The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn

577 pages5 starsMs. Weir does it again! This superlative tale of the last few weeks of Anne Boleyn's life is comprehensive and detailed. I always admire her attention to detail and historical documents (where available), that she lends to her books.By the time of the beginning of Anne's downfall, it seems that Henry VIII was already enamoured with Jane Seymour. Was Henry already planning to set aside Anne?I found it very interesting that Ms. Weir posits that it was Thomas Cromwell who instigated the “investigation” and subsequent terrible end of Anne Boleyn. But Cromwell himself also stated “...he had neither said nor done anything without express command from the King.” Does this statement apply to the plot against Anne? Was Cromwell making this up to cover his own part in the affair? As of the date the book was published in 2009, Ms. Weir firmly states that Cromwell engineered the whole drama and puts forth very convincing evidence that supports her position.The author goes on to state her proof of such a claim. It certainly makes sense to the reader, but...while I am certainly not a professional historian, I have read a great, great many books (and seen all the documentaries), on Henry and Anne and I still hold my doubts that Cromwell would have acted without some signal from the King.As head of the Church of England, Henry could have pressed Archbishop Thomas Cranmer to annul his marriage any time he wanted. After all, Anne's sister Mary was his mistress which makes his marriage to Anne questionable under the law of affinity.As David Starkey points out that Anne was a “...brutal and effective politician.” After having gotten rid of Cromwell's friend and boss Cardinal Wolsey, Cromwell had good reason to fear her influence over the King, especially after they had several conflicts. She even spoke of having him executed.Was there some truth in Anne's supposed behavior? She certainly was flirtatious and preferred the company of men. She had very few – if any – real women friends.The legal process was a travesty at that time. The defendant was not informed of the charges against them until they arrived at the trial. Then they had to defend themselves as best they could. They were not even allowed a representative, for those accused of treason were not able to be represented by a lawyer. The jury would be packed with men who did not care for the defendant, or did not want to anger the king.Thus the outcome of any treason trial was assured to be the guilt of the person being “tried.”The book discusses what happened to those who were lucky enough to survive the events of 1536: their fortunes and failures.Brilliantly written and plotted, this book is one of Ms. Weir's best. (There are so many!) I did pick up a few more tidbits of information that I did not know. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in Anne Boleyn, Tudor history or just history in general.

I have enjoyed all of the books I've read by Alison Weir. She goes into a lot of detail and is academic in her writing, but I've read a few others who are so scholarly that the detail and meanings go over my head at times. I have had to go back and read and re-read passages again. Not so with Weir's "The Lady in the Tower:: The Fall of Anne Boleyn." This book covers the last months of Anne's life, the plot to end it and that sad end. A controversial point that is brought up early in the book is whether Henry VIII was the one who put the bug in Thomas Cromwell's ear to come up with a plan to do away with Queen Anne or whether it was Cromwell's own doing that plotted her downfall. Weir gives reason to the conclusion that Master Secretary Thomas Cromwell was the one behind the plot as the queen was a powerful influence and was at odds with Cromwell, and had failed to bear a live son to Henry. Henry's greatest wish was a son to be his heir. If Henry was behind the plot to get rid of Anne, I've often wondered why he was so shocked by the note he received at the May Day Joust and took off immediately, never to see Anne again. There are, as Weir points out, some things we will never know.This book is very well researched by Alison Weir and she uses a lot of quotes from contemporary sources to add to the interest and credibility of the book. I especially like to see the language and spelling of the day and signatures of people such as Anne herself. The book contains color plates which include a portrait of Henry's newest love who was waiting in the wings, Jane Seymour. I think Weir raises the bar on writing non-fiction and making it a hard-to-put-down book at the same time. Poetry is quoted from sources that are of one persuasion or another, Overall, this is an excellent book on Queen Anne Boleyn's last days and the people who were around her. I really enjoyed it.

I'm surprised to see how many people seem to not enjoy the amount of direct quotes and contradictions in this book. The stories of Anne Boleyn and the Tudors in general have always been told, often inaccurately and accentuated just for dramatic purposes. It seems obvious to me that this book was a direct result of Weir's frustrations in seeing other historians and authors tell readers a one-sided story, or even a partially fabricated one.Weir's willingness to show both sides of the story of Anne's fall, however contradictory they may be, is the only way to tell the most accurate story. I don't see a lot of her personal opinion in the book, as some have said in their reviews. In fact, I think it's a very fair depiction of events from 500 years ago that we currently have no way to know the whole truth about. I've also seen that people think it's repetitive, but I haven't found that. The only repetition I've seen is to remind you of previous facts when they become relevant again, which I think is necessary when you're trying to make such a fact-heavy book readable by anyone.I definitely don't think it's for everyone, but I would recommend it to anyone with particular interest in the Tudors. It's not an "easy read", because of all the information, but worth the time spent. Even if you had formed your own opinion of Anne Boleyn before reading it, I think that it will probably make you question yourself. There were a lot of events and facts that I had just assumed were fact, and found out through this book that they were probably speculation. I think it's a fresh retelling of naturally dramatic and fascinating events we've heard about a thousand times, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I’ve read all of Ms. Weir’s non fiction. She never disappoints. Her fiction is equally well done.

Bei Alison Weir gefielen mir die Sachbücher immer etwas besser als die historischen Romane (wobei auch diese nicht schlecht sind!). Das vorliegende Buch über Anne Boleyn ist, wie immer, hervorragend und in die Tiefe gehend recherchiert, die Fakten sind gründlichst belegt, und dabei ist es flüssig und bestens lesbar geschrieben und anschaulich bebildert. Erstaunlich, dass auf diese Weise einer so oft untersuchten historischen Persönlichkeit wie Anne Boleyn immer noch neue Seiten hinzugefügt werden können - und das nach Eric Ives'schon sehr gründlichem Klassiker ! Uneingeschränkt zu empfehlen !

I absolutly love Anne Boleyn and have read a lot of books about her. Alison Weir never dissapoints when comes to these books and, for being a history book and not a novel, it's very easy to read. English is not my mother tonge, but I understand everything. And, of course, it's very interesting and use a lot of details that are usually put apart in this matter.

Bello e ricco di informazioni. Autrice davvero competente dell'argomento. Leggerò sicuramente altri libri di questa autrice.

Maravilhoso e entrega rápida