoying (though maybe less so to a British one). I found Ives' style to be engaging and articulate, and I left this book craving more. I doubt I will find a better exploration of the life of Anne Boleyn, but I will certainly keep searching.

[Kimberli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. This historian carefully examines the life of Anne, placing her firmly within the context of Tudor politics and religion. He's the first I can recall illustrates how Anne's fervent devotion to the cause of religious reforms made her a target. Along with her sharp tongue, opinionated nature. But she was a force to be reckoned with at court. Ives carefully examines what is known about Anne so that we get a more accurate picture of the woman behind the tragedy.